The National Register. — London, England, 1818-09-27 00:00:00

trbr aifoinal *ltolititry ' Ou ing, Confititution alai t aivl. No. 555.—V0L. XI. ON AGRICULTURE, 4c. speech delivered Ly the President of the Workington Agricultural Society, J. C. CURWEN, Esq. M.P. 03 the Distribution qi the Premiums at Ike Annual Meeting, on Friday, Aug. 21,1818. The President with great animation congratulated -the Society on the generally improved state of the country since the last meting :—that agriculture, ma mufactures, and commerce, were in a more prosperous condition than during the preceding two years, were undoubtedly true—but whether they were likely to be permanently so, was s question of infinite import ance to every individual in the empire. All that energy and ability can effect will ant be wanting on the part of the people. That Great Britain possessed knowledge aad capital beyond all ether cations, watild ant be question ed ; but as a counterpoise, she was hardened with taxation doable in martinet to that of any other civilized state in Eu rope. The agzregate of government taxes, divided among the whole population, exreerls ti. per head yearly; the con• sequence of which is, that the necessaries of life here are higher in 'slice than in any territory oa the co:stint/it. Many attributed the national improvement to the ilisenreinnance of the property tax, the war tax on malt, and a mitigution of the taxes on aericieltistol horses; little attention, however, is requisite to perceive, that this is not the case—for the pre sent amount of the taxes, compared with the present actual aggregate income of the country, is as nearly as possible the rite, Hating the war Cie income of the cmintry was esti mated at 413,030,0001.—The taxes at one fifth amount to 80,000,0901. stertice. The depreciation in the eater of all kinds of property. which followed the conclusiaa of the war, struck off one quarter part of the income of the people.— TOa rejection in lanonr, that great soutce of the wealth of nations, tell from ltig to 120 millions—the land mid the ite terel riotnoterce of the country tell about 40 millions mire— striking off at once 100 millions; then the propoi that which the reduced mitatton bore to the income was the same. The inlineuce of the voice of Cie people on Parliament abolished the property tax ; bat had it failed, that oppressive lax could not in future base been collected. That the agrictiltare, the mannfactures and commerce of the country have revived, there can be no question; tint important one rests behind. Has prosperity generally Mr fluted itself through all ranks and orders? Does the price of laMmr bear a due ptoportimi in value to that at which the uecessariesof life are held up ? Certaiuly not. And yet an iaerease it, the iitliontere wages cannot, it is to be zipper ltended, take place, without hi Urging ou the countly, and the great body of the people, more grievous all 'rings titan what they at present endure. One thud of British luaeutisetui es rocs to the wieldy of foreign states; the fornishiag of which even& solely stud entirely no the cheapness of Lemur ; the they means by which we are etiabhel to compete with other count' irs. Advance labonr, and the looms will cease to work! Can any ronatry be said to be in a prosperous couJi- Gin when the working ela.sses are to a state of sitffering?— 'lime intelligence, exellittus, ann capital of the country are capable of doing 11; tint they cannot effect impussibi ; they wili t ease tissue tolovi :dive int:melee with the agri• cultiwist, the manufacture'', the merchant, and mechanic, in faciiitatitig the gelietal prosperity, but they cannot theisedi. ately.improve she condition of the labouriog classes. A ee. thictioa in the expenditure of oucecilincui, which would pro gressis rly reduce the present enormous -taxation, ran alone restore the empire to a sound -state. The difficulties are great, hat are not physical impossibilities—they must be met, o r yngen. and vanquished. The voice of the people is compe tent to the task—they must be heard and respected. Many, very many eve ti,e his ethres of our itsimitable cutistitution !- 111cre is no one tinder the sun cotvarable to it—but grievous and iusuppurtable is the weightBEolllde burdens. The tem• perate, yet lirm demands of the •peopie, can alms. Protein that sy•teiii of wasteful extravagance which has Wilhelmd such general sntfuring. The true barometer of national prosperity exists not iu the spletelonmof palaces, nor can its phenotic na acre ascertain the happiness of the lower, or the prosperity Si, the middle ranks. A few may be in easy eiduciece, bit the ;ir, 'minting file greatest privations. -rhc ricc,iiiicift monk an weeasion tur say. that he felt it an imperious ditty to advert to what be coottetsed to he the real slate of the country. The Jaeger exist, not its txtuluting the aztual condition of the empire, but it being derelved by fille r:oils represoutatioas and ileiusive relics—it is certainly more awe:hole to dotter by partialstaternents, than to Ming nuttier review ilisaererahle truths. Dieclaiming nil advocacy el ear. ty, it Was the -piens which the Pi esigteut rept utiated—J system wi t ch all Nlinisters, be they vsboz, flees inay, were compel have meters,: to, and must so &ewer,. their COW INC( 61111•1 the represmitetion ut the people- reinviis as it is at present. 