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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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THE POTATO CROP . The Mowing is a report from the Royal Irish Agricultural Society on the potato crop : — Report from the Board of Trade on the Disease in Potatoes , " Office of Committee of Privy Council for Trade , Whitehall , 29 th Sept ., 1845 . " Sa , —I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade to transmit to yon , for the information of the Irish Agricultural Society , the enclosed translation of a special report of the committee of agriculture of the province of Groningen , relative to the potato disease ia Holland . I have the honour to be , sir , your obedient servant , "J . Mac-Gbegor . " E . Sullen , Esq ., Secretary , Irish Agricultural Society . " Report of the Commission of Agriwltur * of the ifrft . vince of Groningen on the Disease Affecting the Polatoe in the Netherlands .
1 ST . CAUSES AND NAXUBE OF THE DI 8 SA 6 E , The agricultural commission is of opinion that the dis . ease is not occasioned by any direct cause , but rather that various circumstances have combined to give the dis . ease this year an extraordinary impulse , it being in the opinion of many scientific persons not a new scourge . The primary cause may be attributed to the extremely wet summer of 18 H , and to the heavy rains which fell at the moment of the formation of the tubers . It is probably ornng to this circumstance that many plants did not germinate . In the second place , the commission 18 of opinion that the growers do not sufficiently attend to the preservation of the potatoes used as plants , so as to keep them from all damp . It is also very probable that the intense cold in the monthjof March much injured the tubers . The more direct causes are probably as follows -.
—1 . The too rapid development of the plants this year . It is well known that tuose plants which spring up too quietly , and the grain sown on an over-manured son , sxa subject to . such diseases as ergot or rye , and other cereal grains , and rust for wheat , and the presence of cryptogamousplants . .. : .. 2 . The intense heat in the early ' part of the summer of 1845 , and which amounted on the 13 th of Jane , 87 Fahr ^ on the 3 ra of July , to 87 $ , and OH the 7 th Of Jttly , to 91 } , necessarily baa the effect of drying up the ground excessively ; and the rain-which fell . ' .. at intervals during the continuance of the hot weather , and was soaked in , had the effect of scorching , as it-were , those plants and potatoes -which , not -being very deeply planted , ' were ex . posed to the action of the heated water . -
3 . This intense heat was succeeded by cold and rainy weather , which lasted from the loth of July to the end of the month of August . ThU damp weather , and the total absence of the -vivifying rays of the sun , caused a kind of rottenness among the pithy plants , and especially dere . loped the cryptogamous plants . 4 . On the 21 st and 22 nd of July last , an extraordinary fog -was perceived in many places , which spreads disgusting smell . Soon afterwards , on the 98 th of July , the first symptoms of the disease were discovered in the provinces of Groningen and North Brabant , and it is more than probable that this fog , which was epidemical , was intimately connected with the disease .
According to all the experiments and descriptions made of the disease , it appearsjthat it commences on the upper part , and then attacks successively the leaf , the stalk , and the tuber . This is fully confirmed by an experiment made at Groningen . As it is the upper part of the stalk which is generally first attacked , it is probable that the disease originates in the leaves , descends the stalk by means of the peel , and then communicates with the part below the gronnd . 5 . On the leaves spots have been perceived , and also a kind of fungus described in the work of M . M . ifalesehott and Baumbauer , and classed by M . de Martins among tbe / urigwriuDi Mtoni . These fungi are similar in every respect to those drawn by the above gentlemen .
It is very probable ,- then , that the above enumerated circumstances have been the simultaneous causes of the plant rotting , and of the fungi which are observed thereon . It unjortuuately happens that these fungi , which are ex-
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tremely minute , are quickly propagated to ah inconceivable extent , favoured by the dampueBS of the . atmos-. p here . ¦ ' ' " _ ¦ , ¦ - ^ . " X ' - ¦ ¦ ¦¦¦ , - ¦ ' <¦ Bat the principal cause , or rather the character , of ,, the ' disease , is a Jana of grangrene oriouidijiess . in the leaf , which occasions a very hurtful and even mortal decay to the plant . The dangerous influence of the cryptogamous plants has long . since * been shown by the example of the rust ( oretfo ruTngo ) in corn . As soon as the rust spot devefopes itself ou . the leaf of the wheat or oat plant , H is observed that the leaf turns yellow and withers at the spot where the rust shows itself . No traces of the fungi has been found in the interior of the stalk or in the tuber . The commission , therefore , considers thai the disease of these parts results from that oftheleaf .
