635 THE 
AGRICULTURAL GAZE 
TEBE [Serr. 19, 
least desire to set aside plans which others may have to 
offer of a more comprehensive nature. 
I think it was Mr, Cobden who stated at a public 
meeting at Manchester, that he would defy any man in 
ihe kingdom to mention a scientifie discovery or im- 
I pplieable te fi that the manu- 
faeturers had not availed themselves of. Regardless of 
the (circumstances under which these words were ex- 
pressed, agriculturists will do well to apply the same 
principle to their own pursuits, and never rest satisfied 
till they have reached the same goal. I am far from 
inferring that agriculture has made little or no progress; 
but on the contrary the inerease of the produce of Eng- 
land has within the last 30 or 40 years been very great 
indeed to have fed our vast and rapidly-increasing popu- 
lation. That, however, is not the point in question ; 
our population is still increasing half-a-million annually. 
It becomes, therefore, the duty of the state and the duty 
of agriculturists to show from facts beyond dispute the 
resources of wealth at their command : they must show 
what ean be done, and what eannot be done, that the 
country may give full scope to their energies and skill, 
and at the same time alleviate all burdens which would 
impede the full development of national industry. The 
first step towards the attainment of this desirable object 
is to marshal the entire forces, if I may so speak, of the 
agricultural wealth of the whole kingdom ; not by mere 
supposed numbers, but by a record of indubitable facts 
which cannot be converted into 200,000,000 at one time, 
and at another into double that amount, to suit party 
purposes, 
It is a remarkable fact, that, of all the huge volumes 
that emanate annually from the press under the sanc- 
tion of Government, we have not a single volume that 
gives us any account of what the English agriculturists 
have produced or can produce. We have the census 
decennially taken to show the heads of the population, 
but nothing certain is known as to what means we pos- 
sess to feed them. 
It is strange that so eminent a statist as Mr. Porter 
should think the great obstacle in the way of obtaining 
this information would be found amongst the agricultur- 
ists themselves, arising from “fear” and “jealousy.” 
I have strong reasons for believing that there are 
farmers in every district who would, with much plea- 
sure, afford any information in their power on all 
points connected with an improved state of cultivation; 
and with regard to the acreage of land, nature of crops, 
&e., the farmer does nothing, nor has he anything, that 
his neighbour cannot see ; therefore Mr. Porter's .ob- 
jeetions would, as far as the greater portion of these 
statistics are concerned, fall to the ground. In respect 
to the cattle reared and fattened on each estate, there 
might in some cases be found a difficulty ; but, then, 
there ought to be a general order from Government 
that each occupier should fill up a form prepared, and 
deliver it within a certain period to the assessor or 
overseer of each parish, showing the numberof every head 
of eattle kept on his premises; and where more than 
one oceupation, and in a different. parish, every return 
should be separate. I believe that the tenant-farmers 
of England would be amongst the foremost to have a 
clear, comprehensive, and complete record of every- 
thing connected with agriculture. We have before us 
a mass of information in the shape of “ Burdens on 
Land,” butwhatean this avail the really practical farmer? 
Nothing can be inferred from this ponderous volume but 
that agriculture presentsone of the most confused masses 
of incongruities that the English statesman and the 
English landlord ean have to contend against. The 
chief end that ought to be kept in view in presenting to 
the people of England a history of its resources, is that 
of correctness and completeness. It must be extensive 
and at the same time minute, dealing in facts in pre- 
ference to estimations ; it ought to point out neglected 
sources of wealth, unequalized burdens on an equality 
of property ; it should mark all improvements and all 
useless expenditure ; in short it should contain every- 
thing connected with the capital, rent, labour, and 
return of the farmer, with rates, taxes, tithe, &e. ; and 
anything short of this would not be worthy of the name 
of the Statistics of British Agriculture, 
The following forms seem to embrace most of the 
foregoing subjects :— 
‘1.—Oceupations should p d name of occupier, 
with the extent of his land, name of parish, hundred, 
and county. 
2. Might contain the various kind of grain or green 
crops grown, and what extent of each. 
3. All kinds of cattle reared of fattened on the lands, 
with the number of horses for labour and pleasure 
Separately. 
4, Men and boys employed in labour, and rate of 
wages, price of food, and house rent. 
5. The arrears, what kind, where and how produced. 
6. The most general mode of tillage adopted by the 
best farmers, and the nearest market town where their 
produce is sold. 
7. Number of acres of wood, pasture, arable, and 
other grounds, and nature of the soil, extent of rail- 
way, and amount of acres occupied thereby. 
