on the one hand, and the qualities of the food consumed by the sheep on the other, we have no hesitation in saying that the chemical data on the one side would be quite sufficient to account for the chemical data on the other, and that they would lead to most important sanitary results. In other words, the departure from the normal type of food, or from the natural quality of food required by the sheep would be quite sufficient to account for the departure from a state of health which it experiences when put upon such food. Magendie's dogs died a slow death from inanition when their food was deprived of its condimental properties; so have cats and other animals when similarly fed; and the case of sheep on the washy grass in question only proves that this little quadruped is no exception to the common rule. In this respect man himself must also be included in the list, for if his food is deprived of its condiment, the result is fatal. Lord Somerville's interesting address to the Board of Agriculture, in reference to the punishment which formerly existed in Holland, by withholding the well-known condiment salt, which Plutarch by way of pre-eminence designates aliorum condimentorum condimentum, although an old story, is to the point. The ancient laws of the country ordained men to be kept on bread alone UNMIXED with SALT, as the severest punishment that could be inflicted upon them in their moist climate. The effect was horrible; these wretched criminals are said to have been devoured by worms engendered in their own stomachs;" the worms here mentioned being the attendant result of disease, not the cause of disease. The chemical question is so simple that it could not have remained so long insolved if there had not existed a very great misconception of the physiology of this part of our subject. Indeed, very little is yet known of the physiological uses of the juice of the flesh, and the peculiar function of the several substances of which it consists, individually or collectively. But, as Liebig justly avers, we may assume with a degree of probability amounting to certainty, that in so perfect a machine as the animal organism every part has its significance." "If now it can be demonstrated by investigation that certain inorganic constituents occur in the flesh of all animals, and are never absent therefrom, it will follow that they are essential to the function of the muscles, those most complex parts of the organism; while on the other hand, a variation in their relative proportions enables us to infer a corresponding variation in some vital action." The same may be said of the organic constituents of the flesh, of the blood, and of the lymph. Thus, as has already been shown, the extra quantity of water in the food of the sheep taken into the circulation must eventually derange the functions of the kidneys and of the skin; and when not removed by either the one or the other, or conjointly by both of these channels, it must also accumulate in the blood, lymph, and juice of the flesh, giving rise to changes in the action of endosmose Again, the red corpuscles, chloride of soda, and phosphate of soda, are all of greater specific gravity than water, i, e., they thicken the blood, so that when a deficiency of these in the food gives rise to a decrease in the blood, as exhibited in rot, a similar derangement is experienced in the permeability of the fluids, while these several constituents are required in the reparative process or nourishment of the body, consequently the work of starvation also commences in some department or organ. Thus while the blood and lymph in the blood vessels and lymphatics, and the juice that surrounds them, and the nervous and muscular systems are undergoing chemical changes, so that the organs are not supplied with their natural stimuli, and consequently cannot select and elaborate the same into healthy fluid or organism, as was explained under "fat," the organs themselves from the simplest to the most complex are undergoing tear and wear on the one hand, while they are not being fully repaired, on the other, so that they are gradually becoming relaxed in structure, impaired in health, and less and less able to perform their respective functions, even granting that they were chemically supplied with the means of doing so. How much more imperfectly will their respective functions be performed when they are not thus chemically supplied? and exosmose. In prosecuting the investigation of the changes which thus take place in the juice of the flesh of sheep, from the commencement of the fatty stage of rot to that period when the animal is either slaughtered or is carried off by the disease, or is cured by a change of food as subsequently noticed, it is necessary to pay the closest attention to the two-fold process here involved-in the first place, to the chemistry of the raw materials out of which this juice is formed, viz., the quality of the blood; and in the second place, to the health of the organs themselves, that select, elaborate, and secrete the juice into the place which it occupies around the tissue of the muscles and other parts of the organism. Although we may not know exactly the peculiar function of the lactic acid, phosphate of potash, chloride