SECOND . —BEMED 1 ES FOB THE D 16 WSE . , The disease itself , its character , and causes , haying now been sufficiently considered , it is necessary to consider the remedies for the disease , of which the commission points out three different kinds , viz .: — -...-1 . A means which , unfortunately , it is not in our power to adopt at pleasure , that is , a drier atmosphere ; for if it be damp that haB caused the moldineBS of the leaves , and has propagated it among the plants , it follows that dry weather would puta stop to the ravages of the disease , and even result in entirely destroying it . This observation applies to the measures which science may propose , now that the disease has probably reached iteperiod . 2 . To prevent the return of the disease , it is necessary to take the folio wing precautions : —
1 . To leave the potatoes in the ground until very dry weather occurs . Experiments having shown that their decay is accelerated by being taken up , it is advisable to leave them in the ground at first in order to get driea , and afterwards to lay them out over the field . This would have the double advantage of rendering the -vegetable more wholesome and preserving it better , 2 . The following applies especially to those potatoes to be used as seed for next year . It is necessary to beware of planting those plants which have been attacked by the disease . They must be clearly chosen from those . whose Btalks have not been attacked , ana placed , in a situation free from the slightest damp . ' As the disease has been less severe in gravelly than in clayey soils , the tuburs should be chosen from those gravelly soils where the diseasehas not penetrated , . ,
3 . The withered leaves of diseased potatoes , Tvnicn ^ are of no value , should he immediately burnt } the same should be done with the Totten potatoes which cannot be of anyuse . Nothingshouldremain of them . i . It is necessary to avoid as much as possible planting potatoes in the same spots where they have been planted this year , for it is moBt probable that seeds of the fungi have remained in these places , aua there would be great risk of the ensuing crop being similarly attacked . - ' . It is also necessary to manure the land with lime after the p » - tatoes have been taken up , and then to clear it ; and if tue land be employed for produce which , need not be planted before winter , it is bettor not to harrow it , and so allow the air and cold to penetrate it . In the spring the lime manure should be renewed as much as possible , and the laud should be watered with diluted sulphuric acid ( onepart of sulphur to 300 of water ) .
5 . Next year the potatoes should be planted in dry lands ; all damp places should be avoided , even places shaded by houses « t trees . 6 . The commission does not agree with those naturalists who think that the origin of the disease may be attributed to the race of potatoes having gradually deteriorated , owing to their being re-proSuced in freBh soD . The report mentions that , in the commune of M arum ( province of Groningen ) , among other instances , is to be seen a field of potatoes , the produce of only three years ' culture , equally attacked by the disease ; and an infinite number of similar cases prove incontestibly that the potatoe has not degenerated . However , the commission recommends that fresh seed should be employed this ysar , for it will then at any rate be certain that it ha 6 not been attacked by this scourge . ¦ ;
7 . If , notwithstanding every effort , the disease should again break outnextyear , the moment the first symptoms of it are perceived , the first leaves that turn yellow should be taken off and burnt , or the entire field should be watered towards the evening with lime water , or , still better , with diluted sulphuric acid , bo as to destroythe seeds Of the cryptogamous fungi ; sulphuric acid , moreover , prevents rotting , and when prepared as above directed , can do no injury to the plan to themselves . ¦¦ 8 . USE TO BE MADE OF THE DISEASED POTATOES , Those potatoes which have been attacked by the disease appear not to be prejudicial to health when taken in moderate quantities . This commission has consulted veterinary surgeons as to whether the potatoes can be employed without danger to feed cattle . Their reply was in the affirmative ; it has been proved , moreover , that pigs have eaten ihe diseased potatoes without death
ensuing . Man may likewise make use of the diseased potatoes , but must carefully remove the brown spots which caused the disease . It has also been shown by experiment that potatoes which havfc remained untainted on the same plant where there are spoilt tubers , may be eaten without hesitation . It is almost useless to remark , that pota . toes which are completely . rotten are hurtful not only to man , but also to cattle , and that a too frequent use of spoilt potatoes is squally dangerous to those who make their sole food of them . Dr . Westerhoff remarked that in the commune of Warffun ( province of Groningen ) , those persons who made use of spoilt potatoes experienced pains in the stomach , and nausea , followed by vomiting , after eating them . / . . v >
As to the means to be employed to prevent the baneful influence that may be exerted on the health of man by eating the diseased potatoes , the commission proposes to make this the subject of another inquiry . In the mean : time , it advises that as much use as possible should' be made of the fecula of potatoes . / *
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PROBABILITY OF A FAMINE THROUGHOUT EUROPE . jsas sSKSSsfc- * s ?« s * 5 SSS& * s « s P 2 & 2 &SimS £ ? 2 Z ^ liMn tEfeast of Germany . Experience . * Sfr Swed that in the boreal latitude ttenuny KSe&ore Eteriletto the dry ones . This feet S beaiffliiiiimeJaiiBiiStlie M yeas . It t ^ Humidity that diminished the crops a few years ae 0 in Russia , and which produced the like effect in 3 > a ] and , Galicia , and Upper Silesia in the course of last 'vear . In German ? the humidity has net
produced any unfavourable consequences , but in certain countries ; there are others , on tie contrary , which lave suffered for want of rain . The results of the crops are , In the mean time , far from being satisfactory , and , from the calculations which have been made , will net suffice the public consumption . It is far from our intention to represent the situation of things in more dreary colours than belongs to them ; but we do not wish , and we ought not , to exaggerate ike advantages of it , desirous as we are of attaining our present object , which is to furnish an exact appreciation of actual circumstances . We shall separately name the different countries , and indicate ihe supplies they stand in need or can disposeof .
