The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-22 00:00:00

would incline us to think, that when there is till'•s
may be called a good average crop, Great Briw;i„
does produce, within herself, an ample suPrt
of bread corn for all her wants ; but 1;11,i,
when there is a bare average, this supply is
particularly if other branches of trade are ilourfli;r
and the demand consequently brisk. tine {tire
tiler think that by an improvt d management k"e,
land, emanating from the proprietors themselves,
present supply migl.t be considerably increased, s:
to keep pace, for a time at least, with the wants °et
growing population. In 1843, the preceding hat
having been a good one, though we believe net rll4-0,1
than a fair average, the total quantity of foreign:,oo
colonial wheat and flour entered for home consumPL:.o
was 990,523 quarters, about one-fifteenth of the en et
consumption of the country, and the average prieede•
the year was 50s. ld.; and during this year the,.s,
mand.-for bread stuffs from the manufacturing
tricts was tolerably good, from the improvernept.t
trade which was then beginning to be felt. We gltiet
also observe, that however productive the barves'rr
home may turn out, some Baltic corn is alwariip
quired during the early part cf the winter, an'tbe
damp weather, to enable the millers to wolk 111)
pe
newer wheats. Last year the harvest produce was bYere
means so good as the year preceding, and there
entered for home consumption, of foreign and CO
wheat and flour, 1,026,976 quarters; while we 111.e'4re
gine the trade and manufactures of the country',''a
never in a more flourishing condition, produooo
considerable demand. Mr. M'Culloch says tltot
1812 and 1813 Great t3ritain raised sufficient sci:oo
for its own consumption ; and though the poPols`,lot
has considerably increased since those years, .g. of
improvements have taken place in the cultivatioDe
the soil, by which its productiveness has been I'O3J
mented. All this, however, is vague conjecture,
,1,1
must continue so until there be some certaio
official guide in agricultural statistics; until thi3i,,
obtained, legislating on the corn-laws is really leg'

lating in the dark. _me?
We consider it would be of the utmost imP°ll—tog
to ascertain, annually, the capabilities of the coolie,
to supply the people with food, not merely farinseeli'.3l!
but animal. The population of Great Britain is ral)gt
increasing, and agricultural improvements are' be
least, in a state of progression ; the desideratuvi
known is the relative proportion between the one Iv
the other. It appears extraordinary to us that ,0
Government of the country should have beenioe,
long carried on, indeed could have been s° to
carried on, without some attempt to liec;
accurate information on so important a su tod
as the means the country possessed t°
its inhabitants. In no country in Europe is sucnole
formation so absolutely required—where the „,ort
lion is continually pressing on the means of scrto,,r
and supply. Through the medium of our (3145rade
houses we have accurate returns of our foreign
through the medium of the excise offices it Plii,',llo
known what quantity of hops has been berowlltnitl
quantity of barley has been malted, how ritueb:rulpoo
has been distilled, how much soap made; bsr''
the all-important question of bread and peel "re
left in utter ignorance. 1,;
We have given much attention to this sa-Jec„ri to
we consider the information we deem so neces" iIIt
be perfectly attainable. We need not ent...eri onj
minute particulars, but we shall give a gene
line of what we think would be required. 11.epir
have every person possessing ground for fealul% the
poses, whether as proprietor or tenant, to gire 004
clerk of the peace for the county, or to sonli,e4
official appointed for the purpose, in e.oun_l}."`terf
tricts of counties, or market towns, as w.,1161-01',0'
best, an annual return, some time in JO": oe
each year, which would embrace the follele pre
tails :—Size of farm, number of acres during' t
ceding year under tillage, pasture, hay creo,,opei
unavailable from plantations or other causes' cel3l
of acres sowed under the several crops of whelipril;
barley, potatoes, turnips, &c. ; amount of Nail OP
duce, including hay and straw ; quantity efe,fac
arf
sent to market and sold from the preceding Jallnoge;
quantity retained for domestic food and other pup ill
quantity remaining over fur market at the en ;Alt
year ; dairy produce ; number of cows ;
butter and cheese produced ; meal produce; olds
her of cattle, sheep, and pigs on the fs°ll;ol3'
crease of each during the season ; nurabeficereti
and whether fattened or otherwise. With 5",,v05l
turns the Government and the Legislature oar
have a complete and distinct knowledge of the,jidi
tion of the couutry in its most essential isfri:,,ao;
—the means it possessed for feeding its Pe°P,;.
it could then deal with the corn-laws and es her
accordingly. It would be further seen, vrbe";rici't;
country was advancing or retrograding in 3.,511,1,,
tural prosperity, and in what ratio; and ahttelt!,
would show what probability there was of '''blet"
the supply of food of home production answers
the demand for it.
We imagine it would be no great trouble to '
fir
culturists to furnish the returns we have rie!„ci eft'
they can generally come to a tolerably corm ger
mate of the produce of the farm before their ea
is thrashed out, or their turnips or potst°B6l, eit!
weighed ; any inaccuracy arising is t.,,,,1)19,405;
would be of little comparative ill:lir-100;o
Again, every farmer keeps books ; be
what he sells and what he buys • tlll9soesi,f
do not, very imperfectly understand ;heir b,/,
Nor are we requiring anything that can be uoe
inquisitorial. We require not to know whatue fel,l
outlays, or the receipts, or the profits of lv ote
we merely wish to ascertain what 15 °toe fil,:
annual production of the kingdom arising the e
land, and we believe England is almost buifete
European country where this could not be °old to
from official documents. This, of course; I, ove of
a subject for Government legislation, and it 11,60
%10
which we would earnestly solicit the att.e,oe
Ministers, not only for their own WOOlll t'
instruction, but because it is a matter ill vit,
country must have a deep and lasting inter ,
rre
ROYAL POLY TECHNIC IIS-

