The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-03 00:00:00

AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS OF

IRELAND.

LONDONDERRY, SEPTEMBER.

In Tyrone and Derry the occupier of a 30 acre or
average sized farm lives on his holding in a good
house, with sitting-room, beside kitchen and dairy,
and three bedrooms; he has a stable for two or
three horses, a house for a few cows, a barn, and
perhaps a cart-shed. Many have fixed horse-power
thrashing mills ; in one parish are more than 20,
most of them upon farms of about 40 acres each.
Portable steam-machines however, are wanted.
Iron swing ploughs and harrows have become uni-
versal ; and grubbers, either Tenant's or similar
implements, are used for cleaning between potato
rows and for crossing ploughed land. At the Lon-
donderry meeting three years ago one Scotch firm
sold £4,000 worth of implements. Green crops arc
sown by the drill, but grain generally broadcast;
and the autumn-eleaning of stubbles, begun by the
larger and more advanced farmers, is being followed
by the smaller cultivators, when they perceive
how potatoes may be thus planted early in March,
and ripen before the disease has attained its full
virulence. The first crop after the lea is oats ; then
the manured green crop, swedes, mangolds, which
are few in this chill, wet latitude, or potatoes ;
these set in drills or ridges. The roots are not fed
off by sheep, the wetness of the ground and the
climate being thought unadapted for them ; but.
perhaps, the principal reason may be that this is a til-
lage, flax, and batter country, and the farmers have
never been flock-masters. Then comes flax, the
peculiar feature in the.husbandry of these northern
districts. It is not manured for, because the crop
would grow too rank and be spoiled ; yet the land
must be in good heart. Neither is flax thought an
exhausting crop, and, if a full heavy yield, is
cleansing to the land. It is pulled when the straw
is in the best condition for fibre, which is before the
seed is ripe, and, no means of artificial drying of
the green seed for feeding purposes having been
adopted, an immense value is every year sacrificed
by steeping it in the straw—being thus entirely
wasted, except by some of the most thrifty farmers.
Yet in Flanders and Courtray, whence the best flax
is imported, the seed is saved. The flax straw,
steeped in ponds, and dried upon grass, is taken to
neighbouring mills to be scutched and made ready
for Strabane, Derry, and other markets, there being
very many of these small water-power mills, em-
ploying some four to eight men each, and commonly
attached to farms. The old-fashioned open-air
steeping and spreading yield a better fibre than is
obtained by Schenck 's hot-water rotting ; and
Watts's still more modern steaming process has
other objections, arising in the manufacture of the
linen. Some 140,000 acres of flax are grown in Ire-
land, mainly in the northern counties, and yet only
partially supply the Belfast factories. In England,
where a peculiarly fine quality is obtained, the cul-
ture would probably be greatly extended had the
farmer some means simpler than the tiresome
steeping and scutching of reducing the bulk
and weight of the crop for carriage to tnarket; and
Messrs. Rowan, of Belfast, have lately brought out
a novel and successful, yet cheap machine for this
purpose. Flax is a precarious, but generally a pay-
ing, and frequently a lucrative crop—realising from
£5 up to, and exceeding, £25 per acre. After it oats
or wheat is taken, the latter yielding 150 to 160
stones per statute acre on an average, the weight
611 b. per bushel. The grain crop is laid down with
clover or ryegrass, &c., which is mown for hay one
year; grazed another, and then broken up for oats.
The small farmers are wonderfully frugal and in-
dustrious, themselves and their families doing most
of the farm work, and some having in addition
boarded servants, others employing a labOurer or
two. They pick up every rural penny from milk,
butter, poultry, eggs; they are devoted to careful
husbandry and housewifery, eager to save; only the
more important farmers living above the customary
fare of potatoes, oatmeal, Indian corn, stirabout, a
few herrings, and an occasional treat of bacon or,
perhaps, real butchers' meat. The class is thriving,
and many individuals, occupying their 20 acres of
ground, have their few-hundred pounds out at inte-
rest, and ate on the look-out for an additional farm.
The common rent for fair tillage laud is 255. to 30s.
per Cunningham acre, which obtains here—equiva-
lent to 20s. to 235. per statute acre—the landlord
paying the tithe; so that this fine district might
be considered as much under-rented. Then another
circumstance in favour of the tenant is that, in
most cases, he enjoys security of tenure without
being burdened with, reetrici ions as to manage-
ment. The 'smallest holdings, rented below £l2
or £l4'a year, are-not under lease, at least not on
the Marquis of Abercorn's property; above this,
perhaps, two out of three have leases ; and good
land, or a large farm, is seldom held from year to
year. A lease for2l years, or 31 years, or 31
years and a life, specifies that a tenant shall pay
his rent; it reserves minerals and game (of
which there is very little in the country), and for-
bids subletting ; but no covenants stipulate how
he shall crop, in what rotation he shall leave his
farm, or even that he shall manage in a business-
like manner. But the usage of the country gives
the outgoing tenant a compensation for improve.-
meat, and, should the landlord find his ground
damaged and left "a caput mortutene," " the law is
open ; let them implead one another." Could farms
of sufficient magnitude be obtained un these terms,
the tenants would consider themselves in a very in-
dependent position indeed. And tenants-at-will are t
rarely turned out except for non payment of rent,
or occasionally when a property changes. hands : and
sons almost invariably succeed their fathers.
We have mentioned compensation for unexhAtiotea

