The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1834.

HOP PLANTATIONS.

In Scotland we sometimes see solitary hop plants
growing in gardens or shubberies, by way of ornament,
and clinging as vigorously to the poles that support
them, as the ivy itself round the gnarled oak. Still
our untravelled countrymen can form but a faint idea of
a hop plantation, poled at the rate of 3,000 per acre,
and extending to the size of an ordinary farm. The
exact period when hops were introduced into England
is not known ; but in the parish of Bourne, and
neighbourhood of Canterbury, there is a plantation or
garden, which is known to have been under the same
culture since the reign of Queen Elizabeth. For long,
however, the prejudice lingered that the perennial
rooted plant in question spoiled the ground ; and Mr.
M'Culloch, in his Commercial Dictionary, quotes from
an old author, who says :—" Hops were then grown
to be a national commodity ; but not many years since,
the famous city of London petitioned the Parliament
against two nuisances ; and these were Newcastle
coals, in regard to their stench, &c., and hops, in regard
they spoyl the taste of the drink, and endanger the
people.' But the rulers were fortunately wiser than
the ruled, and would at all times, we suspect, require
to be somewhat in advance of the mass of the nation.
Queen Elizabeth and her Maids of Honour breakfasted
at seven o'clock, on beef steaks and horns of porter,
and if hops had spoiled her drink, the evil would have
been but of short continuance. A friend who was in
England lately, was so much struck with the culture
of hops, that he brought specimens of some of the
tallest plants home with him, measuring more than
twenty feet. Rochester, Sussex, and Canterbury, are
the three great districts, anti the duty which is levied
at the rate of 2d. per pound, produced in 1830 up-
wards of 153,0001. The cost of farming plantations
is very great, and we are aware of three acres that
were cultivated at an expense, apart from picking, of
451. The land thus occupied, amounts to about
50,000 acres, and the general calculation is, that one
good year in three saves the cultivator. From the va-
riable nature of our climate, and the necessity of the
article in brewing, hops not unfrequently form the
subject of speculation, and in repeated instances for-
tunes have been lost and gained by the business. At
the commencement of the present season the prospect
was deemed so bad, that a lady in Kent sold her crop
on the ground at 11/. per cwt. But matters rallied
greatly, and the general return has been so good that
prices have fallen to from 61. to 6/. 10s., for the same
weight. Hop harvest or picking is an animated scene,
and, together with the cleaning process, gives employ-
ment to great numbers of people. A hundred and
fifty persons, including both young and old, may be
seen in one field, with as many small baskets, the
whole of which are emptied into large ones, placed
in bags, and carried to the drying-house with the
greatest care. The stalks or binds are preserved for
binding the corn in harvest, and various other domestic
purposes.—Dumfries Courier.

A letter from Schwitz, dated Oct. 10, has the fol-
lowing :—" Among the phenomena of the present year we re-
mark two vine stems which have produced three times. On
the 24th of July, the first ripe grapes were gathered. Others
succeeded, which are now in full maturity. The third gather-
ing will take place at the end of this month, if the weather
should continue fine. The vine was in full bloom ten days
ago."

MIDDLESEX MAGISTRATES, OCT. 2:3.

The County Treasurer's and his S.ureties' bonds were pro.
duced and laid before the Court.

The Report of the Committee for Accounts and for Ge-
neral Purposes was read.
The consideration of the Report of the Committee on the
County Treasurer's accounts was, on the motion of Mr.
HALL, postponed until the next Court-day ; and the county
rate for the next quarter of a year was ordered to be one
halfpenny in the pound.
A list was read of the parishes and places in arrear to the
county rates on the' first day of the late Session.

Sir J. GIBBON moved that the Treasurer be instructed
to compel payment of the arrears of the county rate.
Mr. MILLS observed that instructions had lately been
issued from the Home-office to obtain distress warrants, in
order to compel payment of the arrears of the police rate.
The motion of Sir J. GIBBON was carried.

