The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1877-05-15 00:00:00

AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

A curious fact is said to he established about
hereditary markim.,ss. That in Ayrshire and Highland
rattle calves are occasionally Ir..pped, having their
ears marked rt 3 if cropped by the shears.

The subject of agricultural sales conducted on total
abstinence principles has at various times occupied
attention in the columns of the Agricultural Gazette.
Doubtless it is a subject on which much may be said
pro and coo, for whereas a lemonade, ginger beer, or
soda water sale might be pleasant enough on a hot day
in summer. limagine that at autumn and spring sales
most attendants at such would prefer a "drop f the
real craytnr." There is one great objection to
luncheons and liquors at sales, and that is the expense
entailed upon the vendor. This, again, must
necessarily be regulated by the situation of the farm,
its distance from a tram, hotels, &c.; for I opine that
few man who have travelled a long distance, and who
came into a salp ring with an empty stomach, would
be cheerful bidders. The above remarks have arisen
from a circumstance which occurred at recent sale in
the North of England. The rattle were good and well.
bred, the company large, and of the right buying sort,
but the day was bitterly coil—so much no that in the
course of an hour's sitting round the ring circulation
in the human body seemed suspended, and a torpor
and apathy appe,arel to pcia.ens all alike. The
auctioneer, a gentleman at the head of his profession,
exerted all his well-known eloquence—in vain, and
cattle which had cost the owner three figures, • herd
which bwi been brought together by the labour and
excellent judgment of nearly a lifetime, were going to
the butchers for less than fair butchers' prices. The
auctioneer was in despair, and an ominous cloud had
settled on the features I,f the vendor, when a friendly
reporter at the elbow id the former whisered, "Try
what a few bottles of whiskey will effect.' The hint
WM a once acted upon. The whiskey had been in
readiness, and its non-productian was simply owing to
forgetfulness. The effect was magical. Circulation
wws restored. The glass ran out to fair values, and,
in place of butchers, breeders became purchasers.
"Those who run may read." There was no exceas,and
no fancy prices, the fruit of distemperel imaginations;
but a threatened misfortune to the vendor was averted,
and I doubt not but that every bottle sif whiskey was
worth to him its weight in guineas.—R.

Dr.'.T. Hitching (Heworth, York) writes to the
Daily Nur.t "that Mr. Flower gave a lecture in York
on the 17th inst.. illustrated with plates on a large
s'ale, and with all manner of bits. The audience was
very large, comprisin4 besides many gentlemen, calr
proprietors, &c., a larm„ number f coachmen, grooms,
and driven.. The horse-manager of the North-
Eastern Railway Company stated that they, as well
as the 'Midland Company, had abolished bearing-reins
on all their draught-horses, and great interest and
attention accompanied the earnest appeal and clear
expositions of the lecturer, whose visit to York will be
long remembered."

At a meeting of the Teviotdale Farmers' Club, to
consider the operation of the Game Laws, Mr. Scott,
Burnhead, thus delivered himself :—" I cannot com-
plain much of ravage.; by game, but I do complain of
ravages by dogs. On Sabbath days there are about
100 clogs prowling about my farm, and during the week
about 30 every day.' These remarks, the reporter
assures the public, were received with "much
laughter."

C.d. W. \V, Hollister might as well, while he is
about it. buy the whole of 4'slifonlia. He already
owns 75,000 acres f that blooming State. On his
Santa Barbara farm he has the trifling number of
40,000 fruit trees.

The carrot crop is rendered useless in many gardens
by grubs eating into the roots. This takes place in
many well-managed gardens. The best remedy is
to scatter a quantity of soot and lime over the surface
of the ground before forking it over for the carrots.
This works it into the ground, and keeps the soil free
from all sorts of grubs for the whole season. As many
may have their carrots in before this time, and will,
therefore, not be able to adopt this plan, the next best
way of applying it is to SOW the lime and soot between
the rows and hoe it into the ground. All kinds of
greens and potatoes are greatly benefited by being
earthed-up. Some never think of drawing the soil to
the stems of any plants v ntil they are beginning to
bend over with the weight of the head, but they should
be earthed-up long before then, and the earth should
not all be drawn to them at one time. Potatoes
should be earthed-up when the stems are not more than
three inches high.

