The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-07-04 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

suGGL'‘STED IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICUL-
TURE.—NEW MANURES, &c.

The weather contz:►ues to be favourable for vegetation,
and the farmers in this neighbourhood, and even further
north, have nearly, if not wholly, completed their hay har-
vest, which has been more than usually-early and abund-
ant. Taking the country generally, the field crops, whe-
ther as regards corn or roots, present a highly promising
appearance, and should the remainder of the season be
propitious, the prices of wheat—latterly on the decline—
will, in all probability, by the autumn not exceed what was
anticipated by us several weeks ago. This is to be attri-
buted partly to the general fineness of the weather since
the long continued rains ; partly to the greater breadth of
of wheat on the ground ; and, but in a small degree, if at
all, to any recent improvement in culture. The present
period is, therefore, a fitting one, now that the farmers
are beginning to complain of the inadequacy of prices to
meet their alleged high rents, to inquire whether they
have done all that in them lies so to fertilize ther ground
that the yield, both in quality and weight, would meet the
emergency ; and, at the same time supersede the necessity,
excepting in very unfavourable seasons, of such imports
of foreign grain, &c., as by glutting our markets would
cause a further decline in prices.
It must be admitted that a great portion of our arable
soil is, under any system of management, unsuitable,
without such outlay in forcing as might fail to be remu-
nerative, for the growth of wheat ; and it must also be
granted that, in some instances, a reduction of rent would
be but equitable. But we cannot allow that the evil,
as affecting farmers generally, is attributable solely to
high rents ; or, in other words, that the average rental is
beyond the means of the industrious and intelligent far-
mer, who avails himself of modern chemical discoveries
and other appliances in agriculture, which so strongly
conduce to the fertilizing of the soil.

The question is one of great national importance; and
we at once put it to the anti-corn law agitators—who
would swamp one great interest to elevate a minor one—
" Is the soil of Great Britain yet so judiciously cultivated
as to give out its maximum ; or even nearly, its maxi-
mum powers of production ?" It behoves, we think, the
advocates of unrestricted trade in corn, to prove that this
has been accomplished; to show that our own lands have
been duly treated ; before they can, with any grace, call
upon the country to supply capital (for such it is) for the
culture of the fields of foreigners.—and thus to throw it-
self, in dangerous dependency, upon alien states (many of
which regard us as their natural enemies) for a large por-
tion of our supplies of the necessaries of life. This, how-
ever, is a point from the discussion of which they invari-
ably shrink.

Not only have we immense tracts in many parts of
Great Britain and Ireland, left in the unprofitable rude-
ness of nature, inviting the skill and industry of the hus-
bandmen to render them available; but large portions of
the soil long since broken in, is worked in so slovenly and
inefficient a manner, that they probably produce little
more than one-half the crops they are capable of bearing
under a judicious system of cultivation. Even between
Liverpool and Manchester—two of the most populous
towns in the kingdom—there are mosges and other wastes,
both in hollows, and on hill sides, many thousand acres
in extent, but partially touched, yet all of which might be
turned to good account, by draining, digging, or plough-
ing, and quickening with manure. This fact was noticed
. .

even by Mr. Cobden himself, in a recent speech in this
town ; and that these tracts might be turned to good ac-
count is established by the fact that in this and other
parts of the country many of our productive black soils
were originally mosses.

Within the last few years, the farmers have been worse

off than during the few preceding years. Adhering for the
most part to the customary and defective cultivation of
the land, they cannot, they say, afford to pay the rents re-
quired by the landlords. But with some instances excepted,
it is not so much the rent that overwhelms them, as a
want of scientific knowledge of the nature and recrisite
management of the particular soils on which they are lo-
cated. Rent, indeed, may be too low to be consistent
with good economy in the cultivator, by inducing an in-
dolent system, or a neglect, of cultivation. And it by no
means follows, even making all reasonable allowances for
the respective capabilities of different qualities of soils,
that those who pay the lowest rents are the most success-
ful in agricultural pursuits. In proof of this we may state
that the Scotch farms in the Lothians are much higher
rented than the generality of the farms in England; yet
the cultivators, if they be clever and industrious in this
vocation, thrive and become wealthy. The great secret
lies in the proper working of the land, and in adequately
feeding it with manure—which at any reasonable price
will give a good return in increased production, while, at
the same time the land is kept in heart.
We now come more particularly to manures; and we
need but instance the market gardens round the metropolis
in proof that with an adequate quantity of the ordinary
kind, and good spade work, three times the quantity of
produce may be raised that is generally grown on the same
extent of surface in the provinces where manure is scarcer.
Most cultivators of the present day, following in the foot-
steps of their forefathers, consider the ordinary farm-yard
manure the only prime at

