THE AGRICU 



v. avt 

 r uilt, 

 which were 



Th ill the dismantled cottages 

 be cottage-gardens be restored, 



gioners 



person 



Without the least doubt, and^hiwSttSei^T^ 

 prophecy, we feel assured, that reaping ni^U- m * 



soon becomo as o.nmmnnnc A A „n .i.-n b , a,,, Ufci w;i 



md the cottage-gardens be restored, he ^ n() j ourney to pay for in the course of the soon become as common as corn drills, and tin ^ Wi| 



taken a during the period of high , . . that t j ie wor k s w iil, under his able supervision, be constructed of all sizes to meet all wants, n-* ** 



' ' " --•*-**-—• I ^ -- - --— — - ^ — known that the stooping, consequent upon iLi ? ** 



ordinary way, is more than half the labour tP I V 



and 



themselves by their gardens, their orchards, 

 cows, pics, bee . poultry, and Flax or . Heni p; 

 bv occiional work for the large farmers in hay time 



The whole system of 



* 



f 



cat* 



[ture, and the extended 



y ? may he made to 



luhmter to improvement in the condition of the 



bour, permanent ana ^ Vn j 



quires u> oe remodelled ; and it may be ; remodel led 

 n that improvements in agriculture, and the extended 



agricultural 



be so skilfully executed, that no doubts can be enter- 

 tained as to the charge being unhesitatingly obtained, and 

 that the visits of Mr. Inspector, which at one time 

 appeared to have such terrors, are, owing to his 

 undoubted skill, limited to only two or three. In short, 

 that he is, fortunately for him, his own surveyor, his 

 own engineer, his own lawyer, his own agent ; and, pre- 

 eminent in each capacity, that his time, or his bailiffs, 

 cost nothing ; that he loses no interest of his monf- 

 employed during the progress of the works, and that 1 

 spends nothing in expenses, travelling or otherwise, 

 during the time. Until, however, the * Tenant for Life " has 

 proved satisfactorily that he can accomplish so much, I 

 must be permitted to observe that it appears like jesting • 

 to present, as the average total cost of drainage, an esti- 

 mate in which every one of these considerations is 

 omitted, and all such expenses treated as nought. The 

 "Tenantfor Life" has called upon me, on behalf of the Com- 

 pany of which I am a director, to omit these items in our 

 calculations ; will he, in the first instance, point out to 

 me the individual who ever built a house, drained 

 irm, or executed any human operation whatever, 

 requiring skill, supervision, and experience, involving at 

 the same time risk and the employment of capital, at the 

 bare cost of labour and materials ; in fact, the practical 

 error into which the "Tenant for Life " has fallen is, that 

 such items are either enhanced by the gross- estimate, 

 and that the mere cost of labour and materials is some- 



a farm 



agricultural 



LAND-DRAINING COMPANIES. 

 Owing to eiioflpmeiite, I have been obliged to delay 

 my reply 10 the letter of the "Tenant for Life;' pub- 

 lished in your Paper of August 2, in which fault is found 

 With me, been m m my letter, published on the 28th of 

 Jnne, I did not go more into detail as to the various 

 items of expense to be incurred in borrowing money of 

 the General Land Drainage and Improvement Com- 

 pany. The " Tenant for Life " says that I did not give 

 an Mmw<-v to his inwries u respecting the particular 

 charges to be incurred beyond the labour and materials 

 required for the purpoWB of draining land ; ■ but he 



ferrets that the letter of which he complains was called w _ _._ 



forth by.tho observations in your Leading Article, re- thing less, or that in every work they must be superadded, 

 ferrinz to the General Land Drainage and Improve- and swell the amount really to be paid. The Company's 



charges, which include every one of the matters above 

 alluded to, are embraced in a commission of lis. 6d. per 



in the case of drainage, and are clearly and 



important it must be that manual power shmiU t 

 with the greatest efficiency by I man wSwJJ 

 upright position. It may annear mpo^i.. * m 



i may appear excessively 



Then bo* 



PpBcd 



an 



8 pecnl^ 



five, when we venture to assert that reaping m.^- 

 will ere long be constructed to go bv mJm 5 ? cam « 



labour 



the subject. 