improvements. Now, the custom of paying for seed
and 'labour, for " dressingS and half-dressings." a
share of the artificial manures, the oilcake bill, Sze.,
is not found here ; but the out-going tenant in No-
vember sells off all his crops, corn and straw, roots
and hay, disposes of any manure by valuation to the
incomer, and any unexhausted tillages, 8:2 , or im-
provements in the condition of the land go to raise
the figure of the sum claimed for the right of oceu-
patiow,—the peculiar " tenant-right" of the North
of Ireland. In a country where all the farmhouses,
buildings, frequently even fences, roads, and drains,
have, as a rule, been erected and formed by the
tenantry, the proprietor only assisting with mate-
rials in some cases, it is not at all surprising that you
should have to pay an outgoing tenant a handsome
amount when succeeding to his occupation—a sum
that will fetter your application of a fair capital per
acre to the business of cultivation, unless you pos-
sess funds enough to be tenant and virtually part
proprietor too. Accordingly, from eight to 14 on an
average, and up to 17 and 20 years' rent (say £4OO or
£5OO for 30 acres), is commonly given for the good-
will of a farm. -Whether a lease exists or not makes
scarcely a perceptible difference in the amount paid.
AL•jor Humphreys (Lord Abercorn's agent) has
known £6OO given for the right to occupy 65 statute
acres under a yearly tenancy. Such is the excessive
affection or grasping for land that men pay 10 years'
purchase of the rent for ground in altogether bad
condition, or, indeed, almost any sum, quite irre-
spective of what the quality or value of the soil
may be, merely for the sake of a place in which to
settle a son, or to gain a home, and avoid being ex-
pelled by want of a livelihood out of the district
loved from their youth up; and so tenaciously is
the right of occupancy held that a defaulter of a
year or two's rent, put out of his farm in consequence,
will still obtain a handsome sum for his interest in
the holding, the incoming tenant generally agree-
ing to pay up the back rent out of his tenant•right.
Major Humphreys has endeavoured. to bend the
usage to a more reasonable form, limiting the sum
payable where a tenant has been turned out for non-
payment of rent, and so on, but tenants make the
old-fashioned bargains with each other after con-
forming to his conditions.