ainable article. For general
purposes it is certainly the best of our natural home ma-
nures, and so far as it goes is not to be neglected. But it
is not to be had in sufficient quantity to meet the require-
ments of all the land under cultivation. The general
opinion regarding it is, that it is all in all if abundant, or,
in other words that nothing can equal it if administered
in great weight and bulk. Farmers, who can afford it,
bury masses of it in the ground, and are averse to believe,
that when short, any substitute can be found, compara-
tively of trifling bulk, yet of equal virtue. They lay it
on thick when they can get it ; and when they cannot,
they yield to what they consider to be an arbitrary neces-
sity, and leave the land without any stimulating appliance
at all ! The effects of bone-dust, &c., when first de-
veloped staggered their belief; and the application of
chemical research to agriculture has led to subsequent
discoveries of artificial and other new manures, the powers
of some of which have excited their astonishment, with-
out, however, generally, confirming their faith in their
efficacy. Many of them bewildered by the multiplicity of
new nostrums for fertilizing the soil, have contented them-
selves with creeping on at the old pace, afraid of encounter-
ing a perhaps useless expense, or at a loss which to choose
for trial. We have before us that clever agricultural
paper, the Mark Lane Express, in which we find a list,
with prices current (published weekly) of new manures,
patented and unpatented, of no fewer than 36 different
kinds,—including, rape dust, rape cake, rags, graves,
gypsum, carbon, ashes, humus, various nitrates, urates,
sulphates, muriates, chlorides, acids, chie• fou, composts,
alkalies, animalized powder, and even "disinfected" ma-
nure ! We have also real guano, and artificial guano, the
latter (somewhat curiously) dearer than the former. Some
of these are no doubt good ; others of questionable utility,
and others, we opine, bordering on the worthless; for
some of the inventors—chemists of the metropolis, guilt-
less of having ever raised a blade of glass, or of having,

perhaps, seen it beyond the squares of London—appear
to think they can manufacture manure from road dust, or

