The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1861-10-22 00:00:00

agriculture.

AGRICULTURAL Peommerti.—lf the actual position of
the English fernier of fair capital is not at present one
of complete case, his prospecto for the coining year ale
certainly not unfavourable. The long period of dry
weather we have had Ilea enabled him to secure his
grain trope in high condition, and to clean his land,
necessarily foul from last year's wet, in a very superior
manner. Seldom do we experience an autumn so
favourable for land cleaning as the present, and no one
can have moved about the country wittout oboerving
the prevalenoe of weed burning and other marks of
diligence and activity in this direction. By common
consent, the heat time for wheat sowing is between
New and Ohl Michaelmas, and on the 11th of October
of the present year an unusually wide breadth of wheat
was sown. We have not had rain enough as yet to
render the clover ley' fit for ploughing; hut on every
other kind of land wheat sowing will soon he completed.
The ley lands can be well sown in wetter weather than
the rest of the wheat lands, so that we may fairly re.
gard our wheat prospects, so far a* they depend on •
good season for planting, as uncommonly good; and a
good autumn season goer far to secure a goal crop at
the suoceeding harvest. The present crop of wheat is
beyond all question • abort one, bat the groin is so good
that it will produce a better return to the growers than
the wretched crop of last year, beridea being very gale
-
able. Other mops will give fair returns. Live stock
hare 'offered from shortness of keep, cosiseqnent on the
drought; but during the past fortnight or three weeks
the weather having been wonderfully wiirm, with sonic
occasional showers, the gram has grown prodigiously, so
that if there is not a great ileal of wet during November,
cattle may be kept abundantly in the pastures; for mime
time to come. This will be an important gain, as the
hay crops are somewhat scanty. There has of late been
sufficier,t rain to elect much improvement ir the turnip
crop; and inangold, where • plant was obtained, will
produce a large bulk. While the weather has been so
unusually dry in England, South %Vales has suffered
from superabundant moisture. 7 ho Mark Lass Express
report f that district states that after a good deal of
rsiu, which was not wanted there, "the first half of
September was sufficiently favourable for harvest pur-
poses, for the coin never lasted longer than 24 hours,
which is good for the climate of the principality; but
(rem the 20th to the 25th inclusive, farmers had to sus-
pend labour, and submit to continuoas rains, which
spoiled sonic corn • good deal. Carrying wan more than
half over before the 20th, and on the gild of October
moat of it had been got in. though in equivocal condi-
tion. Last year the wheot woo tolerably well Ailed, but
holly hal wasted ; whereas this year it has been decently
harvested, but very poorly filled. However, good
pluum samples of autumn and early winter wheat maE
be seen April wheat is variously spoken of.
Oats are this year better than usual In Wales. In
NNW el ths sae impartial Siete snakes, 'worthy

