572 
THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. > 
| Avec. 22, 
community who plunge more blindfoldly into rash en- | 
gagements. It is much to be regretted that landlords 
encourage a fictitious rental, from the way they usually 
expose their lands for competition; and although they 
apparently are increasing the revenue from their 
estates, it most certainly ends either in the ruin of the 
tenants or the deterioration of the property... Farmers 
are induced to bid one against another, apparently with 
no other object but to obtain possession, and then when 
fairly settled to make their own terms. This system 
has led to the removal of many capitalists who would 
run no such risk; but so short-sighted are many pro- 
prietors, ith ding the experi of the past, 
that at every fresh letting time the promise of more 
rent gets the mastery over their better judgment. 
This state of things has been brought about from the 
disinclination of those who have been once connected 
with the soil changing to any other profession, as well 
as from the foolish idea of farmers’ sons being bent to 
obtain land upon any terms ; and further from the cir- 
eumstance of merchants who have made a little money 
being desirous of becoming cultivators more for recre- 
ation than profit All these combined will, ere long, 
prove the unwholesome condition of the tenants in Scot- 
land. The alteration in the Corn-laws may, it is hoped, 
be a check to this system of speculation, and restore 
things to a sound state, although those farmers who 
pay a fixed money-rent with years of their leases to 
expire, will undoubtedly be sacrificed. Taking into 
account the fictitious rental of land in many districts of 
Seotland, in connexion with the vast amount of capital 
sunk by tenant farmers in draining and other perma- 
nent improvements, it need be no surprise when the 
price of farm produce is reduced in value, agricultural 
distress should appear in an unmitigated form.—Mid- 
tothian Reporter. 
Pea Crop.—Since writing to you on Saturday last, I 
find that the Pea crop is almost a failure, and we are 
hearing worse accounts of the Potatoes every day ; I 
write this to correct what I said about the Pea crop, as 
Ishould be sorry to be the means of misleading the 
publie.— Geo. Parsons, West Lambrook, Somerset. 
Odd Fellowship and Savings Banks.—W. Brown, 
Merevale (at p. 508), has quite overlooked the “ extras” 
of odd-fellowship; there is 20s. entrance fee, and the 
expense of beer, tobacco, footings on change nights, 
lecturers, collecti rp ions of snufi- 8, 
lever watches, medals, and many other matters, 
which are given to (not the needy brother) the leading 
men in the lodge, and sometimes not for merit. In our 
district each member pays his own doctor. The widow 
and orphans’ fund requires an “ extra” subscription 
from the members intending the benefits to fall to their 
widows and orphans, I have heard of clergymen join- 
ing the society, but am not aware of any doing so in 
this part. Avreligious man could not sanction, or enrol 
his name in a society which holds its lectures on the 
Sabbath; neither can he (without loss of character) 
attend, or even encourage. their singing, drinking, 
smoking, and toasting meetings, which, with us, are 
often held on the Saturday evening, and on many occa- 
sions do not break up until the “ wee, short hour ayont 
the tweel” on the Sabbath morning. I have known 
young men of good morals, and free from the filthy 
habits of smoking, snuffing, and drinking, who on be- 
coming odd-fellows have, by the examples of the elder 
brethren, wedded themselves to these unhealthy and, 
to.a young man, useless and expensive habits. I have 
seen many a big boy, of about 19 years of age, get 
drunk by giving bumpers to “ May every good fellow 
be an odd-fellow, and every odd-fellow a good 
fellow,” and other “loyal toasts.” Surely the clergy 
cannot sanction this. I myself learned to smoke my 
pipe, to drink my glass, &c., at the time I was a member; 
since I left the society, and began to carry my savings 
to the bank, and seeing no bad examples there, I have 
given up those habits. My doctor says I have saved 
my life by doing so; he was the man who advised me 
to give up odd.fellowship, and to take my earnings 
toa bank ; I am thankful to this day that I acted upon 
his advice. I consider the benefits of the savings’ 
banks far superior to the supposed benefits of odd- 
fellowship ; the time spent in the smoky and unhealthy 
club-room is far better employed in cultivating my 
garden, and enjoying the prattlings of children, and 
answering their simple questions respecting the beauties 
of Creation when walking out with them in the bye-ways 
and fields. I calculate that it costs a zealous odd-fellow, 
for the first year, not less than 47. 10s,, and about 
31. 10s. per year so long as he holds any office, or 
attends the meetings regularly. I believe the landlords 
of the club-houses get the most profits. We often see 
and hear of landlords retiring from business, and on 
advertising the house we often see “an excellent open- 
ing—four or five odd-fellows’ clubs held there." I shall 
be ready to join the odd-fellows again if they will con- 
duct their business in a school-room, or some other 
place out of the way of intoxicating drinks and the fumes 
of tobaceo.— 4n Operative Spinner. 