iciit 'Company, wherein yon stat< d, in reply to the 



t for Life," that, " if the existing drain 



age com- 



M f nan 



panies can relieve landowners from the trouble, risk, 

 and uncertainty of obtaining funds for the improvement 

 <rf their estates, the information weuld be of quite as 

 much practical value as a detail of the expenses incidental 

 to a (Government loan.**" Agreeing with you fully in this ' 

 opinion, J a! stained from entering into minute details 

 ;j -ting the various items of charges to be made by 

 the General Land Drainage and Improvement Company, 

 feeling mevvhat scrupulous as to the space in your 

 columns which would be required ; and thinking that in 

 pointing out the office of the Company, where the 

 %t Tenant for Life " might obtain an answer to every 

 query, and might have every point of doubt more fully 

 explained, and more effectually than was likely to be the 

 case in a single letter, he, or any one really seeking for 

 information, would, as a matter of course (in these days, 

 when locomotion is certainly not difficult), have made 

 his way as far as No. B2, Parliament-street, Westmin- 

 ster ; but it appears that the "Tenant for Life ".must 

 have everything ready made to his hand ; and, although 

 I have no hope of satisfying him, I will endeavour, if 

 jou can afford me the room, to point out where he is in 

 error. 



In his letter of the 17th May, the * Tenant for Life" 



drew a fearful picture of the host of lawyers, inspectors, 

 surveyors, and Government officials, through whom an 

 unfortunate owner of undrained land, without money in 

 his purse, would have to run the gauntlet before he 

 could hope to obtain the assistance required to put his 

 land into a proper sta for cultivation ; yet in his letter, 

 published August 2, we find the same "Tenant for Life" 



acre 



distinctly so stated in the printed rules upon which the 



Company undertake to proceed. Tt must be for the 



landowner to use his own judgment as to how much of 



this sum he might save by executing the works by his 



own servants, doing all the duties, and running all the 



risks incidental to the transaction, finding the money as 



the works proceed, and paying for all the inspections 



above described ; but I have no hesitation in expressing 



my conviction that, by throwing all these risks and 



burdens on a company, employing the powers of their 



act for obtaining outfalls and securing the completion of 



the works with skill and despatch, landowners will find 



it more to their interest, and more advantageous, to 



employ the Company ; and I believe it will be found, if 



every expense necessarily to be incurred is added to the 



account, even with the advantage of the Government 



loan at 6 J per cent., that very little difference in cost 



will be the result. It is difficult to give a statement of 



expenses applicable to every case, but it is evident 



from what I have before shown, that the average 



charge of lis. 6d. does not represent the actual 



profit of the Company, but includes various expenses 



from which no landowner can escape, even though he be 



his own surveyor, and employs his own capital, and does 



not come to the Company at all. As regards the 



Government loan, one part of the difficulty is to be 



found in the fact alluded to on a former occasion by 



the " Tenant for Life," namely, that money cannot be 



advanced until a portion of the works have been executed, 



and the certificate obtained ; and, as want of capital on 



the part of landowners generally obtains, the drainage 



companies, by advancing the money to set the works 



; going, do remove one great obstacle to agricultural 



improvement ; but where the landowner can obtain the 



required funds elsewhere, the companies axe prepared to 



lay it out for him to the best advantage. 



! have already trespassed at too great a length on your 



ment Commissioned charge would be M per c^ibr ' i°-? " ?* "? t ^f* by ^'^ the " Tenant for 

 22 years, clearing principal" and interest ;%h us drawin" j ^ ** "** ^ "* mformati ™ which cannot be riven 



iddenly enamourc .. _„_...„ 



opposition to that of the Drainage Companies, and, with- 

 out having made any application to the proper source 

 of information, declaring that « Mr. Shelley's Company 

 extends the time to 50 years, and lends money for build- 

 ings and roads, as well as for drainage ; and, I think, I 

 have heard the charge would amount "to 8^ per cent, for 

 years," having previously stated that the Govern- 



a most unfeir comparison between the two. It is much 



gretted that a statement so unfair to the drain- 



any liiiui -uiauuu wmen cannot oe giv 

 m any letter of reasonable dimensions at the office of 

 the Company. John Villiers Shelley, Mctresfield Pari, 

 Sussex. A uaust 1 L 



likely 



cultural improvement, should have been made withrat 



due consideration and inquiry. If the « Tenant for 



■Lite will refer to the published tables of the Comninv 



he will find that the annuity for SOveJiJ fm^hoT^ I ? raiea . mact »" e was exhibited at work on the ( 



amount) 



THE AMERICAN REAPING MACHINE. 