'Otis impure source, whence most of the poled cattail- Il ice s t cave Ise ilitelorril by all good men tia.ing A jail PlettPe of their own analieaaave Certatit it is, Ott no permanent adv.oitace rail accrue to the country tili time mien' of all our political evuo ye dispiessienately geoid tiered and wisely duce essay. 'flits hasty review of the v 41141413 Of the casualty (the übsirved) berau.e tieesieutry fur tile pre 'time u 1 liriagteg teeter Co al A!...11 a ledrit ctltilblettity colon-me., Kith the morel of Outs ituttltuttott.— It Is tilt us 14..1 lit tle;i"e7. ate aid i,ll•et ea the caused iliat upteeicil so dodder. so ruiglay, so %s al 4,1111 g a eitsts,,c it) tile genii-1 slat. of agricatime. It ea& argot eimien,wil that tee lineal a capilai had bei a, 1 ,;,,y •a in i,ashasitliy —that issue prv.dae .errses !seeded thir • ,il , ll steer the waste of war 11A , in Thlseponois twit been e-.ett -tell by the Presolent, woo ha . weed in the House. C-armors, lion it was the sudden mid tkit •riatiaa.roluctien of the eiectelatiog medium whiels had SUNDAY, SEPTEMI3EIt 27, 1818. - 1 _ paraliged every effort of the people, every operation of the state —the adoption of the bank rush ietion had a and ten or el iinmediateeffeet in every branch of nailonal wealth —pro!lice and lahour were soon doubted in value; for such was the now:oiled enufilleare in paper currency, that banks mud bank eetes sprang up like mushrooms user the whole empire ; which circulation, though originating a secret and inveterate di....ease. was mistaken for some time as a tymr tom of rosin-- city. The nioinent a check was given to this system, the nation adopted a conduct in direct opposition to that which it had pursued for the previous eighteen years —receding from Indic:ended confideacos, and adopting letietal distrust—pro • dare fell to prices that scarcely compensated far the lanoar of its production—the red:le:het in the value of farming stork was equal to 50 or 60 milliona—the crudest ceased to be for price, but for a purchaser at *ay rate float could he ohtained. The quantity at Ulalktt wit! intatuken for a seperabuta!atot sua ply. Tile experienee of the laid two years /eine...yid the Presi. dent) has lamentably proved the fallacy ofsucio t, seppoeition. The importation of corn in the year 1814:i was equal to a tont- lion and a half of quarters—that of 1317 to two millions and half, the last Aix mouth., greater than any f ree , &nl perictl of eqtral dire !don. Since the year 1766, wait the exception of but one short interval, we litter never ceased to be la; s'e porters of cola. in the last two years and a half we have p a id t o for e ign countries not less than ten millions for grain and flour. It has often been contended that ail io, well if we purchase these articles of food, by the exportation of our own manutictures. Bat how are the purchasei• of food a n d the buyers of clothing and other utaxitfectures, citcumstaneedwith respect to each other The former must purchase, the latter may take the goods or not as it anita his interest and couve nience—these must be cheaper or better, or Ile will resort to other markets—there is no reciprocity between the parties. No country can be said to be in a state of aeciu ity that de pendAl.trgtly ea foreign supplies for the food of its people. Hence it must be evident that there is an ample tield for agricultnral exertions, foe above a twelfth part of the con euniption is still wanting. to most parts of the kingdom the system of Agrienlture is capable of great improvement. It is an object ut the highest national impoi; aneo to lessen the necessity of such large anneal importations of corn and dour—destructive not only of national wealth, hut injurians to the substantial comfort of the labouring classes. who suffer greatly from the frequent flortuating priers of blond. The must likely means of ac complishing, in some degree, what is so desirable in the ge neral Itesbandry of the country, would be the introduction and extension of green crops in all pails of the empire. We might then hope to see a much smaller proportion of the best lands in the kingdom applied to grazing. On a fair review of what may be deeepol the probable average price of wheat, there scents tie likelihood that it can be grown with ad. vantage on soli-. of inferior frailty. It would toot be thought ' ptauleat for any farmer to risk a crop of a heat, stimuli in a tolerably good season, was not likely to produce twenty.two Winchester hotshots per acre. The corn bill has had an importance and an oblogny at. tacked to it which it dues cwt merit ; it neither has