TION.
THE ARTIFICIAL HAND. A is coy
r Several accounts have recently aPPeare-beell 5e
pied too
and from them they bore ries
pied into those of our English cont'elorr.,3h%ell)el,rls
scribing the invention of a contrivance by por
sons deprived of their hands, or of the losveri„ %Oro;
of their arms by amputation, and persons ba"bsold es
out hands, are furnished with an artificiali
hands which, by means of straps and aye oa
bound to the joints above that amputate'' °i;
rated upon, by the muscles of the othetseles 0,
and in some instances by the pectoral urr fiod
made to act as a natural hand. Without •`,-;00, het
ment depreciating this most useful inve,ll:- 06,
awarding .to our French neighbours ti:,„" of the
praise for their ingenuity, we ca" of r,et,
prive one of our own countrytne° Pel)
claim to applause which he has as good, °1.,0
a better right to claim. During the lecetlbe
Professor Ryan delivered in the theatre o'
technic Institution on mechanical power,
adaptation to the relief of human beings, he
himself of the opportunity of introducing' Bag ieti
tration of the subject, a man whose haa raputs'o;
large portion of whose fore-arm had been aibOW 6'r°
To the stump of the limb, just below the e'or istr-;15
fastened an apparatus, composed of bank' ard O,OJ
and small steel springs, which were lengt'e tbeflitli
to lay hold upon the muscles whilst at the 701,
of the apparatus was a hand, made of r, of 1);
joints, fingers, &c., worked by the Icsti°,locl
muscles upon the connctin sPring
means of which the man cog uld bolds'a bps'
lA°
wine glass, write his name, • tie and untie 6.5 104-9
and use as a natural hand. This inventi°l%.lje
that of the French mechanics, and was rni,7.ol'-;0:
George Cayley, Bart., Chairman of the ,17,41 fideJ
technic Institution.' The person inent'°":o,l,
whose name is George Downland, has he,e'l4,•Al,h,i-r
by Prince Albert shaking him by his anli ‘lVl3';hjjose
and also received the noti of the Duke et° 0 ,
ton. This invention willce be of great serf
of our countrymen serving in our navy r„
their profession renders them so much ni°
to a loss of this kind.

fdr
to" 191
Sir R. Peel leaves Whitehall-gardens os. lif`;
kraeyton Manor for the ParliamentarY re-sejoaerc,te,
ar 1 and family have already arrived at the v.i,coorpo
e happy to hear of the safe accouchement
boter, of
Villiers, the Right Hon. Baronets daug joy
and heir, at an early hour on Thursday' 17013
„,tk

BIRTHS sir .40
On the 20th inst., at Appledrom. House, near tr.'
the wife of W. C. Dewey, Esq., of a daughter. liorter' e
On the Bth inst., at vporto;the lady ro•
of job° fle°
of a daughter.
On the 13th inst., at Park-hill, CliPharib 14
fPfij
Webb, of a son. elt°l3lll6 iii
On the 16th inst., at Clifton, the lady 0- A4lO
af IP (
Walton, jun., of a daughter, still-born. hn rife - ,ifl'
On the 17th inst., at mden-town, t"- ill'"
.a.e t, tb° el,
Cecil Johnson, of a daughter.
On the 17th inst., at Farningham .01, A--° Joel'
William Waring, Es of a daughter.- le' Itto,
saovonryth,eoflBathsoinn.st., at Elm-field, Upper ClaPt(b 11°13.
tb° ty
m rea' °' ,
GtOisthavtuhseTl4Bitbhoitn, soteaastonWithington Rector'', ~,:u?
On the 19th.inst., at Woodford, Mrs. II —lid i."
...,eoel

UL L. raurs, .-umptirgit Cl' 14'
Thomas, Esq ,to Mrs. Norton, of Sloane-stree of
aliteC
DIED. t doh, 94,
On the 19th inst., Sarah Falconer, eldest 00,
Rodgers, Esq., of Devonshire-square aged 11000 fib°
On the 12th inst., at Cheltenham, 0,1%4°
late Major in the 11th Hussars, aged 52% bath, ,se"'
On the 14th inst., at Cheltenham, tb
late W. H. Addison, Esq., of Demerara. Co o°'
On the 14th inst., at Antony Vicarage,
Gerald Pole Carew.

MA XIS

tioft
—,,0 ir pti 0
rITRY
Loudon : Printed and Published bY Offic 'Co'
No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sul' • the
Strafld, in the Preeiract of the Savoy, In
Middlesex, Saturday, March 22, 1845.