S. Machinery employed, with prices of various 
articles used in husbandry, 
9. Average rent of land, rates, taxes, tithes, and 
other outgoings thereon, 
10. Condition of the labourers’ dwellings and farm 
buildings. 
11. Means of export to London or elsewhere by canal, 
Sea, or by railway. 
12. Mode of obtaining the required information. 
1 
Such is the nature of many of the facts that Agri- 
cultural Statistics should comprehend, with much 
incidental information that the limits of a weekly 
journal will not permit me to add. 
The mode of obtaining such information will, I dare 
say, admit of more difference of opinion than other 
parts of the subject. One thing, however, is quite 
certain, that whatever is done ought to be done well, 
and this can only be effected by having competent men 
engaged in the duty. That persons qualified may be 
found, I have no doubt; still it requires that talent that 
is not altogether agricultural nor entirely literary ; it 
must embrace a judicious combination of the two, in 
order to arrange the whole with precision and per- 
spicuity, while it clearly defines all that should be made 
useful to the practical farmer. It ought to be made a 
standard of reference to future generations. As to the 
expense of such an undertaking it ought never to come 
into id ion as an impedi ; and when we hear 
members talking of entrusting such a duty to country 
schoolmasters, and men otherwise engaged in rural dis- 
tricts, to save expense, one feels ashamed at such apro- 
position coming from the most wealthy and most pow- 
erful landed aristocracy in the world. Nor ean it be 
expected to be done by private individuals; the task is 
too weighty ; and as you have justly observed, * Govern- 
ment has attempted to work with unpaid agents, and 
this is the cause of their failuye.” Without payment 
no man feels responsible; and if only a small portion 
of the revenue squandered away annually on the most 
a 
OCCASIONAL OPERATIONS. £ s 
1, Earth-work in drainage, from .. on |o 0 2 
2. Grubbing up old fences, from .. . 20 0 6 
3. Paring and burning old ground, from «100 
Clay-burning, 100 yards per aere. 2 
4, Q 2:10:10" 8 
0 0 5 
on 06 
Breaking stones, from E EIUS 
5 & 6 Building and Carpenter's work— Sec p. 379. 
7. Road-making, 4 yards wide, 9 inches deep ..|018 0 ,, 
ANNUAL FARM OPERATIONS, 
(a) Tillage Operations. 
1. Subsoil ploughing—4 horses and men .. oe 
2, Ploughing—2 horses and man .. p V 
3.-Harrowing (each tine)... s sd $ 
4. Scarifying—2 horses and man... oe slew oe . 
5. Rolling Cai md vnd ciae 4 e 
(b) Management of Mamure. (Measure before each 
Operation.) 
1. Filling into cartsin yard .. .. oe vs about 
Cp Morton e at ss en A v id 
9. First turning m I .. oe I about 
4. Second turning ee .. E on . ^» 
5. Loading into carts PRET ne qué Sed ES 
6. Carting 500 yds. tofield, and dividing into heaps 3» 
1. Spreading in the field 30 cubic yards per acre. . 
(c). Seed Operations. 
. Broadcast sowing .. D a .. 
. Drilling corn—3 horses and attendance 
> Setting Potatoes ^ .. s.  .. 
. Hoeing in Wheat, from  .. 
. Dibbling ditto, from E m 
. Dibbling Beans "e m E 
. Planting Potatoes by spade, from. 
pwm 
Nan 
) Cultivation of Crops. 
. Harvest-hoeing grain-crop—9 ins, drills 
. Hand-hoeing green crops i 
. Second hoein; £t .. .. ^ m 
+ Hand-hoeing broadcast Turnips, &c., two or 
Root 
Horse-hoeing drill.orops .. v " 
Hoeing (deep) between Potatoes (by hand) 
Paring stubbles (by hand) ., a 
Paring and burning old Sainfoin 
Stifle burning .. E . 4 
(e) Harvest Operations. 
1. Mowing Clover, from T n os 210222. 07 t6 
2, Mowing meadow Grass fro: DEREN AAD DET A 
3. Mowing andhaymaking ..  .. 1, o! 
4. Mowing Barley and Oats, from .. — .. 1110 2 0 yy 
5. Reaping Bar ‘ying, from meters (Ope Ts di 
6. Reaping Wheat and tying, from i079» ay OFS 
7. Mowing or bagging fi è Di7 Qi; 
8. Pitching the crop to the cart, and bi 
thereon, anı 
Stubble mo: T 
Stubble raking, from MEO. #5 
Harvesting Beans, from ., * » 
Mowing Peas from .. .. .. o *, 
Harvesting roots, pulling, cutting off tops, and. 
ing in carts + 
Turnips and Swedes, from. ,. m 2/0 70 , 
Mangeld Wurzel, from. p» A (LP CLR 
Dirien OR do oak e. MTE [UR Ef p ce 
Potatoes dug and pitted in field, from .. el 0 0 |=; 
(f) Preparing Grain for Market. 