The Earl of Belmore, the Marquis of Abercorn,
and other noblemen, have large properties. In
1846 the Marquis obtained a £12,000 loan from the
Board of Works, and expended it in under-drainage.
For years he gave premiums to a large amount for
the best crops of turnips, encouraged improved hus-
bandry, extended rotation-cropping among his te3-
antry ; the fruit of these labours being now seen in
the comparatively forward condition of the agricul-
ture on his estate. At Baronscourt, near Strabane,
the Marquis has also a home farm of 1,000 acres,
chiefly in tillage, with two sets of steadings, fur-
nished with every appliance of advanced modern
husbandry for steam-thrashing, cattle-farming,
manure-making, &c., on a large and model scale.
We have said little of the class of large tenant-
farmers; but there are many scattered through a
large district. Some are noted as breeders of supe-
rior shorthorns ; others for their pre-eminence in
growing green crops and in general farm manage-
ment, assisting by their energy and public spirit the
valuable operations of the local four-counties Agri-
cultural Association, and other institutions for pro-
moting northern husbandry. On the banks of the
river Foyle, and upon the richly woodeL and culti-
vated hills forming the beautiful country between
Strabane and Londonderry, are many farms of con-
siderable extent, ornamented with quite gentle-
manly residences. I visited the occupation of Mr.
M'Crea, of Grange, who has built largely, drained
much of his land, and embanked a wide tract of
good marsh soil from the broad river, here rising
with a 10-feet tide, and all this on the strength of a
31 years' lease. On this warp soil, worth 40s. per
acre, he produces remarkably fine swedes and pota-
toes, the latter having been preserved free from dis-
ease before this year by early cutting off the haulm
and earthing over the drills. His corn crops are
sown with the drill, but not hoed, as it would loosen
the ground too much about the roots, and wheat is
never taken after clover, as on this fine alluvial level
it would be sure to mildew. Mr. John M'Crea also
farms to a considerable extent, having also recently
taken a tract of cut-away bog at a low but increas-
ing rent, for conversion into good ground. The
method of reclamation is to make bricks of the bared
clay, burning them with the portion of peat left,
and then the bottom, being high enough for good
drainage, soon becomes fine land.

Labourers here earn 7s. 6i, a week the year
through, with an allowance of a rood or more of
ground for potatoes, but pay rent for their cottages.
Lord Abereorn's men have 9s. a week all the year,
with cottages free. The cottages in this country are
generally good, but all on the ground floor. They
look none the worse for the fuchsias, nasturtiums,
rose trees, &c., which are a happy indication of taste
and decency on the part of the inmates.

POLICE IN2ELLIr'TBNCE, Oct. 2.

WESTMINSTER.—TaE LATE MURDER IN

WESTMINSTER.—SeveraI declarations, on the sub-
ject of the late murder in Westminster, were ten-
dered to Mr. Arnold, for his signature, by Mr. Bury
Hutchinson, solicitor.

Mr. Arnold inquired their object, and how he
could take them

Mr. Hutchinson replied that the object of malting
the declarations was, that they might accompany a
petition now in preparation to the Secretary of
State, to procure a remission of the capital sentence
against the convict William Maloney, in corrobora-
tion of its contents. From the information of which
he was in possession, he could show, by declara-
tions, that the principal witness, Saunders, was
guilty of perjury.
Mr. Arnold observed that, if the Secretary of
State thought there were any grounds for such an
imputation, he would respite the culprit upon me-
morial, without declarations.

Mr. Hutchinson said that either eight or ten
persons whom he could call were perjured if Saun-
ders were not ; they were not called upon the trial,
as they would have raised so many collateral issues.
Mr. Arnold could not see that he could take such
declarations as those now placed before him.

Mr. Hutchinson suggested that he was placed
in some difficulty in the matter; he could not make
affidavits in the ordinary way and thus confirm the
contents of the petition to the Secretary of State,
because there was no cause pending; and he had
therefore resorted to the present coarse, deeming it
was the only one left to him, and having been in-
formed that the proceeding was admissible.
Mr. Arnold.could not see what validity or force
they could have, or that he had any right to take
them, but for some, statutory purpose.
Mr. Hutchinson urged that it was not uncommon
to take declarations respecting certificates of birth,
or with reference to titles to estates.

Mr. Arnold pointed out that if he had no power
by law to take such declaration, there could be no
assignment of perjury sustained against ;he person
making it.
Mr. Hutchinson expressed himself most anxious
to confirm the petition he was about to send to the
Home Office.

Mr. Arnold thought that if the statements re-
ferred to were sent in, they would have as much
weight as though declared before a magistrate.

Mr. Hutchinson intimated that that would
be asking the Secretary to place the same reliance
upon mere statement, as evidence which had been
given upon oath.
Mr. Arnold repeated that he did not consider
himself justified in reo:Aving the declarations be-
fore him, nor should he be disposed to accept such
as had been mentioned respecting matters of birth
and title.

