534 



NATURE 



{April 8, 1SS0 



done is to recognise its existence by adopting the French 

 compromise. And, by the way, this is by no means French 

 except in name, for in 1S2S Sir George Smart, then 

 conductor of the Philharmonic, adopted what was prac- 

 tically the same pitch in England, and the greater number 

 Wed Philharmonic forks sold down to thirty years 

 ago gave the C of the later French pitch. It has left its 

 impress, too, on numerous organs which during this 

 period were tuned to "Smart's pitch," as it was then 

 called. It is in fact a long tried English pitch, displaced 

 only by accidental circumstances during Costa's con- 

 ductorship of the Philharmonic. In France its use is 

 universal, in Germany it was generally accepted, though 

 a fresh rise is there perceptible, in Madrid it has lately 

 been adopted, and even in Belgium, the only country in 

 Europe which approaches the English heights of pitch, a 

 recent commission reported in its favour for both concerts 

 and military bands. Finally, the enormous inconvenience 

 felt by singers accustomed to this pitch, when coming 

 over for a London season or special concerts (as at the 

 reeeni Wagner festival, according to Wagner's own 

 statement), have induced the Covent Garden Opera to 

 revert to it again this season, so that musicians will have 

 an excellent opportunity of judging of its effect. 



A btrong argument usually brought against a change of 

 pitch is the difficulty of getting new brass and wood 

 instruments. The French pitch has now lasted long 

 enough for good instruments to be made in it, and it is in 

 fact more easy, out of London, to obtain instruments in 

 that pitch than in any other. But considering that it was 

 used in England and in France for about twenty years 

 prior to 1850, and that the bands accommodated them- 

 selves to the gradual change then, there seems no reason 

 why they should not do so now. Organs present a diffi- 

 culty, but no mercy should be shown to them. Organs 

 sharpen so much by temperature in a concert room 

 crowded or lighted up, or in summer, that it is really 

 inhuman to build organs that even at mean temperatures 

 strain the voice of a singer of Handel to follow. They 

 are essentially solo instruments. French pitch is the 

 highest admissible pitch for organs which have to lead 

 voices, and those which are sharper should be flattened 

 forthwith. Church organs are even now usually con- 

 structed but a trifle sharper than French pitch. As for 

 pianos, it is well known that the concert grand pianos 

 improve in richness and quality of tone by being brought 

 down to French pitch. It is a mere matter of stringing 

 and tuning, not of construction. 



Besides the importance of having a uniform pitch to 

 the singer and the manufacturers of instruments, there is 

 a theoretical advantage to the listener. With equal 

 temperament when properly carried out, the relations of 

 the intervals in different keys remain precisely the same, 

 and the effect of change of key therefore is due to the 

 change of pitch of the tonic and its related notes. When 

 the ear is accustomed to one pitch it easily recognises the 

 key. When the pitch varies from time to time and place 

 to place, the sense of key becomes deadened and lost, and 

 even the most experienced ears become confused. Hence, 

 both theoretically and practically, uniformity of pitch is 

 imperative. Practically an intermediate pitch between 

 the old pitch of Handel, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, 

 and the new pitch of Mendelssohn, Costa, and Verdi, is 



the only one feasible to allow of both kinds of music 

 being played by one organ or one band. And such a 

 pitch is the French, the pitch of all French and most 

 German modern music, the pitch in which the works of 

 Wagner can alone be properly heard. 



FARMING 



Farming for Pleasure and Profit. Fourth, Fifth, and 

 Sixth Sections. By Arthur Roland. (London : Chap- 

 man and Hall, Limited.) 

 THE publication of a work bearing such a title, natu- 

 rally commands special attention at a time when 

 farming is looked upon as anything but a pleasant and 

 profitable business. Although it is evidently written by 

 one practically acquainted with agricultural operations, a 

 perusal unfortunately shows that it is very imperfectly 

 adapted for meeting the needs of farmers in times of 

 difficulty like the present. It has a great defect in its 

 oversight of many of the improvements which have been 

 introduced during the last twenty or thirty years, so much 

 so, indeed, as to lead to a doubt whether there has not 

 been a clerical error in the date of publication, and 1880 

 substituted for 1S50. 



The Fourth Section of this'work is devoted to "Stock 

 Keeping and Cattle Rearing." The economical produc- 

 tion of pork is evidently one of the details of practice on 

 which the author prides himself. He says, " Nettles 

 grow in great profusion in our hedges, the somewhat 

 sandy soil which chiefly prevails apparently being favour- 

 able to their growth. These I have all cut down with a 

 bill-hook by one of the men, and they are brought to the 

 pigstyes — unless we boil some up with other green stuff, 

 which we do when they are young — and the pigs eat the 

 nettles as freely as they will cabbages. My economical 

 contrivances in this way, as may be expected, provoked 

 the scorn of the labourers at first, and does at all times 

 upon the occasion of a new man being engaged ; but the 

 success of the plan has been proved to demonstration, 

 over and over again, to my old hands, who have got into 

 my ways and system, and it is upon the adoption of these 

 economical contrivances that the profits of farming 

 mainly depend." 



If this were true clean hedgerows arc a great mistake, 

 and uncultivated weeds have been sadly undervalued, 

 hence, possibly, even the present depression in agriculture. 

 But the author has evidently not acted upon the advice 

 which he subsequently gives, for he says : " The old 

 labourers of a district are often better acquainted with 

 the peculiarities of the soil and other matters, the result 

 of long observation, than the farmer himself ; and 

 although it is by no means necessary to act upon their 

 advice, which would often mislead and cause ignorance 

 and prejudice to reign instead of sound principles, yet 

 there is often much that may be learned from them and 

 turned to profitable account." Practical experience, 

 whether obtained by the labourer or by the fanner, is 

 undoubtedly of great value, and should be justly prized ; 

 but it is open to question whether the author has here 

 shown that discretion which will not allow " ignorance or 

 prejudice to reign instead of sound principles.'' 



In dealing with our various breeds of cattle the author 

 falls into some grievous errors ; for example, he remarks 