of potassium, albumen, osmazome, &c., yet we do know that when a lean sheep is put upon rich herbage, sup plying it with its natural food, its muscles soon begin to fill up, its wool to exhibit a healthy appearance, and its skin to afford a soft and unctuous handle-characteristics which please the shepherd; and that when sent to the shambles the juice of its mutton affords a rich supply of the above elements, which are always highly prized by the butcher and his customers. We also know that this rich juice is derived from the rich food ingested, that this rich food makes rich chyle, that a regular supply of rich chyle keeps up a regular supply of rich, healthy blood, and that rich healthy blood makes fine mutton, as above. So far the daily experience of every shepherd enables him successfully to comprehend the dietetic philosophy of the subject. When we enter upon details, and begin to enquire into the nature of the organs that secrete the juice, and to ask how all the changes take place that chemically characterise juice from blood and lymph? some difficulty may be experienced in giving to every question of this kind that may be raised a satisfactory answer. But whatever ay be the exact nature of these organs, and whether their function is purely exosmotic, or otherwise involving a more complex process, it signifies the less so long as we have the facts of the case thus practically and clearly exhibited on both sides. Again, in the case of a healthy fattening sheep every pore of the skin and every excretory gland is 1 erforming its function, thus removing carbonic acid and all noxious effete matter from the juice of the flesh and other fluids within. Now, turning from this picture of a healthy sheep to that of rotten mutton, we likewise know that when a lean sheep is put upon the unwholesome herbage of rotting ground its muscular system also rapidly fills up with juice. But unfortunately in this case, although the physiology of the sheep remains the same, yet all the other favourable normal conditions are metamorphosed into unfavourable abnormal ones; for the wool has lost its glossy appearance, and the skin its soft, unctuous handle. The other qualities are all similarly reversed, the insipid washy food producing its direful anemiating effects; so that it may not inaptly be said, that although lus uriously fed, the poor sheep dies the death of Magen lie's dogs. AN OLD SHEpher ). THE STEAM PLOUGH; HEDGE-ROW TIMBER REMUNERATION FOR AGRICULTURAL IMPROVE. MENTS.-At the Ledbury Society's meeting, E. V. Wheeler, Esq., the chairman, said: " There was a noble nan residing in the district who took great interest in the society, and he desired him (the chairman) to state his opinion respecting the steam plough. His lordship tho ight it desirable that a company should be formed in Tenbury for the purpose of purchasing a steam plough, and let it out to hire. His (the chairman's) idea was that the steam plough had not yet come to that perfection which would suit that neighbourhood. Next year the Royal So iety would hold its meeting at Worcester, and then they would have an opportunity of judging for themselves. They would then see that improvements had been made. Lord Northwick (for that was the nobleman he had alluded to) had intimated that he would take a few shares if the fariners decided on making a purchase." Mr. Andrews said: "He quite concurred with the chairman that the farmers of Tenbury were not at present prepared to introduce the team plough into the district. It was a matter which mut be determined by the landed proprietors of the neighbourhood. They must remove many useless fences before it could be introduced with success. He thought that land had now reached its maximum value, and that, in order to keep up a good understanding between the landed proprietors and their tenants, proper improvements must be carried out by the farmer, and the land put in a good state of cultivation by them. He always looked with pleasure at the farms on the estate of the Lady Emily Foley, to see the excellent state of cultivation they were in. There was a good arrangement between the owner and occupier-whether by lease or not he was not aware-but there was that good confidence between them which encouraged the tenant to farm in the most spirited manner. It, of course, tended to the advantage of the proprietor. He looked forward to the time when steam cultivation would become general; but it could not be done till the landlords took the matter into their own hands, and gave increased confidence to their tenants (cheers). Mr. Manwaring said that "Lord Northwick mentioned the matter to him some little time since, and he then informed his lordship that the land was not in a proper state at present. He had no doubt that the steam plough would do more for agriculture than anything else. It was impossible, however, to get the land into s proper state of cultivation with so many crooked hedgerows as they had now to deal with. They also wanted a good deal of the useless timber cut down, which might be done with profit to both landlord and tenant. He was aware that Hereford and Worcester were admired for their ornamental scenery, which was due, in a great measure, to the large quantities of