Russia will have sufficient corn for the -whole empire , without purchasing any foreign corn . Its Governments are in a position to assist mutually each other , hnt it is very doubtful -whether they can send much corn abroad . He crops of Poland are not sufficient for its general consumpt ion , and , unless it has been previously supplied , will suffer from a scarcity , or be obliged to xeceive corn from abroad . But whom can one have recourse to when one ' s neighbours have only had themselves but middling crops , and have not wherewith to supply the deficiency ? Money also is scarce 3 n Poland , and important sums cannot be sentabroad to purchase corn . The kingdom of Prussia has greatly suffered last year and this from inundations , which have ravaged precisely its most fertile countries ; and want , which is generally felt there , is on the point of transforming itself into actual famine .
The news from Pomerania agrees in stating that Ihe results of ihe last crops are very mediocre . In the grand Duchy of Posen only a middling crop lias been obtained , and anterior provisions can alone prevent a scarcity . The author does not remember laving heard such numerous and general complaints , unless it be in the years 1804 and 1817- God grant that the unfortunate events of that epoch be not again reproduced ! There are in this province whole countries where the usual corn sellers will be obliged themselves to make purchases the next spring . The situation of Galicia is still worse . The price of rye rose 60 per cent , immediately after the crops : it is jsiillontherise . 3 e Hungary , which is usually so productive , the
Government has been obliged to Jay in large stores of corn to nrexent a famine . The hope entertained of Saving good crops has been still more cruelly disappointed than in Silesia . In Austria , Moravia , and Bohemia , the results © f this year ' s crops are below those of the average one ; , and must scarcely snffice for the general consumption . If we consider the west of Germany , we find , first of all , that the crops in Saxony have not precisely failed , although they areveryfar from being abundant . The same may be said of the provinces of Brandeninrg and of Magdeburg . Bavaria , like other countries , has suffered greatly this year from hail-storms and water-spouts ; theresuits of the crops have in consequence been
diminished , as likewise byftbe state of the atmosphere , which has shewn itself but little favourable to the cultivation of corn , "Vfurtemburg , the country of Baden , Westphalia , and the Rhenish , provisoes , have been better treated ; but the disease which has ravaged the potato crop will be severely felt . Nevertheless the potatoe crop las been generally good throughout "Western Germany ; it will supply many deficienees in the crops of places , although they are not so much grown as in otherparts of bermany . Belgium and Holland have had but bad crops ; and tie news from France sufficiently proves ™ & tuAS yearhasBot been < a productive one . - Spain occupies but an inferior rank among corngrowing countries ; still reports from this country do not mention that the crops have been deficient _ JSn » . ' , -where the states of the European Continent generally find a market for iheir surplus corn ,
appears to-day to be re-assured on ihe wants of its internal consumption , or at least the alarming news which arrived from that country has been succeeded fcy much more favourable intelligence . Those who count upon com supplies from tins Baltic and provinces of the North Sea will be greatly deceived ; the prices of these productions will first of all be very high , and in the second place the quantities that can be supplied very small . A great quantity of "Wheat has this year been struck by blight , and this disease /! which has spread throughout Germany Polaad , and Hungary , has deteriorated the quality of the corn as well as diminished the quantity . Further , it cannot now be accurately known whether at fl later period England -will not be reduced to supply itself from abroad , for it is well known that it is only in case of an abundant crop that enough corn can be grown for the country . In the contrary case she will look to supplies from America , or from the countries bordering on the Black Sea .