 Royal Agricultural College, Ang. 22.— This cele 

 - A - J machine : .:.li:„: „„ „Jk „ . ullc 



under 



Ptl ^~ - ± i« -^ — wmuju, ii Kitting iX little O^ 



v ZtT SL VT' instead of 8 & er cent > 



ne states. Uoes he fnmrp* iU~ ~x *x- _ ' 



over laid, and standing corn, 

 as 



in his 



tlie money 

 drainers U 



The machine performed its 

 work well on standing com, both on level and undulat- 



proprietor bavin* to a dv*n„ e the SL£n^ b lJ^ * e ^^ 2 1 ^ ° r ™ Uch 



Lion S 7 ' A ^° rk WaS im P erfe <% Performed 



ration The prvnciple of the implem ' 



- eoin<r •» ana ™„ iT 1 "? P erf ^ Gt] y correct, and no doub 

 that the companies in questioV n^W^iS 1 %!****** and . comUti .°^ of crops will soon be effected 



— — f ■ 



an^ perform 



- 

 before 



con.es, strips the loan of half 5^™!?^^™ The ^'««>^ of the implement, however, seems to be 

 mostly wanted to set the thin- ? nin„ •» „„,?' ! f*™R perfectly correct, and no doubt but the details of admsf.in* 



no doubt but the details of adjusting 



r— «>, »«. u„,v,ue oracuc-ii »J rea P er ' **}* now is > is capable of cutting down 1 



carry on the operations I In sett in" down the S"" ** WUh ^° . h ° V8es and two meD ' of ^»^y 

 TTr M& .? m '^ meat ^^3per C ent.^^ tbus would affect a saving of 2 



the "Tenant for Life" seems to be so delisted does he l J^ T • k BP ^ be ^T era S e P rices of *« country, for 



imagme that n . ^ to^teZrT^i 3^" ^ S^ h °° k ' W SC J the ' The ^£ 



fta havrtig obtamed a loan of the Government ^for 500Z 7Z f ™V T0Vei rf constructed so as to deliver the 



he « correct ,n proceeding to deal wiZTlof as The SZE"? ° T^i ^T' manual labour - » would 



...,, . . JZL** ^° » «d t W jSESt2^* «?* «* »« P^ble for 

 tfce work sup 

 no «igmee ng 

 they do, he or ] 

 no comingene\ 



i + i a-* mi i 8° b y manual aod W 



and that it will be as common to seeTJ2! 



driving his ox or his ass in a reaping machi£T* 

 to see men, women, and children now, stoopi D2 in' * 

 unnatural position, reaping with the sickle which ^ 

 been handed down to us from the remotest ages 



The advantages of reaping machines are too numero* 

 to discuss. The celerity of performing so muck lahZI 

 in so short a time, at so little cost, with so few baniT 

 enough to recommend every agriculturist's attention to 



To attempt to meet the objections of thoi» 

 who carp about machinery destroying labour, woaldbl 

 useless. We would just remind the most prejudiced 

 that every innovation upon old plans has met with »! 

 treme opposition, and that the great and indiBpen^hfc 

 necessity of many improvements ha-s only forced them 

 onwards. Within the last century, within the last few 

 years, how many generally admitted improvements in 

 crops, and by machinery affecting agriculture, have been 

 introduced ? It is not 20 years ago since mobs of 

 labourers collected in various parts to destroy threat^ 

 machines. What is the opinion generally of threshing. 

 machines now ? Within the last 20 years, drilhV and 

 draining have become common. Within the past 80 

 years, the power of steam has become known. Withii 

 the past 20 years railways have established themselv*. 

 Within the past 12 years artificial manures have beei 

 generally introduced ; and within the next half-a-do2en 

 years, we may expect steam reaping-machines, aod 

 steam-ploughs ! 



The college has been visited latterly by many 

 foreigners of distinction interested in agricultural pro- 

 gress. Among these the most prominent, Baron Liebig, 

 the celebrated Giessen chemist, honoured the college 

 with a visit on Wednesday last. Shortly before 2 

 o'clock Baron Liebig arrived at the college, attended by 

 Dr. Daubeny and several friends (of the Oxford Pro- 

 fessor's), and was received by the Principal, the Rev. T. 