to the North British Agriculturist, oath are this year
a very suporior crop, and above an Average both in
grain end straw. Potatoes arc • deficient crop, anti a
large portion, in some id•ces one-half, in other. three-
fetirtlie, diecased. Barley a fide avenge crop. Turnips
nielt.r an average. Beans and MAIIn some 1,1. cm 'in
average, but in other places di.ficient.
Lanni KERS' OPITAGEIL—At tiro fifte,nth annual ei.
hibieun i 4 the Taviotock and Weot Devon Agricultural
Society. 1,..1d on Tuceday at Tavistuck, Sir L. Pelk,
Bare M.P.. in responding to the twig of the county
mend:ere, said that it was from Tavistock that the voice
first came, which told botilluida that it was their duty
at well as intereit to improve the cottages of laheurers,
as well as drain their lands. That voice, he regretted
to nay, would awoke no more, but the dee la of good
men lived after their death-- (eheera)—and if the late
Duke of Bedford hail no other claim to their regard, he
hal this claim, that he was lite of the first ulau pointed
out to the landowners their dotty to the labauring
classes- (hear)—which woulil not icily be fur the beuefit
of those in their immediete district, but ako would
have a great tendency to benefit the wheat coniesunity.
(('heers.) He recollected that there wail • jitriarl, many
years ago, wheli it was feercil that the population if
England would increase so fast that the time would
actually COMO when it woulil be imisessilile fee the land
to maintain them. Bet they now kuew the fl lacy of
that stateaso.r.t. They knew that labour was wealth—
(hear, hear)—and that what they were now ?mitering
from Wan not too many hande, bat that their fernier,'
and laodlords found a paucity of workmen. (Hear,
hear.) It had been tumid a difficulty to induce the
lalseuring cla-mes to live in the vicinity in which they
were horn. j his eircues•tince, indeed, was so much
felt, that during the Isst Seedtin of Parliament there
WOO it bill ;coma. which he confeased he looked forward
ti as capable of bringing shout great insults, ail., that
of giving labourers a kind of tenure iii the pariah • that
they shall have a right of d•velling there after living
there three years. They 'night depeli,l upon it—se,! he
spoke in tbe presence, of • large body of 'grimiest-ism
who knew better thau he dill—that the time Wan coining
when the effect of coinpetition it, trade would be that
they would hire to look to the right stud left fur the
1 purp.ire Of elate:Mg the labouring Cleaves in remain.
Ile felt no doubt that the onminerciel treaty with
France would give an immense impelav to manufac•
tures, and whenever the ineuufacturieg districts were
buoy and prospeions, there was a great demand for
lab nir. (Hear.) And although they might not feel
it so much down hire, ye: ill Mancheeter, Liverpool,
Leeds, and other great centres of manufactures, they
eoot, experienced it. Well, the Duke of Redford. with
eiiigular foresight, saw Pis, and as he (Sir L. Palk),
said ticket, was one of the first who practically
brought the idea into um, that the cottages of the
labourers should be iuiprove.l, arl,l that they eholild be
made tel feel an intereet in the soil. Humbly follow-
ing the late Duke of B.,lf•ird'e example, he brought
before the attention of the House of Common. during
thin year • bill to facilita os ti e inipruveinent of
lebourene cottages. (le u I ci Cell ) That bill was
keenly debated, and Mr. Henley tore it to pieces, lay.
ing down this rill that nothing was improvement in
the land that did not bring in an i 111 l nedirste increasing
mon. (Oh !) Well, upon the face of it this was a
difficulty, which it was impoesible for hen to contend
with, because a poor man could only ',Mad to pay the
same for a good MI for • bad house. (Cheers.) Ile
knew that if they built the lab.eirers good cottages at
great expense they must not expect any return. If
they thought to do Oda they would find that they
would ask that of the lebourer which lie would be un-
able to do--lie would not i.e able to pay them. (Hear.
hear.) But there Was this advantage, and he said to
Mr. Henley, " Tree, I cannot allow you that by build-
ing improved cottages for the poor you will get an in-
creased rental ; hut the labourer who 1.101 a well-ven•
elated, well-ordered cottage, and has a healthy family,
will of himself be a benefit to the rstate. Though you
may not get an iiicreased rental, you will be likely to
get a diminution in the poor rates." (Applause.) Well,
1 when Cie bill got into the House of Lorde, Lord Part-
isan took up the point which Mr. Henley had done be-
fore. Their lordships divided upon the bill, and it was
thrown out by a very mall majority. Hu (Sir L. Palk),
1 did not altogether regret it, though, of course, it was
disappointiug, after eitting up night after night—for no
1 sae kiiew what passing a bill through 'the House el
Com 111111 l a was except those who had had to do so—to
lose • measure of that sort. (Hear, hear.) Still, it
might have dune some good ir it had called the atten-
tion of the public to thi, great subject. Ile was con-
vinced that it °lily required to be ventilated to MCC that
it nail iinc of those measures to which they must look
forward at • Were time. (Hear.) This brought him
to another subject. If agricultural labourers were in
an unhappy, deprrssed state, they would, of course,
eagerly clutch at any means which would at all emit&
them to get out of it, or at all improve their condition,
(Hear.) The coneequence of this was that their chil-
dren were hardly educated at all—they scarcely learnt
the rudiments of education. ("That's true.") They
ware, perhaps, allowed to remain in school till they
were 10 or 11 years of age. (" Not often.") After
that they were sent to earn what they could, by ren•
tiering • variety of little seri item to the farmers.
(Hear.) This might possibly have done years ago, when
they had • redundaiicy of population, and when the
amount of kuouledge amongst the agricultural labour-
ing claws was very limitel. But the time was coining
—rapidly comitig—when such • limited knowledge
would not do. (Hear, hear.) The introduction of
steam was producing • great change, not only in tlie
manufacturing, but alto in the agricultural claws.
What lie wanted re particularly to call their atten-
tion to, was the introduction of the different steam
engines on the farm for agricultural purposes. And
they would find that the want of agricultural la-
bourer,' would compel the use of these machines.
(Hoar.) They would, therefore, at once see that
these various engines meet be 'tended by practical per-
-I,olol—by men who knew what they were about. (Yea,
yen.) the was sorry to say that at present agricul-
tural machines were more complicated than they might
be. He thought they would undenitand that, now
they wanted their labourers to be men of intelligence
and education, that they must and would be bound to
treat them properly by providing them with suitable
habitations. (Hear.) He wicked he could congratulate
thou, upon the approachiug winter. Ile looked forward
to it with wine dread. (Hear.) There could be no
doubt that the failure of cotton caused by the state of

things in America was arriving at a very serious pow
lie had seen what ho hoped none of them had- -the
hungry, starving, and infuriate mob positively in the
poss.:a:Sion of Manchester. Ile hoped these times would
never occur again. Still, he could not but fear that
there might be Koine distrvoi in the Midland districts :
awl, if there were, that in turn inwit be felt by the
agrieultur.il interest—(' True.")—becawie when their
coiumercial prosperity amongst the working-classes
of the manufacturing districts they were always found
to be the farmers best helpmates.