364 
mr. Norton’s letters. 
Mr. Norton’s fetters. 
As I find myself once more upon this side of the 
Atlantic, I shall take pleasure in renewing, accord¬ 
ing to your request, an occasional, if not a regular 
correspondence. My time in Holland during the 
Coming year, will be almost entirely engrossed in 
the pursuit of my chemical studies, but opportuni¬ 
ties will undoubtedly present themselves for the 
communication of anything interesting to your 
readers, that may fall within the range of my ob¬ 
servation either in the laboratory or on the farm. 
Before our ship had reached the docks at Liver¬ 
pool, I received an invitation from a Scotch friend, 
Mr. Girdwood, to visit him at his new home in 
North Wales, about 40 miles from Liverpool. As 
it was a part of the country which I had never 
visited, I determined to spare a day in compliance 
with his request. From Chester to Chirk, the 
place of Mr. Girdwood’s residence, a distance of 22 
miles, I rode on the top of a coach, and thus had 
an opportunity of enjoying some of the most beau¬ 
tiful scenery that I have ever observed in England. 
The face of the country is agreeably undulating, 
with high bare mountains rising in the background. 
The hedges are very luxuriant, and a sufficiency of 
noble trees are scattered about to give a finish to 
the view. The number of gentlemen’s seats is very 
great, this being a favorite region. The Marquis 
of Westminster has a magnificent place, with a 
straight avenue of three miles in length, lined with 
trees, running up to the house from the high road. 
I was particularly struck by the fine appearance 
of the grass along my whole route ; it was close, 
thick, and beautifully green. It is no doubt better 
than usual this year., as the summer has been a 
warm and dry one, so that the undrained fields 
have enjoyed the most favorable conditions. Now 
that the rains have commenced, a great breadth of 
the country shows the want of drainage, a branch 
of farming in which this section is particularly de¬ 
ficient. I saw some of the finest fields of turnips 
imaginable, one of about 40 acres would yield at 
least 25 tons to the acre. This must not be consi¬ 
dered as a fair specimen of Welsh agriculture, 
which is notoriously inferior. 
Mr. Girdwood has recently become the agent of 
an immense property, more than 20 miles in extent, 
and will no doubt gradually introduce most of the 
features of that improved system of agriculture 
which he has so successfully practised on his own 
farm in the Lothians of Scotland. He has taken 
one very large and neglected farm under his own 
supervision, and will proceed to drain, subsoil, and 
otherwise improve it, so as to form an example for 
the rest of the property. Improved implements are 
much required. There are immense coal mines on 
the estate, one of the beds being 18 feet in thick¬ 
ness. The lime quarries are als.^ worked to a very 
great extent, 120,000 tons were raised and burned 
last year. This is in great part used for agricultu¬ 
ral purposes, and is transported on the Ellesmere 
canal, which passes within a short distance of the 
quarries. A railway now building from Chester, will 
still farther increase the advantages of the property. 
Mr. Biddulph, the owner of this wide domain, 
has also what are called manorial rights over the 
whole county; that is, he has a right to everything 
that is under the surface. He may sink a shaft for 
coal or lead in the middle of any gentleman’s gar¬ 
den, on merely paying him for the extent of surface 
occupied by the mouth of the shaft, and the build- 
ings which it may be necessary to erect about it. 
Chirk Castle, Mr. Biddulph’s residence, is a 
building of immense extent, and great antiquity. 
The rooms are very superb, and the repairs and 
improvements now going on, must cost from 
£60,000 to £70,000, or about $300,000. Many 
hundred acres are devoted to a deer park, where 
there is a herd of 600 deer. Some of the stags are 
of great size, with noble branching antlers. 
My stay in W ales was too short to admit of 
those particular inquiries into their agriculture and 
systems of cropping, which I could have desired. 
It was easy to see, however, that they were far 
from perfection, and that deeply-rooted prejudices 
were abundant. There is much more hope of our 
country than of such districts as these, where their 
practices, founded on the habits of many hundred 
years, have become almost sacred. 
I had no idea until I landed in this country, of the 
extent to which the potato disease has prevailed. 
In many districts, the destruction seems to be 
almost entire. The factor of Islay, one of the 
Western Hebrides, told me a few days since, that 
there were not enough potatoes for seed left in the 
island; he had seen none upon his own table for 
some time. Many of the crops were not lifted at 
all, but the starving poor were allowed to pick over 
the fields and save what they could. The popula¬ 
tion of the island is about 17,000, and of these a 
very large proportion depend almost entirely upon 
potatoes for their food. The factor said they must 
starve without assistance from government. The 
price of potatoes here in Edinburgh is 25 cents per 
peck. In Ireland, as you have doubtless heard, the 
destitution is becoming frightful. A general move¬ 
ment of the whole disposable military force thither* 
has taken place within a few days, as in some coun¬ 
ties the people are proceeding to violence. In other 
laces there have been gatherings of men who 
ave marched peaceably to their landlords and 
asked what they should do to avoid starvation. On 
assurances of relief the poor creatures have quietly 
dispersed. 
The demand for our bread-stuffs must be enor¬ 
mous during this winter, particularly for Indian 
corn. We are highly favored with an abundant crop, 
and it is to be hoped that by the energetic measures 
which the British government are now adopting, 
a sufficient supply will be procured from us and 
others, to avert the unspeakable horrors of famine. 
Edinburgh, Oct. 16, 1846. John P. Norton. 
Above, we have the gratification of laying before 
our readers the first of a second series of letters from 
Europe, by our excellent friend, Mr. Norton. Suf¬ 
ficient funds having been recently donated to Yale 
College, to establish a professorship of Agriculture 
in that venerable institution, Mr. N. was appointed 
to it, and sailed from this port on the 16th of last 
September, with a view of passing another year in 
Europe, in order to better fit himself for assuming 
the duties of his station. 