_ What are we to do with our Potatoes 2—The follow- 
ing hints may, I think, be useful: It is the practice of 
a cottager, whom I know, who has an acre of ground, 
to cultivate half with Potatoes, and half with Wheat, 
and to preserve a portion of the former for pig-food for 
the following summer. For this purpose, he has an 
old sugar hogshead half let into the ground, and banked 
round with soil; when he gets up his Potatoes, he 
selects the smallest, and the damaged ones, bakes them 
in batches in his cottage oven, and treads them firmly 
down into the hogshead ; when this is filled, he covers 
it with puddled clay to keep out the wet, and on this 
places a rough thatch; the mass keeps till the following 
spring, and cuts out as capital pig food. The tank de- 
scribed by you in June, would (especially if formed 
under cover) make a good and cheap receptacle for this 
kind of food, or for brewers’ grains, which, if thrown in 
a heap and allowed to get mouldy, are good for nothing, 
but if trodden down in a cistern to ferment make ex- 
cellent food for pigs, cattle, and horses. Perhaps the 
readiest way of cooking Potatoes, and roots generally, 
is steaming them ; for this purpose, we have no cheap 
during its preparation for the spinner. It will be very 
evident that the loss occasioned in this way, acts pre- 
judicially on both the parties interested in this plant. 
The farmer has less yield from his crop of Flax, and 
the spinner has to pay higher for his raw material. If 
a saving in this branch can, by any invention, be ef- 
fected, it would at once materially influence the yield of 
Flax, and operate most beneficially on our staple manu- . 
facture. From what I saw in my Belgian tour, I can- 
not but feel how great is our inferiority, in the manage- 
ment of this important plant, even notwithstanding the 
and efficient apparatus in general use; the 
ones are expensive ; the iron píacle radiates much 
heat, and d steam fast—esp: in cold 
weather. I last winter put up a simple and effective 
apparatus. I had fixed a 30 gallon iron boiler or 
“copper ” ; to fit in this, within about 4 inches of the 
bottom, was a wooden disk, bored with many holes, and 
having three short legs to keep it steady; the 4-inch 
space was for the water, above the disk was for the 
roots, the lid shutting all in tight ; to make it do so, 
had a 3-inch margin of hatters’ felt fastened round the 
lower surface of the lid, and placed two half hundred 
weights on the top ; by thi: p f steam, 
and consequently great heat was generated ; the roots 
required but a short time to steam, and were not at all 
burnt; a man or woman could cook many copper fulls 
in a day, at a small expense of fuel ; the Turnips, being 
large, were first cut into quarters by means of a lever 
knife, on a bench ; any copper will do for the purpose, 
and the expense of adapting it is very little. Last year, 
I kept my damaged Potatoes above ground, and cooked 
them as the pigsrequired them ; thisyear, I intend totread 
some of them down, making a small cistern for them 
under cover. 
= 
I think sheet iron would make a better 
disk than wood, taking up less room ; it should have 
four legs ; in either case, it should not fit tight in the 
copper.—G., Avonside. 
pictus S BERE E Mell RN 
Horcieties. 
