The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-19 00:00:00

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in reforming juvenile criminals, and as the refor-
matory movement was then at its most exciting
point he had no difficulty in obtaining funds to
start the reformatory, which he called the Agri-
cultural Colony. From the first the major portion
of the community was opposed to their abbot's
wa7king ; and the result was, that after repeated
atte milts to place the institution on a satisfactory
font dation—from want of officers capable of deal-
ing -with the subjects sent for reformation—it was
decided by the Government to close the institu-
tion, unless arrangements could Le made for its
MOM efficient working.
In' 1863 a number of gentlemen from the Roman
Cath olio diocese of Salford formed themselves into
a con,unittee, in older to see what could be done
towai ds retrieving the affairs of the institution.
The names of the committee augured well for ulti-
mate success—Sir litunphrey 1)e Trafford, Col.
Towneicy, Sir Charles Tempest, Frederick Gerard,
Daniel Lee, and Richard Eastwood, Esq.'s.,
together with the Bishop of Salford and some of
his hard-working clergy, were not likely to give
up without a struggle what they undertook to
retrieve.

It was pleasing to us to have met on our visit
two gentlemen of the committee of management,
and to have heard a little of how the affairs of the
institution are managed. It appears that each de-
partment of the reformatory has, as its supervisor,
a member of the committee. Canon Kershaw, of
Barton-on-Irwell, and Mr. Harper, solicitor, of
Bury, whom we met, have charge of the school
instruction and the farm ; and we must record our
testimony, founded upon what we saw, of the pains-
taking, laborious working of each of these gentle-
men. Mr. Thomas Carroll, who was a pupil of
the Albert Agricultural Institution, Glasnevin, is
Governor ; and we were much gratified to find the
kindly feelings that exist between the committee
and their manager.
254 boys were in the institution on our visit, the
large bulk being of Irish extraction. They are
taught the trades of shoemaking, tailoring, joinery,
and baking, but the largest number are engaged at
farm work.

The staff consists of governor, chaplain, medi-
cal officer, farm bailiff, schoolmasters, trades in-
structors, and officers in charge of boys working
in the fields.

The boys rise at half-past five all the year round.
They have two hours' school instruction in the
morning, and one hour in the evening. After
breakfast, at half-past eight, they are told off to
their different occupations ; and it was very inte-
resting to see the young fellows march off in mea-
sured step, in classes, to their workshops and
farm.

Of course, the farm was most attractive to us,
and we devoted the greater part of our available
time to its inspection. It consists of 400 acres,
100 of which, with the building, are rented from
the community of the Abbey. This portion of the
farm was in a very bad state on the entry of the
present tenants ; but by a judicious course of crop-
ping and works of reclamation, it has been brought
to a high state of cultivation, and is now a really
pleasing sight. Farm roads, stone wall fencing,
raising and blasting rocks, and draining, were the
chief works of permanent improvement. The
labour of the boys was utilized as far as was
practicable, and we were told that their assistance
in draining and road-making was very great.
Very few farm animals were kept on this farm
before the committee took charge, but this state of
things was soon superseded, and a nice dairy made
its appearance, whicli conduced very much to the
economy of the house-keeping and the health of the
boys. Sheep were bought, and the " golden foot"
exercised its beneficial influence in improving the
character of the farm. Pigs of an improved breed
quietly found their way into the establishment, and
the formerly wasted "swill" was now utilized. In
order to show the progress made, it will be suffi-
cient to say that in 1865 six prizes were awarded
to produce and animals sent from the institution to
the show of Sparkeuhoe Agricultural Society, held
that year at Loughborough. The committee have
lately rented a farm of three hundred acres on an
adjoining estate, and we consider the proprietor
may consider himself very fortunate in meeting
with such improving tenants. On our visit four-
teen acres of potatoes were growing on land which
had not before borne a crop ; indeed, the adjoin-
ing land seemed most unpromising. The system
of reclamation seemed very judicious. The land
having been pared and burned, was planted with
potatoes in beds five feet wide. The alleys were
purposely left wide—two feet to two feet six inches
—in order to give au opportunity to raise the boul-
der stones, which are abundantly interspersed over
the farm. A large number of stones were raised,
and fences four feet nine inches high, with Scotch
coping, were made with them. A paring plough of
Howard's of Bedford was found of great service. It
is worthy of remark that the potatoes are most pro-
mising where they were merely dibbled, or, I.iiber-
nice, " stuck" in the unploughed surface, and then
covered from the alleys or furrows. A dressing of
one cwt. of guano and two cwt. of phosphate was
applied at the time of planting the potatoes.
On both farms the crops are good; in fact much
better than those on land more favourably situated.
This is entirely owing to the careful cultivation
bestowed, and the judicious outlay in feeding stuffs
and artificial manures.

We found a fine stock on the reformatory farm.
Nine grand, active work horses; fifteen good, use-
ful cows; nearly forty well bred two year old
heifers, besides yearlings and calves ; a beautiful
flock of Border Leicester sheep, and a large number
of pigs.

It may be asked, Does the farm pay ? The al-
counts are audited by an eminent firm of public
accountants, and year after year it is found that a
respectable profit is the result. Of course, a mar-
ket is found at home for the produce, and the
labour of the boys is a serious item; not on ac-
count of an enormous saving in the labour
bills, but because it enables the managers to have
at command a large force when despatch would be
useful.

We closed a pleasant day with the reflection
that out of evil good may come. It seemed for-
tunate for the boys at this Reformatory that
they had done wrong—we know
.many people
have these thoughts ; but there is a fal-
lacy. The fortunate part of the business is
not in the wrong done by the boys, and the
resultant good to them, but that Providence raises
up people who, at the expense of time and money,
will work merely for the sake of doing good.

We are convinced that farm reformatories are cor-
rect in principle. The hard, regular, and healthful
working in the fields must conduce to reformation
in mind and body ; and we understand the percent-
age of " relapses" is much less among those boys
who have been farm workers than in those who have
been at the sedentary trades of shoemaking and
tailoring. We hope to see reformatories and in-
dustrial schools spread over the land. And we
should like to see, too, a more determined effort
made to have our workhouses and even prisons yield
something towards their support. Ireland has set
the example of workhouse farms and convict estab-
lishments which are reformatory and industrial.
Will these institutions be allowed to bloom and
then to die ? Will it be a truism that our country
produces men who can merely originate, and who
lack the perseverance necessary for carrying out
their own good projects? We hope not.—lrish
Farmers' Gazette.

The newspapers have been lately teeming with refer-
ences to economy in tea by co-Operation. Horniman and
C'o. have for 30 years co- operated through Agents to
supply tea on more advantageous terms than by the ordinary
channel; their tea reaches the consumer in the same pure
state as it toves Ay 9.1.00 V i as it 10 secured lu packets.