Mr. Hutchinson still pressed the matter, as the
petition to the Home Secretary would be strength-
ened by the assertion that the testimony of Saun-
ders had been contradicted by the declaration of
parties, which in its ordinary application was equi-
valent by statute to an oath.
Mr. Arnold called Mr. Hutchinson's attention to
the fact that where ho could not have heretofore
taken an affidavit he could not now take a declara-
tion.

Mr. Hutchinson solicited permission to append to
the petition that the accompanying statements had
been submitted to the magistrate as declarations,
but in his judicial capacity he had declined to take
them.

Mr. Arnold had no objection to such a course,
and added that, if the authorities at the Home-
office thought he ought to receive them as declara-
tions he would do so.

Mr. Hutchinson thanked the magistrate and
retired.

G RE E WI CR. —Ex TR AO lIDIIIAItY CITATtGE 01/
SHOOTING At AN ENG IN E •DRIVER.—NAItItOW
ESCA FT.—Henry Hayes, a young man, 19 years of
age, residing at 6, Mill-lane, Blue Anchor-road,
Bermondsey, and describing himself as a dyer, was
charged with wilfully shooting at Thomas Mockitt
while driving an engine on the London, Brighton,
and South Coast Railway.
Mr. Inspector Carpenter attended on behalf of
the company, and said the charge was preferred
against the prisoner under the 6th section of the
act 14 and 15 Vic., cap. 19, which enacts, o That if
any person shall wilfully and maliciously do, or
cause to be done, any matter or thing with intent to
obstruct, upset, injure, or destroy any carriage,
engine, tender, or truck using such railway,, or to
endanger the safety of any person travelling or
being upon such railway, every such offender shall
be guilty of felony, and, being convicted thereof,
shall be liable, at the discretion of the Conrt, to be
transported beyond the seas for the term of his
natural life, or for any term not less than seven
years, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard

labour, for any term not exceeding three years."
He then allied

Thomas Mockitt, who said ho resided at 45,
Cheapside, -Bright°ll, and was an eilgina-driver in
the employ of the London, Brighton, and South-
' Coast ltaitway Company. About five o'clock on
the afternoon of Monday, the 23d ult., he left New-
cross statio a with a train of empty carriages for
London, anti when between the Bricklayers' Arms
Junction anti. the Corbett-lane signal-box, he saw a
man whom h a believed to be prisoner, on the bank
on the east ie of the line, with a gun in his hand,
which he put to his shoulder and aimed in the
direction of tlh 3 engine on which he (witness) was
standing, pushing the train at the end. The man
then lowered th e gun, and again putting it to his
shoulder, and painting
engine, fired it oi T. Witness beard the shot strike
the boiler of the c ngine, and also the board placed
in front of the ent 't'ine to protect the driver from
the weather, and at the same time felt himself
struck under the eh:D. On putting his hand to his
chin he found bloot;1. coming from it ; the shot
grazing, but not enter. ing the flesh.
In reply to the magistrate, the witness said that
the weather-board of the engine was only five or
six inches from where he was standing. The shots
were very much scattered, carrying away part of
the paint-work., ttnd indenting the paint of the
boiler at the side into the metal.

Inspector Carpenter said that at one part the
paint-work had be en struck and completely car-
ried away.

Detective Officer ,Ilughes, M division, had been
watching for the prisoner since Monday last.
Witness apprehended him at half-past six that
morning, and on telling him with what he was
charged, the prisoner said ho did not shoot at
the traith Witness told the prisoner he had dis-
charged the gun, when, he replied that he did not
shoot at anything.

The prisOner, in answer to the magistrate, ad-
mitted firing the gun a t some small bird, but
denied having presented the gun at the engine or
train.

Mr. Traill said the proceedings taken against
the prisoner rendered necessary a prosecution at
the sessions, as he could not undertake to deal
summarily with such a. case. He should there-
fore remand the prisoner for a week, but he would
accept bail, if it could, be procured, for his ap-
pearance.
The prisoner was r emoved in custody.