The Report of the Visiting Justices as to the Pauper
Lunatic Asylum at Hanwell was read. It gave a very in-
teresting account of the Institution, and the manner in
which its unfortunate inmates are employed.
Several magistrates took an opportunity of bearing their
testimony to the very excellent manner in which the Pauper
Lunatic Asylum is conducted.
The CHAIRMAN here requested leave of absence to attend
the further prorogation of Parliament, which took place to-
day, a ceremony which, under existing circumstances, he
was extremely anxious to witness.

Sir J. GIBBON was then called to the chair.

MISREPRESENTATIONS OF THE PRESS.

Mr. HALSEWELL begged pardon for intruding On the
Court a subject of a personal nature. He had to complain
of an article that appeared in a morning paper with refe-
rence to his conduct son the last licensing day.
The CHAIRMAN hoped that the magistrates would not
take notice of anything they saw in the newspapers ; but
continue to perform their duties conscientiously without re-
garding any misrepresentations like that of which the wor-
thy magistrate had complained.

The next business before the Court was to receive the
Attorney-General's and Sir J. Scarlett's opinions as to the
right of the Middlesex Justices and Sessions to commit pri-
soners to Newgate, and give directions thereon.
The Clerk read the case submitted to the Learned Coun-
sel, which was extremely long, setting forth various clauses
in different Acts of Parliament on the subject ; but the
question in dispute was shortly as above stated. The que-
ries at the end of the case were as follow :

Your opinion is requested whether the commitment of a
prisoner for want of sureties by 141 r. Harding, a Magis-
trate, and that of the Court of a man named Edwards to
Newgate for a conspiracy were legal?
Answer of the Attorney-General—l am of opinion that
both of these commitments were legal, Newgate being the
county gaol of Middlesex.
'The second query was—ls the form of their commit-
ment good, and, if you are of that opinion, what course
would you advise the Magistrates to adopt to establish
their rights ?

Answer of the Attorney-General—l do not see any ob-
jection than can be urged to the form of the commitment.
I recommend that an indictment be preferred against the
Keeper of Newgate for refusing to receive into his custody
the prisoners so committed.

The Clerk then stated that the same case, with the same
queries, were submitted to the-opinion of Sir James Scar-
lett, who, with reference to the first query, gave the follow-
ing opinion :

I
am of opinion, on the statement of facts and the Acts
of Parliament to which my attention has been drawn, that
both the commitments were legal,• and that the prison of
Newgate has not changed its original character of a gaol
for the county of Middlesex. The Shrievalty of the county
of Middlesex being vested in the Corporation of London
casts upon that Corporation the obligation of providing a
gaol for the county.
With reference to the second query, Sir J. Scarlett says,
" I am of opinion that no objection can be made to the
form of the commitments. I would recommend that an
indictment be preferred against the keeper of Newgate for
refusing to receive the two persons so committed, or an appli-
cation to the Court of King's Bench for a writ of mandamus
to compel him to receive them. The latter mode would, per-
haps, be best, as it would more speedily bring the question
to a decision, and enable the other party to state the real
grounds for their refusal to obey the commitment.
The above papers having been read,
Sir P. LAURIE said that Mr. Cope, the Governor of
Newgate, had acted under the direction of the city autho-
rities. He would suggest that a friendly conference should
take place between the county and city magistrates, that
being, in his opinion, much better than having recourse to
legal proceedings.—(Hear.)—The city had lately been at
the expense of 3,5001., in altering the criminal courts, Old
Bailey.
Mr. MILLS said the Corporation of London derived con-
siderable profit from having the Shrievalty of the county of
Middlesex at their disposal, and the Middlesex magistrates
were bound, after the opinions just read, to take immediate
steps to set the question at rest.
Sir P. LAURIE thought the question had better be post-
poned until the next court day.
Mr. Sergeant ANDREWS said, as a lawyer he had no he-
sitation in stating that the Middlesex magistrates had the
power of committing prisoners to Newgate.
After some discussion the motion was carried, and the
following gentlemen named as the committee :—Mr. Botch,
Mr. Sergeant Andrews, Mr. Hall, Mr. Halsewell, and
Mr. Mills.