 T. Haygarth, and the Professors. After having pv- 

 taken of some luncheon at the Principal's house, the 

 company inspected the college buildings. The laboratory 

 and lecture theatre engaged Baron Liebig's first atta* 

 tion, who expressed himself highly satisfied with both, 

 particularly with the capacious and well furnished room 

 of the first. The natural history museum and anato- 

 mical collection, which are so favourably progreflsiui, 

 were next inspected by the Baron, and met with his 

 approval. Mr. VaJlentiue, the farm manager, then con- 

 ducted Baron Liebig to the farm-buildings and some tf 

 the adjoining fields, and explained to him, as much as it 

 was possible in the short time which the Baron couftj 

 devote to his visit, the system of management of the 

 fattening stock, the course of cropping followed on tie 

 farm, and the use of several agricultural unplemeij 

 which are brought in operation on the farm ?™ "■■ 

 advantage. At about 5 o'clock Baron Liebig left w 

 college, with the intention of calling at the couej 

 boarding-house, in order to inspect some Roman m- 

 quities collected by Prof. Buckmann. 



The Duke of Bedford, Earl Bathurst, Earl of Jers* 

 Earl of Suffolk, Lord Forrester, Lord Andover, wo 

 many other distinguished noblemen, interested in a§ 

 culture, examined the college farm and M tornn» 

 reaping machine, on Friday last, and were very d^J 

 pleased with all they saw. Count de Gourcy ; nw 

 Komers, Councillor of Agriculture, Prague ; ^2. 

 hardt, Professor of Chemistry, R. A. College, IWJg 

 in Saxony ; Lord Kinnaird, and several other ww 

 gentlemen and practical farmers have paid spec.* 

 to the college, during the past few weeks. JJ?v 

 instance, after a careful examination into the ^coiis ^ 

 and working of the establishment, the wi tw» ^ 

 expressed astonishment at the amount of lniorm ^ 

 be obtained by students at so moderate a c&arg . ^ 

 general management of the college farm, as ^ ^ 

 going on, combining neatness with economy, an g^y 

 of experiments, without expense, commende \\W ^ 

 to the notice of those who wish to learn to becc > tf 

 intelligent landlords, practical and science *°^fy 

 farmers. There is, we feel convinced, no otner ^ ^ 

 ment which embraces so many profes sors n I^V^s 

 filled ; and the great surprise only is, that tuw 

 here offered are not more generally apprecia 



cost 



that the draining is to he planne^the levels TakTn Td b f g F™^ ^ P Iace to P !ace trough gateways 



.erintended hv hW.'f JSft&^tZt 9 **^ ^ mi ? ht also he imp^d 7tL 



ame, no failure oee« r } that the 

 h,s banker's to pay the' workmen 



lawyer, all that is required for the pun> S?±2 



a 



purpose of executing 



LioveT*^ 8 M Cl0 & eil W ™?*™My with straws, 

 al^?i ,,V Mor f? ver " he draft °f Ac machine would 



efflt^ ?"• ?° W the8e *»iP«»«mtB are to be 



effected we do not presume to enter upon • hut doubt 

 ZZtT r? T US impkmellt — '-turers wi ^ 



find out how to correct every easy-to-bc-seen defect. 



Home Correspondence. ^ 



Draining.— Mr. Wilkins is no doub f t ^riculW* *f 

 much engaged in the practical part oi ■»» ^ ^ 

 attend to the theoretical ; but I have no ' ", ((;a ff)a* 

 notice the two challenges contained in tne - . ffcl4? ,. 

 Gazette, No. 3"2, relative to deep draining ^ ^5 



Tn case this Meets his eye before he ngf" ^tH**? 

 instructive pen, let me once again renu» , et tbro# 

 simple question is t'ais-IIow is the water tog^, Itl3 

 so great a depth of solid clay down to tne ^ 



notorious tinat if you dig a hole am m ^t 



what you replace therein will, if P« 8lb, , e »J fi H ttas *£ 

 than fore. If be reply that you must 1* g(jfff . 



with loose penetrable matter, then 1 »} ^ t0 sD<" 

 the entire question. I would suggest w 