timber growing on the several estates but there was much which he considered useless, which neither added to the ornament nor was productive to any. one, but positively injurious, as it interfered greatly with their agricultural operations. Until this was removed, it was useless to think of introducing the steam plough. He hoped the landed proprietors would consider the matter seriously, and do what all admitted to be very desirable, and not only add to their own wealth, but to that also of the country at large. Another thing he wished to mention as most desirable was a better understanding between landlord and tenant respecting the permanent improvements made on their farms. If a man had spent a large capital and much time and labour in improving his farm, he ought to be remunerated according to the value if called upon by his landlord to leave. He was now often compelled to sacrifice all his money and labour, and the person who succeeded him reaped the advantage of it. They wanted some clear understanding in the matter, either to retain the farms on lease, or be remunerated if forced to quit. The farmers of England only wanted a fair field and no favour" (cheers). Mr. Brown said: "This last matter to which Mr. Manwaring had referred was already entirely in their own hands. They should make an agreement for what they wanted when they entered on the farm." THE RATEPAYERS AND THEIR At the Blofield Agricultural Society's dinner Mr. E. Howes, M.P., said: I have been somewhat called to account for not replying at once to Mr. Read when some little difference of opinion was expressed by him; but I considered it my duty to be silent, believing it to be most improper to provoke a discussion on a matter which I conceived could not possibly be either fairly or fully discussed on such an occasion. The subject to which I refer is the Poaching Act (loud cries of "Hear, hear "). Now, gentlemen, Mr. Read knows very well, from the correspondence which has passed between us, the opinions that I enter tained with regard to the measure in question, and that I did not consider that it was required for the county of Norfolk. Do not let there be any mistake. I said I was astonished at the opposition which that measure had encountered, and that I had supported it myself. I supported it deliberately, and I am perfectly convinced that if there is anyone present who now entertains a different opinion, he will change that opinion within a year. Had all England been as the county of Norfolk, there would have been no occasion for such a measure. But in the other counties it was as necessary as any measure that has ever been passed. Many gentlemen here are aware of what has taken place in Nottinghamshire, Cheshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, and other counties, where gangs go out by night scouring the country, not merely to the injury of the landowners and preservers of game, but to the injury of the yeoman and small tenant farmer (Hear, hear); and that the game swept away by these poachers is carried into the towns by the cartfull. We all know what the trade of the poacher is (Hear, hear). I ask, is such a disreputable trade to be permitted, being positively against the law? I ask this simply as a matter of common sense. Ought such a thing to continue so long as it is contrary to the law? It seems to me that, it being an unlawful trade, it ought to be abolished if possible. We all know that it is a regular trade, and that no more effectual mode can be devised for putting down such a trade than that of cutting short its profits (Hear, hear). Now, that is the simple intention of this Act. I think, if you look beyond this county, you can hardly come to any other conclusion than that an Act of this kind was necessary, if the game laws are to be continued. Well, that question is a very wide one, and a very serious one; but, I may ask the yeomanry and tenant farmers of Norfolk, is it your wish that game should be absolutely abolished throughout the length and breadth of England ?("No.") Have you considered what the effect would be if the game laws were repealed and REPRESENTATIVES. game consequently ceased to exist in this country? Are The PRESIDENT subsequently gave "The Tenant-farmers | of East Norfolk," coupled with the name of Mr. C. S. Read (tremendous cheering), to whom he had always been under the greatest obligations for his civility and kind attentions. Mr. CLARE S. READ said a tenant-farmer never opens his mouth without putting his foot in it the moment he begins to talk of anything but pigs and bullocks (laughter). If he does make a speech, and he happens to say things which it is not usual to say, he is made a butt to be shot at, to be laughed at, to be written at, to be talked at, at every quarter sessions and by every newspaper (laughter). We, the tenant-farmers, were requested at North Walsham to speak out, and in their behalf I did speak out, candidly and frankly, but I hope not disrespectfully or rudely (Hear, hear). I have been accused of being a swaggering, bumptious young fellow (laughter). They generally say that the sting of an accusation is in its tail; but I only wish I could plead guilty to the impeachment of youthfulness (laughter). As to the charge of rudeness