become. nor is it likely to prove. any protection to :i:e growers of grain. Toe ports have hitherto, and will in all probability, be generally open to importation. TM: measure was mute calculated to promote the vh•vvs of (lo vet oni en t, than the in wrests of agriculture—the (hm, attending the bill was ins potted to the farmer and loodholder—Got eritment lout itself to the core bid to serve its own pll9lll.4Ca to be enabled to levy the Lives— suet ced in which, the value ut land must be kept nit. The policy we are nttempting is, to reconcile eontradietions, to keep up the wattle of ?and and its products at a rate tench above that of every other nation, nod at the Imam time to he able to manufacture fur them. The attempt is not likely pet mancntly to succeed—it is neither calculatool to promote agriculture, nor to support the numnfactuires of Britain. In a shot t time we shall be c o mpelled so adapt a system of ecoolooty and reduction iu espen.litisre—till these prudential Me:emir% are resorted to, it will be vain to hope that the necessity thr the itnpoi wive of graia will cease. In the last sessions of Pal Insolent, chteets of great national inipoititaCe caatellattrUthaellaSiOn. he peer laws occupied • much ;Men: tun. It is tench to be regret 00l theta hill which came before the Howse was, from thug to time s an altered us to prevent its passim: into a law. the importance ns the etiaject—the indispensable necessity of applyina a remedy, was endrereally felt, in and out of Parliament ; the mineird lea: ure in selach most lie, by wise s eaulations, to primal pa rer 4 tastes:4e praidingfor U. • It is to be hoped that a coma tomes-teem of efforts will Its. ream:teed in the next saiuntou this must interesting sottoject. 'flue evil Is of too long stood itm, and bas become ton inveterate, to be con retool by sem inary proceetliugs—titre mind be allessed to bantam*: better re-potations, and to alreliali time abuses w hie ) hat e term) stier• honed by more than two centuries. Heavy assist. burden ut poor rates no in this county, it Is light when compared with the assessments in the South, where the whets- roral popula .ian is pauperised by the selfish, illiberat, tied townie pruetice of combining the wages of Latiunr with the rates for the poor : this ',nary has been ado' tell for Coe purpose of distinguishing the bachelor footle the married man, mod liks the famesitabie etfert of dcpri.mg the roomer of those Cairo- Mr a Welts by due ileotottley, woulol eaeule hi te at a proper period, to Irate made a pieviai .... tar the usatataiptanee of a lamily, and the eujuya.out orthat state v hull Is youtomplated by Alt as the cuitiplet ion of 1111:0.116 Implotbeas. Those a the spirit tied itiolepeed..uey, wiueb form. die hada of our ua• 114)041 character—on which vitt Hatton:it probity& aty tests, early do eradril. am! soon anvils aids emit lay dem ro)o.d. Oa .be preset venire Of mitiviolota I itelea-emlenes end I,eede.me de -1.111 ...wet tinily over every other coutile.). Too chemist) —to piece: ve these toesritimble oog et t o b e rile Alai) and mot Or tiu•erittneet.-- fiats tick. b a se th ose n a . taus boast of itidtviolual seettlity or the stability of t' it Ueite. maul a, winch depend mu minter, deepotisui f PitiCE During the last sessions of Parbalm nt. all object of p ?at importance to the Inishandry of the country was achieved, in the reduction elf duties on rock salt, as far as it regards agra cultural !meioses. In the preceding year the dot t y wag lowered to 101. a ton ; lint the restrictions with which it a•as fettered, and by which alone it voila he obtained, prevented it being avaqoble. Light tous only were ail that was sold under the reduced ditty, five of which came to the SCIIOOka Farm. It is now reduced to five pounds a ton, nod the in. coavenient reytrietions on obtainine it dune away. Its im portance to stock of all descriptions is beyond chat m 3 y be in the general contemplation of those interoated ►n the lim• Landry of the enottry, for there is well founded season to believe the advantages reliable of being derived to the stork alone by ita general use, would amount to three millions Donnelly. ?be salteep are.eempnted at thirty millions. Now if any advantage at a/1 t►y its use is derived, that adiantaoe cannot Lc rated, yearly, at leas IMP sixpence per teed in the prevertien of disease, and in the iinprovement of carcase and wool. This would ornonut to 750,0001. Six millions and a hail of cattle benefited by use, 3s. per hi ad annually,w °old prodneelie2 ,0001.; and a and a halfel horses, taken at 10s. each, would gibe/50,000 more—making an aggregate sum in savour of its ate, of 3.1g3,0001. Grea t as is this estimate of edvautage, and little as it was io the contempiollou of the Committee, it Ilea its desired alert and iiitinence. 