Few farmers have an;opportunity of testing even a tenth
of the manures now in the market, and ascertaining which
is the most suitable for particular soils and particular
crops. It was hoped therefore that the Royal Agricultu-
ral Society—which now numbers 7,000 members, and has
moreover large funds—would have made experiments
upon them on a scale sufficiently large to set the question
at rest, by their next forthcoming meeting, and this, we
believe, was suggested to several of the members by prac-
tical men. But it does not appear that the important
subject has yet been taken up by that influential body.
We are happy to say, experiments have been made with
several of the most promising of the new manures, almost
at our own doors. Although this country, taking it gene-
rally, is by no means well adapted for superiority in agri..
cultural or horticultural pursuits, none can boast of higher
cultivated ground than is to be found in some parts of it,
or of having more successfully overcome the frequent
rigours of the precarious ciimate, and the natural baren.
ness of the soil. Of this we have several instances, and
none perhaps more prominent than in the extensive nur-
sery grounds of Mr. Skirving, at Walton-on-the-Hill,—
which, from being originally comparatively unproductive
fields, with a bleak exposure, have been so improved in
climate, (if we may so term it,) and in soil, by sheltering
green fences, and the application of proper manures, as to
grow to perfection plants and shrubs which it was deemed
impossible to rear in the northern latitude, and to present
a flush of verdure and luxuriance highly honourable to
the cultivator and encouraging to others, who may have
similar difficulties to encounter. This gentleman, who
for some years past has made experiments with guano, or
South American bird manure, and other manures, has re-
cently made a more extensive trial of several of the most
approved and promising kinds, and we, a few days ago,
witnessed the result. In adding to his grounds some
grass land (in poor condition) he divided a large a portion
of a field into broad buts of equal size, and manured each
respectively with guano, and other manures considered
the best in the list to which we have before alluded—in
quantities corresponding with their money value, or in
other words, for every 20s. worth of one kind, he put
precisely 20s. worth of another upon the same superficial
space ; for this is the only true criterion by which the
farmer can be guided—the virtues of each kind being left
to be decided by the respective weight of the crop in each
but. Precisely the same crop was put in each. The
whole was carefully and equally treated, under a disinter-
ested superintendant, who registered the particulars in a
book. We were astonished at the inequality in produc-
tion of the respective buts. The guano threw up grass of
nearly twice the height and thickness of that of the other
buts, and the hay will be twice the weight. We after-
wards visited a plot of Italian rye-grass, manured with
the guano. It is very fine, strong, and healthy, and
stands throughout about four feet high. No similarly-
sized plot, treated with an equal money amount of farm-
yard manure would, we think, have any chance with it.
We afterwards noticed the effects of the various ma-
nures in a great variety of crops, including field produce,
forest trees, &c.; but the most interesting was the pieces
of ground in which the experiments were first com-
menced in 1840 with guano, nitrate of soda, farm .yard
manure, &c. This was visited in the first year, when in
rye grass, by many members of the Royal Agricultural
Society, when they held their meeting in this town, as
e wellasea-
.g
as by many distinguished agriculturists, and the opi-
roggepeeede withell turnips,
asserted without o
preeminence _ additioal m
eminenc
mon they expressed was, that it was the finest thing they
had seen. in the course of their agricultural tour. Last
fnyeuerart year it
:aend wasr
. the e
This
year it is in oats, (still without additional
application,) and the crop on the guano bed greatly ex-
cels
all the others, and is still very thick and fine. The
proportion of guano and farm-yard manure was
about. 21b.
of the former to 101 b. of the latter, but as the price of the
.
farm-yard differs in different parts of the country, and
also in the same locality at different times, this cannot be
considered a fixed proportion. The superiority of the
guano. however, is shown, even under any ordinary fluc-
tuation, to be great ; and the experiment is highly valua-
ble in showing (which was doubted by many) its great

and enduring fertilizing qualities over a period of three
years.
One great advantage of guano over farm-yard manure,
is the much smaller bulk of it required to produce the
effect, so that a great expense in carriage, particularly to
remote farms, is saved. It also requires much less ex-
penditure of labour in its application.

We are not aware how far it is equally applicable to all
sorts of soils, or whether it be equally suitable fur all
sorts of grasses; but as the trials we have alluded to have
been made in various parts of the nursery of nearly 100
acres in extent, of considerable diversity of soil, and none
of it of the very best, and in a great variety of crops, the
probability is, that it will be found of general and advan-
tageous effect wherever common manure can be benefi-
cially applied. Its import will give much additional em-
ployment to our shipping; and it has already reduced the
price of farm-yard manure, in this part of the country, no
less than 3s. a ton, which itself is equal to a large reduc-
tion of rent.

CHARGE OF ATTEMPT TO MURDER UPON
THE HIGH SEAS.

Last Saturday, as we stated in our last, a seafaring man
named William Draper, applied to the magistrates for a
warrant against John Mackenzie, whom he charged with
having attempted to kill him when he (Draper) lay with a
vessel of which he was master in the river of Savannah.
A warrant was immediately granted ; and on Tuesday
Mackenzie was brought up before Mr. Rushton. The
complainant stated that the prisoner was owner of the
Sophia, of which complainant was captain. They sailed
from London on the 10th Feb. last, and arrived at Sa-
vannah on the 2nd April. Knowing that the vessel was
to return to Liverpool, the prisoner insured her in the
name of another party ; going on board himself, in the
first instance, as a man before the mast, but acting as
owner during the voyage. In going up the Savannah
River, the vessel got aground, and considerable damage
was done. She was repaired ; and, on his (complainant's)
refusing to sign the carpenter's bill, on the ground that it
was false, the bill having been produced by the prisoner,
he received from him the wounds described.—Mr. Rush-
ton asked the prisoner whether he had any questions to
ask the complainant; to which he replied, that his prin-
cipal witness was not here, and could not come till four
o'clock.—Mr. Rushton said he should be sent for. Mr.
Rushton observed that this was a serious accusation.—
The prisoner : It is not a true one ; it is as false as ma-
lice can invent.—The carpenter of the Sophia, evidently
in a state of excitement, here rushed forward, and pre-
senting a letter to the court, said, that will tell you what
he is : he (the prisoner) is a d—d rascal and nothing
else.—A threat from Mr. Rushton to fine him, if he
swore again, restrained the carpenter from further vio-
lence; and, on inquiry, it appeared that his complaint
had nothing to do with the present charge.
Eventually he was remanded.