to the landlords of Norfolk and the county generally, I may be allowed to say that I am one of those who entertain the greatest personal respect for the gentry of our own district, and the greatest confidence in, and respect for, the landed aristocracy of England (cheers). However, it does not matter how I have been misrepresented or abused; I shall continue to speak out (loud cheers). I know that truth will always prevail, and that I speak the sentiments and the feelings of hundreds of thousands of tenant-farmers who either cannot or dare not speak for themselves (cheers). I remember that when I was at school our drill-sergeant said to me one day, "You fancy that you are a pretty good hand at the sword exercise; take my sword and I will take the stick, and we will see who is the master." Well, in about two or three minutes he beat me black and blue (laughter). Now, because he handled that stick so well, that does not prove that the stick is a better weapon than a sword (Hear, hear), and because Mr. Howes has handled his argument so well, that does not prove that what he has said is quite right, and that what I am about to say is quite wrong (Hear, hear, and laughter). I deeply regret being in any way opposed to Mr. Howes, not only because I have to contend with so powerful an adversary, but because, as you all know, in politics proper I have always given my humble and earnest support to that great cause which Mr. Howes represents; and I am sure that we, the tenant-farmers of Norfolk, must all be grateful to a gentleman who is so well qualified to be our representative by his birth, talents, and attainments, and general knowledge. (cheers). I have great pleasure in publicly thanking Mr. Howes for the many acts of kindness and courtesy I have received at his hands, and he was perfectly right when he said he did not believe I had any personal motive in what I said at North Walsham (Hear, hear). Well, now about the Highway Bill. At North Walsham Mr. Howes looked straight down among us ratepayers and tenantfarmers, and said, "It remains with you to adopt that measure or not, and when you like." Now, if the option did remain with us, and we had any voice or choice in the matter, I should not have the slightest objection to the bill; but unfortunately the whole matter rests with the magistrates of the district. I speak with the greatest possible respect for the magistrates; but what I complain of is that this act does not recognize the existence of the tenant farmers or ratepayers at all, but it constitutes the magistrates prosecutors, judges, and jury, and even the court of appeal too (laughter). Mr. Howes said that the act was not required in Norfolk; but no sooner was it passed than we had a notice in the papers that no less than sixty-three parishes in the hundred of Mitford and Launditch were to be made into a highway district. Now I myself believe that if the ratepayers of that district were polled, at least three-fourths of them would decidedly object to the adoption of the act. One would think that the roads are very badly managed and almost impassable. It is a very good maxim to let well enough alone, and I think nothing but great neglect in the management of the roads can justify so great a change in the present system (Hear, bear). Why, one gentleman who made a speech in support of this measure, stated that the roads were kept in very good repair in his own parish for a rate of a penny in the pound (Hear, hear), and all the fault he could possibly find with the present system was that in some localities the cost of maintaining the roads was £14 a mile, while in others it was not as many shillings. Another remark made was that the surveyors did not see to the men going to their work on the roads early in the morning. Now at present there are two surveyors to every parish, which would give more than a hundred surveyors for the Mit ord and Launditch hundred. Under the new system there would be only one or two. Is it likely that the superintendence of the labourers employed on the roads would be more efficient under those two surveyors than under the hundred ? (Hear, hear). We all know that there are causes independent of traffic which make a difference in the cost of main aining roads in different localities; for instance, there is the quantity and the quality and situation of the material; then there is the nature of the subsoil of the road, the drainage of the district, the hedges and the fences; all these circumstances affect the cost of keeping roads in good repair (Hear, hear). In South Wales, where I resided for some time, the whole of that portion of the principality is under district surveyors, and there, where roads are very hilly, and where the material is very soft, and the climate very moist, road-making is certainly a very different operation to what it is in this part of the world; and from the experience I had there I am almost sure that you will find that if you have a good staff of officers, and if they are properly paid, they would cost about a penny in the pound on the whole district. But I don't think that would be the chief source of objection to parishes: where they would feel it most would be in not being allowed to select what labourers they