In Scandinavia , that is to say , Denmark , Norway , and Sweden , the crops have not been satisfactory . In a few words , then , it may be said that for many years past there has not been so unfavourable a year as the present one ; and if it be added that last year only furnished but indifferent crops in comparison with the preceding ones , this circumstance ought to sive rise to measures being taken to prevent the danger which threatens us . "
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abouna more or lew in acids . If the present rot be causedbyfungi , «> y sHu * . lime , or even earft , might ; be found to neutralise its vegetative powers , and check the propagation of tbeplagne , which if fungi we know can , from fte seen , feeeome in twelve . hours » pe * &cfc plant , and may in an Jnconcaivaluyjhorter time . Inavenot yet heard of any potatoes grown ia bog soil beinginjured . Perhaps the antiseptic qualities of peat may preserve them , or their turn may not have come yet . AH , in fact , is conjecture * , and clever , indeed , must "fee botanist be who can do more than conjecture in the present state of botanical science , of the more cryptogamic portion of the class cryptogamia . " The Lublin Evening Post contains the following remarkable statement from a correspondent in the county of Meath : — -
Kells , Susdat Night , Oct 19 . ~ I have been through the country again on Saturday and this morning . You know I am no croaker : in fact , I always look to the happy side of the picture ; and perhaps this is the reason why , after all , lam about reporting to you that it is all over with the potatoe crop . Strange , you will saj , that on a subject on which so many are looking melancholy , that mj burly , happy-minded friend would or could Say this . The announcement of the loss of so much human food as the potatoe crop is the pleasing side of the picture . It is even so . The crop is gone , and it is pleasing news ; I see in it only the wise decree of an all-good and bountiful Providence . Man persecuting his fellow-man , not only ia Ireland , but over the great portion of civilised Europe , ana a part of America , has driven his brother
man—the vast multitude of his fellow-beings—to the last refuge for the support of nature—the potatoe—the vile lumper , that even the swine , three years ago , would turn np his snout at ; and I see the Omnipotent God destroy the soul-degrading root , and thus force man back on better and more fitting food . I do not imagine there will be a potatoe to be used in this country on the 1 st of April . God is great—He is good—He is bountiful . He has sent an abundant oat harvest—following in the march of science , which has rendered useless the supporting such a number of horses , that this better food for man be for his use , and not for the dumb brute ; and He has , by a plague , destroyed the potatoe crop . Man must live on bread—and , strange to tell , the people are beginnning to look on what has hitherto been considered a visitation , in
thatlignt . And what , think you , is the result ? that some of the peasantry talk of throwing down the bridges , to prevent the corn thus from being removed from the interior of the country , The potatoe , they say , was all that the laudlordleft them—God has taken that from them and they say , " Look what He has sent for us in its stead , such a fine crop of oats ; " and they bless and praise Him for his mercy . And then they shrug their shoulders , ana mil tell you , " Weil , if we can't get our own darling Repeal , surely Goa has , at all events , proved we must have ihe other repaH- ^ the repeal of the mrn-Vnos . Now , as to my evidence in Saturday ' s excursion on the potatoe : I went into another district from that in which I had been before . Going along the road , I overtook % load Ot potatoes in a cart ^ I stopped and examined them : I
congratulated the driver of the cart that his potatoes were so safe , as I found only a few diseased ones . He replied , " That's all you know about it , sir ; It was this day fortnight , after picking them on the ridge , as well as those have been picked , and thinking I had not left a bad potato in the lot , I put about fifteen barrels in the hole I took that load out of , and treated them as well as ever potatoes were treated , and there is all I have left of the fifteen barrels , the rest are lying at the hole , and the pigs themselves would not eat them ; and I am afraid that these will be the same way in a week . " There were only about three-and-a-half barrels in the cart . This , in a fortnight after they were picked in the first instance , being in the ratio of three-and-a-half sound out of fifteen .
Igthen met a woman with a basket on her head , and a apadsinherhand ; she had been jnsi digging the potatoes she was carrying . I examined them , and she told me she did not observe the potatoes bad a fortnight ago , but now they are growing worse and worse every day ; notwithstanding she had left , as she supposed , all the bud ones on the ridge , yet , there were , on examination , a great many in the basket diseased . I have seen these things , and several other instances , with my own eyes ; and from the most truthful gentry and farmers , all are unanimous that the crop is gone and lost , as forming any considerable portion the fooa of the people for this year ; and if gone for one year , it will be many years before they cau be in such demand again as the general , and , alas I the only food of a people .
Codhit of Mayo . —Cjstibbab , Oct . 21 . —We have made inqniries of persons from different parts of this county , relative to the disease which is said to have attacked the potatoe , but could not learn from any one individual that he had seen is either in his own potatoes , or those of anyof his neighbours . Almost every person ws spoke to heard that other persons in his neighbourhood found , some of . ttwir potatoes Totten , or affected by the disease 3 but ^ strange to say , not one of them saw it himself . While there is doubtless some truth in the statements published about the extent and progress of the dis * ease , we believe they are greatly aggravated . Host of the persons we have heard speak on the subject , said they scarcely ever had or saw a better potatoe crop ; and unless diseasehas attacked it to the extent some aver , there will be a plentiful supply of this necessary article of food . —Mayo Constitution .
Bewast , OCT . 21 . —We entertain a hope that the destruction in the potatoe crop will not prove so extensive as had been apprehended . Already we see some symptoms of returning confidence—at least , to the extent of feeling that the alarm had gone somewhat beyond what the . actual state of the case warranted . As far as we have been able to get information in this district , we learn that a spirit of more confidence is springing up . Not but that there is evidence of serious loss ; but a more careful examination and estimate tend to the cheering opinion that the calamity is less than it had been
considered . This , we say , is what we gather from information received ia Belfast , derived from the surrounding districts . We must not , ot the same time , flatter ourselves too confidently upon this point . As yet , information is too indefinite ; and , besides , it is not yet possible , by anyingniiy that cooldl > e made , to ascertain the extent of the disease . Potatoes , which , when taken out of the earth , appear quite sound , are often found soon to show sickly signs ; and , in many cases , a short time suffices for the disease to run its course , and cause the destructionthe death—of the potatoe . So we have before us the uncertainty arising from this circumstance . —Northern Whxa .
