AUK1UULTUKAL GAZETTE. 



:r..::_- '.: 

 . v.-l. ■■ 



, guano, &c.) yields of prodi 



soils in England. And 



whust straggles are still going on relative to the gr< 

 !Sks which concern all, the repelling of the tides, d 

 Sng of the upland and fen waters safely into t 

 ^perfecting the ravage ,0 



od crushers are being used, with great 

 ress down the young Wheats upon light 

 here they must otherwise have been muc 

 y Ssts and blasts. But a recital of all tl 



ON BOX FEEDING. 



In replying to the polite and courteous lette] 

 Rev. Sir George Robinson, Bar., 



of cattle, I wish particularly to observe, that ii 

 arguments on this or any other subjects, my ( 

 more to elucidate that I myself have taken up : 



in my mind in 1 



am convinced ; I have been in 

 l feeding' has wrought a revolution 

 iur of your practice ; and, therefore, 



>wledge that I have all along beer 



opinions, and confirm my mind that I am altogether 



the right side. I do not, however, shut my eyes to t 



fact, that many gentlemen of high Btandii 



credit have adopted this novel system of ca 



and muck-making ; have sunken the deep dungeon 



them. Mr. G. W. Fowler, I am led to believe, " 

 the only gentleman of respectability who ha 

 B horses, colts, hogs, and rams," weltering in theii 



I myself do. But as I never write on mere assumption, 

 Iw'tT!? statements that I cannot prove, I observe 

 tot 1 know gentlemen who have said to me, "Sir, had 



boxes we should neve? hav^e mad? Ihlm! "wTa^e n" 

 at aU pleased wrth them, and are disposed to fill them 

 2L ♦> t Ui t0 SUch T haTe re P lied ' " Ge^lemen, be sure 

 mplete trial before you destroy them, or 

 at^astthmkforyourselvesand let not me tl hi 



Dut_as well as this private information, let us can- 

 K,^ T ' gate the S eneral and P ubIic Practice of 

 w£ ft I T Waa , at the Ch ^tnia 3 Cattle Show, and 

 find k e a11 the m quiries J possibly could to 



hiWt°T »?' f. nd bow man y of the gentlemen who ex- 



»d h„wtt?5i^i d T te V?r ew pla ° Qf fe i iig ' 



<mt n f »m°a or a dozen gentlemen adopted the novelty 

 htdl^ ^ blbit0r8 of stock ■ Ins * ead of that, £ 

 £S Kr? 1 ? C ° Uld g °' * CouId not learn that one 

 was a Ew t a ' ° m the Prince t0 the tenant-farmer, 

 JWJ » box feeder ; nor do I believe that a single anima 

 t -K^^ be <* i" one of those^iscXd 

 after talth I ,?S w J be ™ g here, as I am in search 

 wt mSt tT-^ ° bhged if anv gentleman could 

 tJ^S and Inf °™ me what exhibitors were box 



SSfei" 



muck-making machinery is 

 ' kind of compost-making for 

 asts, a kind of hodge-podge 



Wd, hasten f- duties, we are 



« bo xes ; and so odoriferous 

 > iat Arabia's perfumes sc 



. .■ .. . .," 



***h ox thowrf ~°* int0 a bed of Violets or Roses, and 



- "MO a civet cat, by bolting that slippery 



gm h th ° 8edar k and dismal dungeons. Fi * 



But I must n n C J' 1,tl,,Pn! ' ll -« , -"'-"l--- 

 Son '» very obliging ij^* *f e f ev ' Sir Ge0rge Robin - 

 «**»«, as well as he/have adopled ^"S^^IS 



re improved in those boxes j but then a practice directly 



ambers more than if one person only adopted it. How 



Lined, too, that the thick black urinary liquid in a farm- 

 ard is better for cattle to drink than clear and s 

 ater. Nay, I have heard some affirm that it was 



entlemen at one period adopt for general practice 

 hieh at another period they all as strongly c 



another time all the urns are discarded as physic only 



The question therefore w 

 whether many or few, practis 



has been my guide ; and to all feede 

 stock, I say— Gentlemen, treat animals as you a 

 " place Nature nakedly before you. 