pleased for the roads (Hear, hear). There are always in a parish a certain number of aged and partially infirm labourers, who during the summer time get jobs of hoeing and weeding, and at Michaelmas they are to be found at the door of the surveyor asking for a job on the road. I contend that these men are just as efficient in mending roads as the strong labourers whom a district surveyor would be likely to employ; and as these poor old fellows can find no other employment in winter, they must be maintained out of the poors' rate. Now, if you will allow me to talk of a special hardship instead of a general grievance, there is a gentleman on my left who last May purchased half the hamlet of Dillington. In making a valuation of that property, I found that the roads were kept in very good repair at 2d. in the pound. I see that the hamlet is to be annexed to the parish of Dereham, where the rate is 6d. in the pound. Now, I say it is rather an arbitrary measure that this gentleman should have to pay from £5 to £7 a-year more, and also to have all control in the management of the roads taken from him. We are told, however, that we shall not lose the management of the roads, but that the district boards of way-wardens will be like the boards of guardians. Then I say that individual parishes will lose all hold over the expenditure. I am a guardian and vice-chairman of a board, and I know that if I were the most stingy man on earth, or the most liberal, neither my stingiuess nor my liberality would make a difference of a penny in the pound in my rates. There are so many common charges which fall equally on all the parishes, that I believe no guardian can materially affect the amount of the rates of his own parish. Mr. Gurdon spoke about the magistrates managing the roads. Although I am so young a man(laughter)-I have had something to do with the maintenance and repairs of roads for something like twenty years, and I never knew the magistrates interfere; all they ever said when I went up to pass my accounts was, "Your roads are in very good order," or some complimentary speech like that-just the same as the auditors of the Poor-law Board (a laugh). You must remember that the magistrates have the power of getting a board made, and then they will be members of the board. Moreover, they will still be the power to which you must appeal in case of any disagreement, and they will still have the power, also, of granting indictments. The tendency of all modern legislation seems to be to take the control away from individual parishes and ratepayers, and vest it either in the magistrates or in some great board; and the result will be that when our church rates are abolished, we shall find that the parochial system of government of which we talk so much will be as obsolete as the feudal system. There is one other subject which has been alluded to-the police game-preserving bill (cheers). Mr. Howes says it is not applicable to Norfolk. Well, I cannot see what we have to do with any other part of the country just now. I understood Mr. Howes to say at North Walsham that the act would not cost this county a single sixpence extra (Mr. Howes Hear, hear). Now, gentlemen, all I can say is that if these extra duties can be put upon the police, it only proves to me that the police have hitherto not been fully employed (" Bravo," and great cheering and laughter), and that when I pay my seven-sixteenths of a penny in the pound for the police, I am paying more than I ought to pay (laughter). I must say that some people are wilfully perverse or remarkably stupid when they will have it that because the tenant farmers of this country object to the police being employed in the preservation and the protection of game, therefore they are the friends of poachers and sympathise with them. Now, sir, speaking in the name of the tenant farmers here present, I undertake to say that there is not one of them but who looks upon the poacher as an enemy (Hear, hear), for we all know that the professed poacher is a marauding blackguard, and that the sooner his career is stopped the better. But if my landlord were to come and say to me "Feed a flock of sheep for me, and I will have a shepherd who will watch over them," and supposing sheep-stealing became prevalent, and he said to me" Your shepherd that you pay to look after your sheep must come and help mine to watch my flock at night, and apprehend these depredators," I should say, "No, sir, my shepherd has business of his own to attend to, and if you want another man, the best way is for you to hire another man" (cheers and laughter). Do you think that because I should say that, I should be the friend of sheep stealers and sympathise with them? (cheers). I am, unfortunately, as fond of my gun as if I had been born and bred a squire (laughter), and I am also in my little way a game preserver; but I should never think of asking the police to assist in preserving that game (cheers). I am proud to live in a county where there are so many partridges (laughter). I consider them the best birds that fly; they are easily preserved, they afford no end of sport, and in my humble opinion they do the tenant farmer more good than harm, for although they may now and then terrify our late sown