Threshing and cleaning Wheat (by hand), from|0 0 5 to 
Sy P Barley D fromo 0 2 ,, 
5 r1 ats m from|0 0 13 ,, 
mis ay Beans *5 from|0 0 2$ ,, 
Threshing Peas, from E .. m 400 23 y 
Machine-threshing (by steam) Wheat, from ..|0 0 1$ ,, 
F af ə» Barley, from ..0 0 14 5 
n IN T Oats, from ev|0. 03 1& 5, 
(g) Management of. Stock. 
Blacksmith’s p per pair of horses (excepting 
eee wives oer pelo OF O 
Saddler’s bill per pair of horses 14/04.0 
Expense of feeding, clearing, and attending to 
ttle, sheep, and pigs, For details, see 
former articles. 
worthless subjects, were applied to this, we should have 
ample returns for the outlay. 
must terminate this letter by stating that, for 
carrying out the above plans there is a wide field open 
to those who feel an interest and have time to enter on 
so laborious and extensive a work, I have carefully 
studied this matter in its various bearings, and am full; 
convinced the most valuable historical record that could 
be presented to the statesmen, landowners, and tenantry 
of England would be an authenticated account of agri- 
cultural statistics. : 
I have already stated my willingness to enter the 
field with the authority of. Government to inspect the 
documents of all public offices where they can be made 
subservient to the subject ; and with such an authority 
I would venture to overcome all the “ groundless fears 
and jealousy” which Mr. Porter has charged upon the 
British farmer. To lay down more minute plans would 
occupy too much of the space of your paper. I have 
long thought that the period has arrived when farmers 
must no longer remain in statu quo, but at once avail 
themselves of the assistance which modern science and 
art have brought to their aid.— Agricola, 
ON MEASURE WORK. 
Bxzrons concluding, it may be well to recapitulate the 
contents of this essay in a tabular form, naming the 
kinds of work properly payable respectively by measure 
or by the day, and the general cost attending the exe- 
cution of each. 
Piece Work. Day Work. 
28 per cubic yard, 
per perch, 
per aere, 
4 0 0 per acre. 
4 per yard, 
6 » 
» 
2 
1 0 0 per perch, 
£ s. d. pas. 
cx 019 3 per acre. 
H oromot 5015-01, 
Vi 0510134. nerf ROMO we Bile yy 
aes 0:3 22,655,505 8561.5, 
about 0 1 0 
0 0 0 per cubic yard. 
001 satius 
90 Preis 
mE D IC: about 0 0 1j » 
0 0 08 gd Sa oom 2 
0 0 24 to 0 0 3}per acre, 
UC 0E 154 9:0 HOY > 
Ove, OF 53,0 2° 6 z 
0 5 0 peracre, 0 3 0 to » $ be es ate 
Ob Ba Bia 1s Duo hous 
Ub TOS ui 
0 
010 0 peracre, Hy ARA s 
(CR TE 
DEO es 
SP HUS Os 
0150 5, 
03 0 at 
03 5 
0 802025 
0 3 » 
09 0 
034.07 |, 
0100 , 
ION OR 
DIU 
OPO Es, 
09 0 
026 
090 
015.10... 
LUN 
LES SS 
0 0 6 per bushel, 
UTD 
Crore, 
00 , 
0035 , 
0083 , 
0083 Z 
009 
I have thus finished the remarks I had to make on 
the cost of the various farm operations, and on the best 
mode of paying for them. I have nothing to add to 
my former observations on the policy of the practice, 
but I may just insert herea table which I eompiled in 
1844 when gathering information on this very subject, 
and which shows the general adoption of paying for 
work by measure. 
I have stated in the first column of 
this table the names of the districts to which the figures 
on the same line with each relate ; but as I have not 
obtained permission to do so Iam unable to give the 
authority on which each set of statements is based. 
Nevertheless, I may say that the information of the gen- 
tlemen who were kind enough to answer my nq 
entirely trustworthy, and that, though wages have con- 
uiriesis 