Sir George writes, that I de- 

 scribed the third tier of boxes I vis: 

 " porous soil ;" but my language was this, a part only 

 of the urine of cattle placed in such dungeons can b 

 absorbed by the straw that is under them ; the greate 



or sinks into a porous soil, or drains away and is los 

 In these words I think it will be perceived that I wa 

 referring to the box feeding system generally, and not t 

 any particular tier of boxes, and especially not to the 

 third tier previously described by me. Sir Georg< 

 - ^rees with an advocate of this system, 

 :. No. 48, 1848) 

 that he kept horses, colts, pigs, and two raa 

 dungeons; but Sir George dislikes my hav 

 duced a ■ fur " among them, whom after my 

 jocosely admitted into the menagerie with 1 

 and the bos ; but in doing so I considered hii 

 robber of Nature only, and not a common th« 



But, howei 



is box feeding 

 much I may lament with him *■ 

 dral stalls," I do most seriousl 



appropriately to Mr. Wai 



j with the Rev. Sir G 

 f cattle, and howeve 

 he fattening in Cathe 





limal odours. Of all 



n in our rural parishes, 



prolific of mischief as the introductio 

 [ pews, into our parish churches. " 

 , I think, has compared them to tl 







. .;-. 



be kept under the beasts, 

 Sir George Robinson was quite right in puddling 

 " ;s of his boxes, and erecting around them i 

 and impervi 



"'no^LTcian* 



r many months tog 

 o I acknowledge 1 



>ss which always iB floating in the 

 -made, well ventilated, and scrupulously 



stion in the husband 



^X 



man in his misery is subject. 



The vices of the poor ! How much of the severity of 

 our laws is to be attributed to the comfortable assurance 

 in the comparative impeccability of property ! Howhave 

 we sought to remedy the errors of education, check the 



poor ? The state has done little in this ; what things 



have been done, are to be found in the necessarily 



- of " ladies who have a taste " for weaning 



the evil from the evil of their ways, and whose lords 



ogre right. The 



roly has had its own way to deter from 



crime by punishment and example. I have seen soldier 



after soldier at the halberts till their comrades sank 



for the sufferings c 

 «>. a/' c\l\ 't'.'iss 

 the laisczfaire has been suffe 



, lor, perhaps s 

 his slight offence receives not the kindly admonition, 

 " go and sin no more ; " no Sinbad offers to carry him 



of property and poverty, 

 le disease of Sterne's travelle: 



the failin . 



'rashly to generality : and I am th< 



have known how frequently a regiment or a company 

 has acquired a bad reputation from a very few indif- 



eded rather ] 



racter of the Irish peasantry is fr 



and of capital employed in Ireland 

 foundation— on a few outrages com 



which "diny birds who delight 



Irishmen the amor patrice 

 have heard less of them, 

 ratively with the povert 



ready to blaze forth. 



neighbourhood. I do not recollect having been robbed 

 by one of my labourers, but I do recollect a young 

 labourer of mine detecting a thief stealing my Turnips, 

 which were tb. the neighbour- 



hood, compelling him to leave them, and refusing to 



and I lost no more. I must, however, admit I have 

 heard others complain, but they were generally close- 

 fisted fellows, even as regards their own interests. I 

 have known piece after piece of an old broken gate 

 carried away to boil the pot of Potatoes, but I have 







As speaking of more immediate and more mature 

 aowledge, I would rather confine myself to Ireland, but 

 believe it is equally true of all countries, that kindness 

 ill do more than severity. I speak from an experience 

 : 40 years, during many periods of which I have had 

 nail parties of men under military command, that the 

 lken cord of love will draw more than 



(0 years the only actual punishment I ever 



' "'cted was to put a soldier into the black hole for a 



;t. I will tell our rulers so to govern Ireland, 



they will find the " Irish difficulty" one of the most 



■ bice the people of this country— and they 



• k to promote 



velfare without any sinister regard to self, and 



With those kind-hearted correspondents of the Agri- 

 ■.Uural Gazette, which the editor has so judiciously 

 placed as commentaries on " S. S.'s " fillip, I would offer 

 "icts as proofs of the power 