wheats and early peas, they live for so many months exclusively on insects that I believe they really do more good than harm. Then, gentlemen, the pheasant is a very beautiful bird, and like a great many other beautiful things it is very often dearly paid for (Hear, hear), but he is an unthrifty, stupid sort of bird, and requires as much looking after as a baby (laughter). Then as to rabbits, I contend that they are nothing more nor less than vermin-(Bravo! and loud cheers) and I contend also that when hares are preserved in very great numbers they are entirely destructive to the tenant's crop; and not only do an immense amount of mischief to the occupier, but, as a necessary consequence, they are in the end injurious to the landlord and the labourer too. Game-preserving landlords sometimes tell us this: "When I let my farm, I let it with game upon it, and you knew it, and you gave me so much less for it." Now, this is not always true, for we know some cases where a lease is granted and there is no game, but before the lease is ended there is so much game that the crops are nearly all eaten up (Hear, hear); and it is quite possible that there may be no hares and rabbits one year, and that there may be plenty the next year. Assuming, however, that a farm of the value of £500 a-year without game is let for £450 with game on it, then, in the first place, Government loses that £50 a-year under schedules A and B; but that is no business of ours; Government is sharp enough to look out for itself (laughter). The farmer, however, pays all his local rates on the full value of the farmcounty rates, church rates, poor's rates, and highway rates; and the game-preserver pays nothing, though he is in reality a £50 occupier on that farm (applause). Now, this is the real ground of the tenant-farmer's objection to the present game-laws. It is not that they object to a reasonable amount of game being preserved, but they do not like to pay for the protection of that which is in a great maay instances a nuisance and an injury to them (cheers). It has been put to me as a crushing and an unanswerable question : "Do your cocks and hens pay county rates?" (Laughter.) Why most unquestionably they do. Poultry is farm produce, just as much as sheep and oxen, and as long as land is rated at its agricultural value, as a matter of course the poultry on it is rated, as well as everything else which is a source of profit to the occupier (Hear, hear). Then comes the question, "How are we to remedy this grievance ?" Why, we have assessment committees, and they are told that it is their duty to rate all property at what it would fairly let for per annum. I can see no reason myself why the right of sporting, which commands a certain rent over a certain farm, should not be rated at s uniform sum all over the county (cheers). But if that should be found impracticable, you might simplify it by making all those gentlemen who employ the police in the apprehension of poachers pay all the expenses attendant on the prosecution and conviction of such offenders (Hear, hear). I am sure that if some arrangement of that kind were made, or if, as Mr. Howes says, game were made property, and subject to the law of trespass, and assessed to the county rate (Hear, hear) you would hear no more from me or any other farmer in England against the Poaching Act. Mr. Read resumed his seat amid loud and protracted cheering. Mr. Howes, M.P., next said: Let me clear up one or two differences of opinion that exist, simply as to the premises from which each of us starts. He referred to my saying that the Highway Act was an optional one-that is to say, that it may be adopted in any county, in whole or in part, in any number of parishes, or in a few. It has been proposed to be adopted in a certain number of perishes in the west of Norfolk. It may or may not be properly applicable to that district; but it ought to be known that the order made at the last Quarter Sessions was simply a provisional order, and it must be confirmed at another Quarter Sessions before it became law; and if any objections be entertained to it by the ratepayers of the district, they can oppose its confirmation. I have been Chairman of the Quarter Sessions for the last fourteen themselves trustees for all the ratepayers, and I firmly be years; and I think I may say that the magistrates consider lieve that they have never abused that trust, which they regard as a sacred one. I have no doubt that, though an individual ratepayer has no immediate voice in voting whe ther the act shall be adopted or not, he has the right of opposing its adoption by memorial to the Quarter Sessions; and I am quite sure that, if there was anything like a general opposition to the adoption of the act, the magistrates would respect such an expression of opinion on the part of the majority of the ratepayers of the district (Hear, hear). I am sure, also, that if the particular cir cumstances to which Mr. Read has alluded, of the hamlet of Dillington, be brought forward, they will be fully considered; and if it appears that the proposed arrangement would be unjust to the occupiers and owners of that hamlet, they would receive redress from the magistr tes (Hear, hear). That appears to me to