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TEE POTATO FAILURE .-ALARMING ACCOUNTS FROM IRELAND . The Dublin correspondent , of the Times , writing under the date Oct . 22 nd , says : — The reports to-day arevery conflicting—almost all admitting considerable injury ; but several describing the disease as much less destrnctive than others . Under these circumstances I shall place aU the accounts , such as they are , before you , observing that the statements made by the pssvindal journals are much less unfavour able than those proceeding from private individuals . Meantime the scientific persons employed by the Government are m-osecntisg their inqniries , fn co-operation with the Eoyal Agricultural Society of Ireland , and they expect to have their report in the hands of Sir . Robert Peel within a fortnight . The following communications from the county of Gals-ay are written by a clergyman of the established church , who described what he has actually witnessed , and who if , I am quite sure , incapable of any wilful exeggeration , and aot likely to be influenced ly any undue alarm : —
"Taut , Satubdai Evenihg . — -J write a hurried line to tell you that the potato rot has aipearea every where in this district , I speak of a circuit of ten miles , which Ihave myself examined ; a 3 far as I can learn , it has appeared since my leaving home a few dsjs ago—it presents the same character as in England . I have heard of one field in this neighbourhood , of fire acres , bans -wholly lost , but from what I have seen myself , I fency this to be exaggeration , though it really is hard to doubt anything one hears in this respect , as the evil seems so insidious and bo rapid . In the fields I examined there was sot a potatoe in a hundred—I might even say s thousand— -rotten , all the land was xery inferior in Quality , and manured with black mod or bog staff ana clay . Potatoes grown in this mould have , I have heard , as yet escaped . On Monday and Tuesday last , it appeared extensively ia the King ' s County ; and now that it
lias beyond question , and , I confess , contrary to my expectation , crossed the Shannon ; and entered Connaagat , At such a distance too from the Shannon as we are here , X apprehend the very worst consequences . ITy potatoes , cups , were dug and housed nearly three weeks ago . They were iteu carefully examined , tut presented so appearance of the rot . Yesterday , in those served to table , I saw one fermented with the disease—whatever it may be , animalculx , or , as I rather incline , fungi—to the Tery heart . There ought to be an immediate examination made , chemically , entomologieally , and botanicolly into this mysterious infliction . Could the cause be ascertained with due certainty , a remedy or preventive might be devised . The baffling minuteness of the seed —nay , of the capsule that contain the seed , in the ciyptogamia classes—will , I fear , in the present state of iHAanical sdeBCe , and of mechanical power , as applied to it , reader this scarcely possible . "
" Tbax , Moot at Evesisq . —All jny inquiries , since 1 TfTOte on Saturday , are not merely confirmatory of what i then wrote , but open up a prospect even more disteartening . The rot is not onl y more extensive than I then had reason to believe—that is , a larger portion of the crop is already tainted—but it is also injured in a greater degree than I thought . Ihe specimen I examined on Saturday , and . the accounts I then received , left with me the impression that the crop was not extensively injured , nor to a very injurious degree ; bnt , I deeply regret to say , that a large portion is already diseased to a degree unfit for use , either by man or pig .
What makes this the more alarming is , the gigantic strides with which the pestilence has overrun ths district that , on Monday last , one week ago , was apparently free from it . If u proceeds as it has begun , there will not be a sound potatoe in the district in a fortnight . Of those sent to my own table—caps dug out and housed three weeks ago— -I found only oae diseased on Saturday . I ^ terdas , oae aay later , there was scarcely onefree from *"~» to » greater or lesser degree . The greater part , " ££ «^ ppea red souna when about a tenthpart of the * SiT ™ Tem 0 Tei The * «*»« Bunii you men . to « usS « T ^ f * V * * *** » , I believe , the parasite » " 6 «<> f the earth , nut . I odieve , too , that all fungi
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THE POTATOE DISTEMPER . ' ( Fromihe Correspondent of ( hi KfAisJ Dobun , Oct . 2 ? , —Making due allowance for exaggeration , the natural result of any panic , ' the accounts to-day folly justify the supposition that no district is free from the fatal distemper ; and fh&t , come what will , the Minister will have to take measures to provide for a deficiency of the crop . The morning papers publish a preliminary report , drawn up at the instance of the Government by Professors Kane , Iindley , and Play fair . This document supplies no facts with which the public are not already perfectly familiar , and the remedies suggested have been frequently proposed by men less eminent for chymical skill than the three learned professors above named . The report , which is as follows , states that the suggestions it offers are not final , but are put forward as a means of checking the " progress of an enemy whose history and habits are as yet but imperfectly kuown : ""Board-room . Royal Dublin Society . October 24 .