'the flock of South Downs at the Schouse has Leen much admired. The lambs and shearlings celled for sale have been rallied and sok! at improvel price? ; and experience there has jnstilied the opinion in favour of the use of salt, whicit has been given ill the proportionof two entices weekly per head to each ; for out of 0.50 sheep and lambs slot one lies been lost storing the last five month?. llorses and full grown cattle are Oven tour ounces a day-- to calves and yotiag stuck from two to three conces are foam) sutficitnt, The cor.ditizo..ef sheep, anti obtl i t. u o. given geneial satisfaction to the meeting. and merest) to these who had opportntiiiies of daily witnessing their progress' e improvement. With respect to the application of sal: to ;oil_ vender, it makt s inferior food available, and may possibly on many occasions he advaistagi ously applied in the sb..:kiag of bay. The President here embraced the opportimity of tecca. , - mending the mo of *Alt in the highest terms, and oh'..ringly offered a supply to the ueitlihouring aentlenten A nd #. 1 , 17] ... 1 ... as he pur t iosed to become a cow:der:ollc importer. 11 , then proceeded to state the very great satisfaction he had eerie< from the report of the viewers—Mr. Harris, Jon. of !bet el-mks, Mr. Atkinson, of Bassentliwaite, and \I . Jat kuun, of Chapel-House These gentlemen had etiieiated in the stone capacity some years ago. The iinprovcinents already made, and the prospect of their ea:en:don in all parts of the roomy, are reported by these gentlemen infinitely to have exceeded their expeciattoos. 1:Ise increase of green crops leas tea to one of whoa acre observed on their former inspection—flee fillUWll ate mach iogtree ed iu cleanness, and the general at tvatiUll which seemed to be paid to every other concern, greatly surpwrsco what had befure b. en exhibited, and V:114 highly conniiewlable, while a a mend spirit of emitlation ap peared to be diameti and rapidly spreading throughout the comity. Such merited encomiums accompanying the impar tial representations of gentlemen CO ei h inenny pial,f2 N d to distinguish and to judge of the state of agrimiltare, cannot bat he as highly gratifying to the meeting as it is taint le t o the patties, who are taus jtidie.owly anti benefit-lady eon. ducting tht ia• farms; in addition to which, without presnmp titunAly arregating inure dam that to which the institution is justly entitled, troll) its unwearied exertions, I secret indi vidual ieelieg of congratulation may be indulged in, fur contributing to the happy Minn° so highly creditable to in dividuals, and so beneficial to the community. alas is the importance of agricultui e—mtieta as it emit 'Amite , : to the bap piness, prosperity, and wealthrtilf natioh,—it cationt perma neinly suc'ce'ed anti Nourish filisout the assistance 01 MOOT factures and comine.ce. If, as it is tab!, one individual to mule:attire is capal2k of raising Mod for six, tic° 11146 of the male popalation mast seek employ:neat ts min r vocations. Agriculture imilmibtedly furnishes the Inter, but it is IlianUflC- Imes and cuitituerze that must raise the pitaidid edifices of the eulate. Tire Board of Agriculture has thought it proper to give premiums to tits: different Agricultural Societies in the king dom, tur the best cultivated farm in their respective disniets. Tlisv moils of attention in the Board has produced a very spirited rallatention. The fortunate claimant is the Rev. John Henson, bf St. Helen's, who has, by great perseverance, and admirable cuisine, made a we, y inferior bail soil highly productive, and that with the exercise of such judgment u promises to make an simple retort,. 't he competitors fur the Hoard's premium had great merit. Cuu►mt•uda!iau cannot be too amply bestowed on the toren of 3lr. Sallilleg Riggs, ten.kut to the Earl of Lunsdale, ut Abbey Town. Mr. Uhl, of Croft budge, bat, by his jorlicienis and extrusive experi. merits, set an example to his neighbourhood of Mil:rite lin portance,—also Mr. D)kes, whose spirited exertions have often rockived the rewards of this Surlily. The stork brought for exhibition this year to the Sehoste firm sire fewer in number (Iwo on former occasions. This had filly but ii canceled. The phoir.sure of the lon4lloined or natii.e chile know these is a Strom,: prejudice oguinst *limn, %et lht short-burned rattle ale slot w animbeas sufficient to tirothiee touch petition. The losig.lioriied have this year obtained the premium'. Their . at t• guud . c.ilite of every b ree d, OM a pi epossession at the brhiss.se L i a m h a . ti k vii pldre iIIC Ebel I •1111rItell, ittltel lite g ci, : r 4 l finis in uhiris the stock their 1* otrr,t,h held. Nine or the i!lort 1.44 ew.l heifttb,,hied el the !whims.% is;sse been wid at 21 11i...AA Tacit to lie ant to Irrlat.d. lt.e Pi e *isl ent +rusted eitiniit do motto lo ittellSirtli AS O s ell 4410 the illtiAltletat of 1,,e Slant poreto.t a. Mr. Roper. Polk) .5114 ;re'l'ate, oll:ti SIIII•Iiiy Neigh NINI him to Is cetiog Nail and iiierhy Terry OASIS e of that comer) ! Ossi local isrosowity jr .dell4l. lied Oitil that of Mcleod. Thu turportance id out aioter • 6°. 1 • 1 • 4.,