FLAX IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY, 
Tur monthly meeting of Committee took place on the 
29th of July, in the Society's rooms, Commercial Build- 
ings, Belfast. The Secretary read a report of his mis- 
sion to England and Scotland, and a subsequent tour in 
Belgium, France, and Prussia. The following are 
extracts :— 
“ According to my instruetions, I left Belfast on 25th 
May to wait upon the principal English and Scotch 
firms engaged in the Flax-spinning trade, to solicit 
their increased contributions to the funds of this So- 
ciety, in furtherance of the very extended field of ac- 
tion on which it has now entered, and which promises 
so much benefit, alike to the population of the southern 
and western provinces of Ireland, and the entire linen 
trade of these kingdoms. I have much gratification in 
being able to state, that, by all the principal firms, I 
found this Society to be looked on with the greatest in- 
terest, and the importance of its views fully appreciated. 
The sums which they have, this year, subscribed, will 
be sufficient evidence of this, espeeially when placed in 
contrast with their small contributions, in the earlier 
years of the Society's history. In 1842 there were but 
four English and Scotch firms subscribing, and the 
gross amount was 51/. This year, there are 47, sub- 
seribing about 6007 The quality of Irish Flax is 
everywhere highly estimated ; and I was repentedly 
assured, that the present circumscribed production was 
the only bar to its supplanting foreign Flaxes, to a very 
great extent. The English and Scotch landed proprie- 
tors are now beginning to estimate the importance of 
the subject ; and several efforts are being made to en- 
courage the growth of Flax, in different parts of Great 
Britain. I met, on the 3d July, at Courtrai, the three 
young men, sent by the Society to Belgium, this season, 
and had them placed where the information they re- 
quired would be most available. The Flax crop, in 
Belgium, has suffered much, in some districts, from the 
effects of the long drought ; and will, consequently, be de- 
ficient in quantity. At Gand, I inspected a new machine 
for seutching, invented by M. Scheibler, which possesses 
considerable merit, as far as I could judge from the 
trial I saw made, the produce of scutehed Flax being 
43 decagrammes from 14 decagrammes of the straw, 
being at the rate of 304 per cent. There has been, 
also, another scutehing machine, invented by M. Bert, 
but it is not yet pleted. This l as paid 
much attention to the subject ; and he conceives that 
the fibre and the woody part of the stem are cemented 
together, even after the steeping, by a portion of the 
gum, which is generally separated in that process, or by 
some other description of glutinous matter. He pro- 
poses to destroy the elasticity of this gum by a machine, 
and to render the separation of the fibre from the wood 
easier, with less injury to the former than results from 
the present system. The subject of the improvement 
of machinery for breaking and scutching Flax, has 
often come before the Committee, and has been much 
spoken of. It is singular that the improvements 
already made (and, without doubt, they are very con- 
siderable), have been entirely confined to the breaking 
department, and that the system of seutching remains 
nearly the same as it was one hundred years ago. I 
have been very much impressed with the necessity of 
some improvement, to avoid the great waste occasioned 
by this process,as at present conducted. An BUE 
OH i to 
vast imp: that has already taken place in 
Ireland, and which I often heard testified to by the 
English and Scotch spinners, I was told by a firm en- 
gaged in Flax-spinning in Belgium, that were Irish 
Flax as well managed as Belgian, it would not only 
equal it in quality, but be, in many cases, superior, 
since our climate in spring is more favourable for the 
growth of the young plant than theirs. The crops 
have suffered much from drought about Courtrai and 
Tournai; but in the Hamme, Duffel, St. Nicholas, and 
Bruges districts, little, if at all Generally, however, it 
is antieipated that the yield will be short of an average, 
though, the quantity sown being greater, the produce of 
Belgian Flax will not be much under last year. Much 
attention is directed by the Belgian government to this 
important braneh of husbandry, and the manufactures 
arising from it, There are now in Belgium 12 filatures 
du lin, containing 88,400 spindles, consuming all Flax 
of their own growth, except a small quantity of Rus- 
sian, for the coarsest numbers of yarn. The three 
joung men, after remaining at Courtrai for four days, 
proceeded to Antwerp, stopping by the way at Gand, to 
see M. Scheibler’s and M. Bert’s machines, as I thought 
it useful for them to give their opinions of these inven- 
tions. I did not see them again; but, when at Paris, 
heard from them, while they were located at Hamme, 
and busily engaged in their work among the Flemish 
farmers, who evinced no jealousy on their part, I left 
Belgium for Franee on the 10th of July. After crossing 
the frontier, the Flax fields became scarce ; and after 
Tourcoing or Mouscron, I saw no more of this crop. 