"My Lord , —We , the undersigned commissioners appointed by her Majesty's Government to report to your Excellency on the state of disease in the potatoe crop , and on the means of its prevention , have the honour t » inform your Excellency , that we are pursuing our inquiries with unremitting attention . " We are foUy sensible of the important and difficult nature of the inquiry , and therefore are unwilling to offers at the present moment , any final recommendations , as we are still receiving evidence , and awaiting the results of various experiments now in progress . -But at the same time we ought to state to your Excellency that we have reason to hope the ^ pro gress of the disease may be retarded by the application of simple means , which we trustmay appear worthy of adoption , until we are enabled to offer further recommendations . ' ¦
" In the present communication we avoid entering into any account of the origin or nature of the disease ; but we would particularly direct attention to the ascertained fact , that moisture hastens its progress , and that it is capable of being communicated to healthy potatoes when they are in contact with such as are already tainted . A knowledge of these facts , determined as they have been by experiment , and agreeing by the scientific information obtained as to the causes and nature of the disease , lead us to propose the adoption of the following plan for diminishing the evils arising from this destructive malady : — " In the event Of & continuance 6 f dry weather , arid in soils tolerably dry , we recommend that the potatoes should be allowed for tbe'present to remain in the land ; but if wet weather intervene , or if the soil be naturally wet , we consider that they should be removed from the ground without del » .
" When the potatoes are dug out of the ground , we are decidedly of opinion that they should not be pitted in the usual way , as the . circumstances under which potatoes are placed in ordinary pits are precisely those which tend to hasten their decay . "We recommend that potatoes when dug should be spread over the field , and not collected into heaps , and if the weather continue dry and free from frost , that they should be allowed to lie upon the field for a period of time not exceeding three < iays . : " The potatoes , after being thus dried and improved in their power of resisting disease by the means proposed , should then be sorted , by carefully separating those which
show any tendency to decay , those potatoes " which appear to be sound should then be placed about two inches apart in a layer , and over each layer of potatoes should be placed a layer of turf ashes , or dry turf-mould , or dry sand , or burnt clay , to the depthf . of a few inches . Thus wiu be formed a bed of potatoes , each potatoe being completely separated from the other > y a dry absorbent material ; upon this bed another layer of potatoes Bhould be spread in like manner , and be also covered with the dry materials emplojed ; as many as four layers may thus be placed one above the other , and when the heap i 3 com . pleted it Bhould he covered with dry clay , straw , heath , or any other rnaterialadapted to protect it from rain .
" In the event of the weather becoming wet these recommendations are not applicable . In that case we would advise the potatoes to be packed in small heaps , with either straw or heath interposed , and well covered ; in such a situation they should become as well dried as seems practicable under the circumstances . Where outbuildings exists , it would be advisable that this mode of temporary packing should be carried on in those places . If there be no out-homes , the heaps may be left in the open field . We , however , particularly recommend that potatoes should not be removed into inhabited rooms .
"With regard to the treatment of potatoes already attacked with the disease , we have to state that in this early stage of our investigation , we do not feel justified in proposing to your Excellency any more positive treatment —this subject we reserve for a future report y but we may
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remark , that exposure to light and dryness in all cases retards-the progress of alterations , such as the disease in question , and we therefore . suggest that all such potatoes shoUlaY'asfir ' aspossible ^ be so treatecl ! _ . , _ ! . •' We do not mean to represent that'these recommendations , if carried into effect , -will prevent the occurrence ¦ of diseasein potatoes , but we feel assured that the decay will extend less rapidly and less extensively under these circumst ances than if the potatoes , when token from the ground , are at once pitted in the usual manner . Neither do we offer these suggestions to your Excellency as a final means of securing the crop , but merely as a method of retarding the progress of an enemy whose history and habits are as yet but imperfectly known , whilst we endeavour to ascertain the means of more completely counteracting its injurious effects , if any such can be discovered . " All which we submit to your Excellency ' s consideration , and remain , ¦
' "Your Excellency ' s obedient and faithful servants , ¦ . : ' ¦ . ¦ ' . .. " Robert Kane , "John Iindley . v ,. " " lv . on plavfaib . "To ' his Excellency Baron Heytesbury , &c . " Ddbun , Oct . 28 . —There was another meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society held yesterday , for the purpose of receiving the reports of the several local farming societies iorwarded to . the parent institutions , and by it presented to the Irish , Government . The extracts from , these reports occupy nearly three closely-printed columns of the Dublin morning papers , put the result—and a sufficiently alarming one it is—will be learned by the following abstract , as given in the Freeman ' s Journal : —
" Jlunster . —The same sad tale comes from Munster « From Tipperary , Clare , Waterford , and Cork , the reports of September were favourable . Prom Tipperary and ' Waterford supplemental reports have been since forwarded of the most alarming character . " Ulster . —The reports from Ulster are still more alarming , being more numerous , and nearly all unfavourable ; most of the early reports brought intelligence of the partial attack of the disease , and the only supplemental reports that have been published announce the rapid progress of the malady . There are reports from various districts in six of the counties of Ulster , ' "Leinster . —The accounts presented by the ten reports from this province are all unfavourable with the exception of two , and these two bear date September 22 . Judging from the supplemental reports from other places , we fear that had there been later reports from these two ' districts they also would be unfavourable .