answer every objec tion which Mr. Read made to this act. It is not intended to take the administration of local matters out of the hands of the ratepayers. Without raising any question as to politics, I may be allowed to remind Mr. Read that the principle of local administration is one of the principles of the Conservative party, and one, therefore, which I should consider it a sacred duty to maintain (applause). Now, as to the Poaching Act, let me ask what is the objection on the part of the tenant-farmer or yeoman, or any ratepayer, to that law? I have already pledged myself to the fact that it will not add to the burthens of the ratepayers. Can the objection be to the employment of police? You are all aware that poaching is forbidden by law. Is it not, then, a matter of criminal jurisprudence? (Hear, hear.) If so, how is it that the police have not been previously em ployed in preventing and detecting poaching, just as they are in preventing and detecting all offences against the law of the land? Heretofore, if a policeman met a cart full of game on the highways, the poacher might snap his fingers in the face of the policeman, and even tell him the game was poached, and drive on in defiance. I ask, is that a thing which should be suffered in a civilized country? (Hear, hear). I ask for an answer. Is it right that a person who has in his possession property unlawfully obtained should be able to laugh in the face of the policeman and say, "Touch me if you dare"? I say the answer can only be-Euforce the law, or else abolish the law entirely (Hear, hear). It might be better to adopt a new principle altogether-to make game property, and so as to put it under the same protection as a person's hens and chickens and sheep. Well, I have said that that is a proper subject for discussion, and that it will possibly be discussed in parliament; but I must confess that I entertain grave doubts myself as to the serious inconveniences which might arise from a new law of trespass to persons who might be innocent (Hear, hear). My object in supporting the bill was certainly not to increase the burthens of the ratepayers, and my firm belief is that in this county, where I know the law would be administered judiciously and discreetly, it would have no such effect. Mr. Read has said that the time which the policeman will spend in the protection of game must have been hitherto wasted; but one could hardly expect such a remark to be made by any one who is at all acquainted with the duties of a policeman. The policeman's time could not be occupied in watching the game. We know, however, that it is often occupied in watching a man's poultry (laughter), and that after two or three nights spent on a farmer's premises, the policeman's vigilance and constancy are somestimes rewarded by detecting an offender who has stolen a hen or a chicken (laughter). But that would not be the case with respect to game. The police would not be employed in the preservation or watching the game. There is a certain force employed in watching the neighbourhood round Norwich and Yarmouth, and every town in the county, to intercept any stolen property that may be conveyed from the rural districts to be disposed of in the towns; and no additional police would be required through this act, which merely enables them to stop persons with cart-loads of game, just as they have always been able to stop persons with any description of property supposed to have been unlawfully obtained (Hear, hear). It is well known that the impunity with which persons have been able to carry game in carts without being liable to be challenged by a policeman has afforded them a screen for conveying stolen property; and thus the new powers given to the police will assist them in the detection of other offences, which, it is notorious, have hitherto escaped detection, through the shelter of the indulgence shown to poachers (applause). THE PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE: LEASES AND TENANT-RIGHT. At the Vale of Evesham Society, EDWARD HOLLAND' | Esq., M.P., said: This was a period when everything was progressing, and the farmer must not only think for the time being, but think in advance. He would say that the farmer was progressing in intellect and consequently in wealth, mainly through the establishment of societies like that they were now celebrating. In the last session of Parliament large changes had taken place in reference to our domestic condition. Changes had taken place in respect to the excise of the country, and the hop duty had disappeared altogether. And now that the agriculturists had increased in intellect as in stature as men, he hoped the question of agricultural statistics would be disposed of. Unfortunately for him (Mr. Holland) he was afraid he was in a minority on that question, but there were such things as private bills, and he hoped to get a private bill passed to enable him to farm better through the means of agricultural statistics. The farmers too were now free and independent as compared with their former condition, and as they increased in independence and in the power they had over the land, that increase was something like a tenant right, and they should not be afraid of statistics. The Rev. A. W. INGRAM