A gentlemen near Dundee has taken measures to put
to the test General Pleasonton's assertions as to the in-
fluence of blue glass on the growth of vines. He says
some time ago a copy ~f General Pleasonton's book
came into the hands of Mr. Spence, of Coventry
Bank. Ile read it, was amazed, and was inclined to
laugh at the whole thing as absurd, or a piece of
Yankee brag. It struck him, however, that although
"line light " might not develope a hedgehog into an
elephant, it might still have a stimulating influence on
vegetation. It so happened that Mr. Spence was
erecting vineries at the time, and he resolved on satisfy-
ing himself as to the effects f the blue-violet ray.
Mr. Spence's vineries differ from those of General
Plemsedon. inasmuch as the roof is not double
pitched. They are built against a lofty wall, and have
a fine southern exposure. There are two forcing
houses, each 30 feet by 15, 1-eparated by a tranverse
section of about the same dimensions running out
from the wall. With the exception of the rows of
coloured glass, the two houses are exactly the same in
every respect. As to SO% it may be mentioned that
in the course of the summer Mr. Silence took a large
quantity of turf off his lawn, which was allowed to
rot, and in the fall of the year it was appropriated for
the pnrposeof Vine growing. On January 13 laid the
two houses were stocked with vines, of equal age and
of the same variety—Black Hamburghs. On the same
day, in order further to test the influence of the blue-
violet ray, potatoes were planted in both houses. The
vines and pd.atoes were placed so as to ensure the same
conditions, the colour ray excepted. These operations
were gone about with the advice and under the superin-
tendence of Mr. Lawrie, an intelligent and experienced
gardener. A regular note of progress has been kept,
and the results have been given as follows: At first
the pr ...Tem made under the odour ray averaged fully
an inch every twenty-four hours. On March 8, exactly
a month from the date of forcing, the potatoes under
the white glass stood 14 inches above the ground,
while under the blue glees they stood 25 inches. The
vine., again, at same date lia,l only grown 4 inches
under the white glees, while under the blue they had
attained a height of 16 inches. As a further instance
of the stimulating influence of the ray it may be men.
tioned that a camellia which had been removed into the
" blue" holve because of the sickly look, in its new
quarters had grown 3 inches intwo days. Mr. Lawrie,
who has had a long-life experience, says nothing like it
has before come under his notice. It would seem,
theref au, that there ix " eomething " in the blue
lights, notwithstanding the redicule to which General
Pleasonton's pretensions have been subjected.

TILE REV. W. A. OVONOR AND TIIE
LUNACY LAWS.
EXTRAORDINARY STATEMENTS.
The Select Committee of the House of Commons
appointed to ensuire into the operation of the Lunacy
Laws met again Tuesday; Mr. S. Cave in the chair.
Among the witnesses examined was the Rev. W. A.
O'Conor, who said he was a clergyman in the Church
of England residing at Manchester. In April, 1869,
he applied to the magistrates for advice and pro-
tection against pmvocation which he was then re-
ceiving, and which he believed was intended to
incite a breach of the pear. le the report that
appeared in one of the newspapers it was stated that
he wax very excited and spoke very fast, but the
reporter who reported the case afterwards told him
that this statement had been added after his report
left his hands. In one paper it was stated that he
had vigorously brandished a cane towards the Bench.
This WAS a lie, as.l he had a letter from ono of the
magistrates stating that he had no. recollection of
witness having so brandished the cane. After that
the chief officer of police met witness and asked him
to go with him. Witness wanted to know whether he
was to consider himself a prisoner, and he was told he
was. He was kept at the pollee office all day without
food, and his wife was not allowed to see him. Two
medical gentlemen, Dr. William Roberts and Mr.
Eason Wilkinson, came to him, and put questions to
him which made .him suspect what their object was.
Before they visited him Captain Palin, the chief of
the police, went to his wife and endeavoured to gain
her consent to this proceeding, but she declined. He
was brought to the police court next morning, when
Captain Patin gave evidence stating that he had called
in two doctors. After the public examination there
WAR a sort of private conference in the magistrates'
private room, at which witness was further examined.
Captain Palm stated that witness had threatened to
shoot Mr. Birley, and sifter witness had left the court
for some time he WAS told that he would be sent to
the Prestwich Lunatic Asylum. Witness read over
the evidence that had been given before the reaps' -
trates, which showed that he had been charged with
using threatening language to a Mr. Rowarth. Wit-
ness *a., not before the magistrates in any legal way.
He was sent to the Prestwich Asylum after the
magisterial proceedings. When he got there he was
placed in a cell that he could only compare to a large
coffin, without a window or gleam of light, and during
the whole of the next night (for he did not hear them
the first night, having slept) he was kept awake for a
long time by the most hideous yells and shrieks, which
alone, combined with the nature of the room in which
he was placed, were enough to develop insanity in any
Person basing the slightest tendency to mental diastase.
On the second day he saw the medical superintendent
of the asylum, and his discharge was ordered, he being
only detained for tbe neoemary formalities attending
his discharge. Up to the time of his arrest he had been
discharging his duties as a clergyman. Since he had
been released he had g ,ne on uninterruptedly with his
duties. He knew that before this there was a strong
wish that he should be transferred to the Cheadle
Asylum, and his wife was urged to assent to this, but
she refused. Had she assented it would have given
legality to the proceedings; and as the doctors on whose
certificates he was arrested were connected with the
asylum, he should hese found himself entirely in their
hands. After his liberation he was told that he might
proceed against Captain Palm, and he wished to doss,
but he could get no solicitor to undertake the case. One
solicitor partially undertook the proceedings, but he
procrastinated, and the matter at last fell Mu ough.
He did get a writ out against Captain Palin, and from ,
time to time renewed it ; but he allowed six months to
elabse on one occaaion, and could not get it renewed.
He remembered shortly after he left the asylum being
in the Portico reading room, and all at once he found
himself surrounded by eight or nine persons, who
completely hemmed him in. One of these was Dr.
Roberts, who was so close to him that he absolutely
touched him. Witness was alarmed, and got away at
once. The next day he went to the Mayor and told
him what had happened, asking him what he would
have done under similar circumstances. The Mayor
replied that he should have kicked Mr. Roberta.
Witness need not say that had he done this, had he
pushed Mr. Roberts, or used strung Language towards
him, he should, in all probability, considering what
had recently taken place, and that he had only just
left an asylum, have been seized by the men who
surrounded him. Witness had originally applied to
the maglstastea because of the provocation be had