. ; . As the necessary consequence of these calamitous reports , the Dublin retail markets ave rising fast . " The price of the 21 b , loaf , " aaystheiVeemaw , — " Was raised -yesterday a sum oi' one halfpenny . A similar increase of price took place the Monday previous , and withina few weeks we have had a further advance . The consequence of this is , that we now pay 4 jd . for the 21 b . loaf , which in the end of August last , we could buy for 3 d . Here is , therefore , on the article of bread alone , arise of 50 per cent , in price within a period of two months !
Dublin October 28 . —A report bearing date October the 23 d . haslbeen received 'from Galway from the Rev . W . LePoorTrenck , Dip ., rector of Killerenan , a member of the Tuam Society , October 18 : —• " I deeply regret to inform you that the potato rot , so unhappily prevalent in the other provinces , has at length manifested itself in this . A fortnight ago the crop in this parish was apparently perfectly untainted , but now , alas ' . all are complaining more or less , and at least . one-third of the entire crop is already unfit for ¦ consumption . My poorer neighbours generally look to me for information and guidance in their agricultural difficulties , and . Several have eome within-the last week to consult me as to
tae best course to pursue under the present deplorable emergency . I am ^ opinion that it would be mor e prudent not to dig out the crop except as wanted for use , but toleave it in the ground , putting an additional covering of ; six inches of clay from the furrows , or where ; the land is to shallow to afford so much , of turf mould , over the beds , as a protection from frost ; then to dig them out as fast as the women and children of the family can convert them into flour , a process familiar to eYery Irish housewife . I have likewise advised those who have oats or barley not to sell , but to send the grain from time to time tobe ground into meal for the purpose of mixing in theproportion of one-fourth , or even one-eighth with the potato flour , in order to make itinto griddle cakes or stirabout .
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THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE OF : " . „ ..,.. IRELAND . ' ( FrmV The Times * Commissioner , " ) WmV , , . ¦ -. ¦¦' , Limkrick , Oct . 23 . Without entering mto any lengthened description of . the city of Limerick , it will be enough , perhaps , to state , that it ia a large , well-built , and evidently a thriving town . It possesses wide and straight streets —the . first instance I have yet mef with of this being the character of any town in the west of Irelandmany handsome public buildings , some manufactories of'lace , ; gloves ; and brushes , most extensive flower mills , and a very large " pigfactory , " as it is called , at which about 1 , 000 , 000 piga a-year are slaughtered . The . Shannon , which is here , a magnificent river , passes through the town , which isbuiifc on either side of its banks , A handsome bridge , designed by Nimmb ; arid several other bridges , connect each portion of the town . A good deal of shipping and small craft . find sufficient commerce for employment , and the one dock which , exists ia very inadequate for the trade . A number of men are seen idling about the streets , who might , it is said , obtain work at Is . aday , which they refuse ; still , however , an air of commercial activity and prosperity pervades the place . ¦ The brush factory employs about 300 men , Who J ) eCeiV 6 from £ 1 to 30 s . a-week wages , and many Of the brushes are sent to London . When it is considered that 141 b . of potatoes may be purchased for 2 d , or 3 d ., according to the market , and that this is the chief food , this rate of wages is Irish , as
compared with that in most English towns . The lace factories give -employment to about 1 , 000 girls ; the most extensive of these factories—that carried on by Messrs . Greaves—employs 240 girls , who receive on an average 3 s . fld . a-week each . Very beautiful lace is made at this factory , on an invention of the proprietors , for which , they obtained a prize of a silver medal at the exhibition of Irish manufactures in 1844 ; it is similar in appearance to the finest Brussels lace , and her Majesty ia said to have obtained several specimens of it . The "pig factory , " and the extensive flour mills of Messrs . Russell , also give a great amount of employment and encouragement to trade . The rfove manufacture is falling off . The town and county of
Limerick have also obtained much celebrity for their pretty women . I had . ithe opportunity yesterday of being present at a charitable bazaar held in the town , and ' certainly the number of handsome women and the'female beauty assembled there , maintained this character , and fully equalled in these respects any similar assemblage which I have seen in any part of England .. This affords me an opportunity , thonghit is scarcely worth while , to answer oneslander which has been industriously propagated on every possible occasion by "the Liberator , " as he is fantastically termed by his party , to get up a prejudice against me , by asserting that I had accused the women of Ireland of being " ugly . " There are those
with whom auch an assertion may have a certaia influence , and therefore it was made . The man , however , ' who unblushingly dared to slander the women of England enmaise , by accusing them of being un » chaste , was the last man , one would have thought , to forget his own glass windows when he threw this stone , eren had I made the broad assertion that "the women of Ireland were uglv , " which I need not tell you I never did ; In an early letter from Leitrim 1 drew-a * compari 8 on . between the appearance of . the counties of Fermanagh and Leitrim , and also of the people , ' the contrastin both respects having forcibly struck me at the time , In one county was dirt , disorder , wretched poverty , and the rudest system of cultivation , and the people , both men and women ,