said it did not require much observation to remark the progress of agriculture. Its whole features were changed, and customs, around which poetry as well as antiquity had cast a charm, were fast going out of date. In the winter evenings they missed the once familiar thump of the thresher's flail; and the poetry of the plough-boy "whistling o'er the lea" was departing from our customs; the reaper gathering the sheaves of corn to his bosom was giving way to the American machine that laid it low; and last of all that emblem of Arcadian simplicity, the milkmaid singing at her pail, was about to become a vision of the past, and the lacteal fluid was now to be extracted from the cow by an invention which caused the animal to give it spontaneously on its application. tomers. No Irish farmer complained of the publication of full details of his produce. If they went into a detailed examination of each farmer's crops, and made a special survey of his farm, he might be suspicious that mischief was in the wind; but without an individual exposure of each case, a valuation of the crop of the year was surely important to the farmer; and he hoped progress would be shown in this as had been shown in other departments of agriculture. In regard to tenant-right, he recollected that twenty years ago the question was afloat in the Vale of Evesham, and he believed it had not made much progress since then. As to leases, he himself had on several occasions offered leases to his tenants, which had been refused. Leases did not seem to be desired; and if they were not desired, the next thing seemed to be something of tenant right-something by way of securing to the tenant that the value of his unexhausted improvements should not be carried off by the landlord. There appeared some justice in this as between man and man; but in a part of the country where a tenant right existed, a tenant farmer had informed him that the matter required a great deal of consideration, for that it was open to a great deal of fraud; but although it might be open to fraud, he thought the principle ought to be carried out. Mr. RANDELL thought Lord Harrowby was labouring under a mistaken notion in supposing that farmers had a dislike to the collection of agricultural statistics. The farmers' impression on the subject was this, that no plan had yet been proposed which would do the thing efficiently. If any plan could be devised for placing before the public statistics on agriculture fully and fairly, he would be ready to accept it. As to the question of tenant right, he felt that to be a question of the greatest importance. In no part of the Midland counties was tenant right recognised, and he should like that for the Vale of Evesham itself a code of tenant right should be established. He believed nothing would be so creditable to the Vale of Evesham Agricultural Association as that a real, fair, and honest code of tenant right should emanate from it. He hoped that before their next meeting they would be enabled to get a public meeting of the farmers of the Vale, at which should be selected a committee of landowners and tenant farmers, to draw up a fair and proper code of tenant right. He thought there would be no difficulty about it, if Lord Harrowby would get a public meeting called at Evesham on the subject, so that before the next meeting they might be able to publish a Vale of Evesham code of tenant right. The Earl of HARROWBY (the Chairman) said it was a remarkable fact that abroad they found England as much talked about in reference to its farming as formerly it was in reference to its manufactures. No doubt they would all agree with him that nothing was so cheering to the eye on travelling through a well-cultivated country. Although they might regret the disappearance of some old common or rush thicket, they received compensation in the increased richness of the country. It was not only the satisfaction of seeing a thing well done that gave pleasure, but there was the feeling of prosperity, good order and good habits which accompanied the change. If they saw a cottage with the thatch covered over with green moss, it might perhaps be looked upon as picturesque; but a slated roof was a better preventive against wet and frost. Mr. Holland had alluded to the subject of agricultural statistics, and he (Lord Harowby) fully agreed in his remarks. He never could underand the objection to agricultural statistics. He never Mr. HUDSON differed from Mr. Holland in the matter of uld understand where was the difficulty and the appre- agricultural statistics, thinking that farmers were not called nsion and the necessity of obtaining a knowledge which upon to estimate the amount of their crops, and that it would e sellers of corn possessed, to the exclusion of their cus-be very difficult for them to do so, as was the case this year. Mr. HOLLAND said he felt that they had not forgotten the discussion which arose at that meeting; for the society was then considering the question of leases, taking up the matter in the same way that they had now taken up the subject of tenant right. They then proposed to have a committee to discuss certain questions, which was duly appointed. and the result of whose deliberations did much good. |