On Wednesday the prisoner was again placed at the
bar. Mr. Owen, solicitor, appeared on behalf of the
presecution, Mr. Davenport for the prisoner.
Mr. Davenport asked permission to cross-examine the
captain.

The captain was placed in the witness box, and said, in
answer to questions from Mr. Owen, that the prisoner
asked him to sign the document several times previously
to the interview when he cut him with the razor.

In answer to Mr. Davenport, the captain gave the fol-
lowing testimony :—The prisoner is owner of the vessel,
and my own agreement was made with him.

Mr.-Rushton : What was he on board ?
Witness : I dont know. He was rated as a seaman.
By Mr. Davenport : He went out as super-cargo. He
was rated as a seaman. I did not recommend it to him.
He signed in a private house. I was not present : I did
not see it, I don't know anything about it. He did not
go as super-cargo that I know of. I dont know whether
he was super-cargo or not, I don't know why he signed
articles. He made the articles out himself. (The articles
were here handed in.)
Mr. Rushton : Is he an insolvent debtor.
M. Owen : Yes, sir.
Examination continued : The firm was Mackenzie,
Rigg and Co. A new register was got at Halifax.

Several letters were handed in to Mr. Rushton.
Mr. Rushton : There is something here for another party
to inquire about. Who is the provisional assignee?

Examination continued : The vessel was transferred to
Frazer in 1812. We were in the cabin when I was cut.
He was in bed ; I was not ; when he said:" villain " I did
not rush at him, but he rushed at me. I did not knock
out his teeth. The carpenter was put in gaol for knock-
ing out his teeth ; but they were false teeth. He was in
custody in Savannah one night. The consignee said it
would be better to send him to be tried by the laws of his
own country. I was given to understand that he had es-
caped. The magistrate came to me at the doctor's. The
vessel was consigned to Mr. Lowe, and had been con-
sirned•to him two:voyages before.

Charles Rowan, the cook and Steward, deposed to going
into the cabin when he heard the cry of murder, and see-
ing the captain with a gash in his throat, and the prisoner
with his hands bloody.

Green' an able seaman, said, when he heard the cry of
murder, he ran to the cabin and met the captain coming
out with his hand to his throat. He found the prisoner
sitting on the side of his bed, and said " You've cut the
captain's throat." The prisoner said "Is he dead : He
locked the prisoner in the cabin.
Mr. Davenport said the witness whom he intended to
have called had not appeared. He was to prove that the
captain did not appear against the prisoner but allowed
him to be disharged.
Mr. itnallton vaid it Lad Lcon ahonn tLat tlAo captain
was unable to appear.

The prisoner was further remanded till the following
day, when he was again placed at the bar.
Mr. Rushton said he had been considering the case, and
he had some doubts as to his jurisdiction. According to
the 7th section of the 9th of George IV., if any of her Ma-
jesty's subjects should be charged in England with any
murder or manslaughter, the same being committed in
land out of the United Kingdom, whether within or with-
out the King's dominions, then it should be lawful for any
justice to take cognizance of offences so charged, and to
proceed thereon, as if the same had been committed within
his ordinary jurisdiction. " Now," said Mr. Rushton,
" by this the right of justices to inquire is confined to the
charges of murder and manslaughter, and this charge is
neither the one nor the other. According to the thirty-
second section of the same act the jurisdiction of the
justices was limited to offences committed within the
jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England, and the port of
Savannah could not be said to be within the jurisdiction of
the Admiralty of England. Again by the 38th section of
the sth and 6th of Wm. IV., it was provided that the pro-
visions of the 9th Geo. IV. should be extended to offences
committed on board merchants' ships at sea, as far as re-
garded common assault, but the same act further pro-
vided that such jurisdiction should exist only in cases of
assault or battery committed without any intent to commit
a felony. He (Mr. R.) therefore considered that he had

no jurisdiction, as it certainly was not a common assault.
It was a great pity that the prisoner should escape in this
way, but he had no power. The prisoner was accordingly
discharged.