In France I had the pleasure of seeing several leading 
linen manufaeturers and Flax-spinners, and found them 
to take a great interest in the proceedings of this So- 
ciety. I was assured that if, in consequence of the 
extension of Flax-culture to the poorer districts of Ire- 
land, a large production of this article, at reasonable 
rates, should result, they would be extensive buyers in 
our markets; and that there is no doubt that Irish 
Flax would be much used in France, in preference to 
the produce of other countries, more especially of 
Russia ; so that we have thus a prospect of becoming 
an exporting country, as regards Flax, and a sti 
wider prospect opens before us, to encourage our on- 
ward course. I also learned that there was a prospect 
of the duties on British linen yarns being reduced 
during the next sitting of the Chamber of Deputies.” 
The reports as to the general appearance of the Flax 
crop in Ireland are very variable, In many parts of 
Ulster it has suffered considerably from the dry weather 
in spring. From all the new districts in the other 
provinces; the accounts are very fayourable, and the 
crop is likely to turn out well, both as to quality and 
quantity. The agriculturists have nearly all proceeded 
to their districts to superintend the pulling and subse- 
quent stages of management, and are now actively oc- 
eupied in’ the counties of Derry, Down, Tyrone, Done- 
gal, Westmeath, King’s County, Carlow, Kilkenny, 
Cork, Waterford, Kerry, Clare, Tipperary, and Mayo. 
The Secretary was directed to be present at the annual 
meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland, 
at Limerick, to attend to the interests of the Flax So- 
ciety. The case of Simpson v. Dickson, tried at the 
late Armagh Assizes, for loss occasioned by the sale of 
old, inferior Flax-seed to the plaintiff, had. resulted 
in a verdict for the plaintiff, — damages 634, and 
costs. The Committee had assisted the plaintiff in 
bringing on this case, and had supplied the services of 
a special counsel, in order to endeavour to establish a 
precedent, which should enable farmers to obtain re- 
dress for losses sustained in this manner, The result 
has been perfectly sat'sfactory ; and it is hoped that it 
will effectually put a stop to such disgraceful practices 
in future, A Sub-Committee was named, to draw up 
the prize list for the annual show of the Society, in 
November. 
YORKSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
WAKEFIELD.—On the Use of Lime.—At the late 
meeting of this Society here, Professor Johnston de- 
livered an excellent lecture on this subject. He sat 
that he felt some difficulty in presuming to address 
them on that subject after the very excellent manner 12 
which it had been treated at a meeting of the Wakefield 
Farmers’ Club. He held in his hand a little pamphlet 
which he would take that opportunity of recommending 
to their notice, being the substance of a paper read be- 
fore a meeting of the Wakefield Farmers’ Club, by Mr. 
Henry Briggs. That little work contained a digest of 
all that had been written upon the subject, intersperse 
with many excellent observations by the author. Pre- 
vious to the application of lime, a practice which had been 
introduced into Scotland by a Scotehman from. Norfolk, 
the pasture land had produced but little, and very little 
beef and mutton was raised from them. Since the 
gent F t with the g 
Flax, once remarked to me, ‘In the natural state of 
Flax there is no tow." hat, in faet, the tow is pro- 
duced by the operations which the fibre undergoes 
pp of lime, they have raised more beef an 
mutton and corn than ever they had done previously. 
Thus, the use of it in Norfolk was followed by it 
He then mentioned that one 
adoption in Scotland, 