seeitted ' generally undersized and plain . In Ferma nagh ttie . country . was infinitely improved—there was generallycleanlineBs and order , and the people , both men and women , were tall and good-looking . It was "hot convenient , " however , to "the Liberator " to state all this ; but by ft process of reasoning , or ratter broad unfounded assertion , which tells " mighty well" before tkc audience at Conciliation Hall , he extracted out of this that I had said , that " the women of Ireland were ugly . " In m y letter of to-day , I wish to draw your attention to an excuse which is almost universally made by the tenants for not improving their land and cultivating it properly , and to show to them its folly . In conversing with the tenants in almost any part of
reland where I have yet ueen , tue usual complaints are against high rents , want of tenure , and want of encouragement on the part of the landlords . If you ask a tenant who is loud in these complaints , and who is evidently steeped in poverty , and who therefore apparently has truth to back him , why he leaves one-half of his farm undrained , imtrenebed , unimpwwed , and in the most wretched state of cultivaioniyou are quite certain to be met with the reply "Sare ^ who should 1 1 improve for ? My landlord would raise my r ent directly , and if I could not pay it . he would turn me ont , ijnd another would get my farm that I had improved . Sure , wouldn't I be ruining myself by improving , and only benefiting the andlord ? " Not onl y have I continually heard this
from the tenants , butscores ot times trom the Koman Catholic priests , who , surely , ought to know better . Often anu often I have tried to convince them in vain of the truth of that common sum in arithmetic , that "three and two make five ;"—that if the tenant by improving his land can wake it yield a profit of £ 5 the acre where it yielded no profit at all Wore ; and taking them on their own ground , and supposing the worst . thatthelan dlorddidimmediatelyraisetheirrent from 5 s . to £ 2 an acre ; still , ll they put a balance of £ 3 into their pockets . by the improvement , it was clearly their advantage to improve , even though that which they seem so terribly afraid of should take place , and their hard landlords ( assuming them to be such ) should increase their rentalg , and profit 43 by the improvement
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It may be of advantage to point this dearly out , and to prove the fact by figures and evidence . In one of my early letters from Donegal ,. relating to ] a a niece oUand at Pettigorl ^ showedthatapieoe of Jand wiich before was worthless , on / being properly , cultivated left a profit of £ 3 per annum on an average of three ' years : Deduct the most exorbitant rent you please , or which , any landlord would have the conscience to impose , from this , say £ 3 an acre , still you have the tenant putting £ 5 a-year into his pocket over and above the rent , as the reward of his improvement , from land which before was worth nothing to him . ¦ ~ - : ' ., ¦¦' . ,. * , - In tne second part of the evidence given before Lord Devon ' s Commission , page 168 , Mr lx . U iir _ . „ i < . «» A fa-omav nf- Arrln . imnnn ,. near Donegal .
says , " I consider that the cost of reclaiming moorland , where limestone is abundant and a proper fall for drainage exists , tvoitld be repaid in every case , by the second crop , " and he gives instances to prove this . Mr . AlexanderThompBOn , a magistrate aad landed proprietor of Ballynahinch , in Galway , gives an instance of the cost of reclaiming an acre of mountain and deep bog land , and of the value ' of the produce the first year . He says ( ibid ., page 463)— " The whole cost of an acre of potatoes whM I am growing this year , the reclaiming , enclosing , open draining , manuring , and seeds , and everything else , is about £ 10 . I think I will have them got m for £ 11 10 s . the acre , including everything . " That acre of land he estimates produced ten tons of potatoes , " which ,
at 3 d . the stone , would be about £ 20 . " . Here , then , was a profit of £ 8 10 s . the first year . Suppose a tenant farmer had done this , and his Iandlard had put on the most exorbitant rent because of the improvement—say £ 3 an acre—still the tenant would put £ 510 s . into his pocket , even though his landlord did thus raise his rent ; and without the improvement , even though his rent was but 5 s . an acre , he would scarcely realize any profit at all . On passing through the county of Clare to this town I had the opportunity of seeing some judicious improvements which have been effected by Mr . David John Wilson , ' of Belvoir , on his estate , in draining and subsoiling , and in building for his tenantry a better description of cottage . This gentleman , though spending from £ 400 to £ 500 ayear in improvements , from £ 200 to £ 300 of which
is appropriated to paying his tenants to dram and subsoil theil lands at so much per perch , has found the greatest difficulty in inducing his tenants to change their old mode of cultivation . Every such step taken by any landlord is viewed with suspicion by the tenantry ; they look on it only as a means of increasing the rents , and never for a moment consider the benefits which they themselves will derive from it , even though their rents are increased . Mr . Wilson ' s plan , after thus improving a farmcliefly at his own expense , is to add one-half of the increased value to the original rent agreed on , as a repayment to him for the outlay of his capital , the other half going to the benefit of his tenants . In consequence , however , of compelling Ms tenants to follow an improved system of cultivation , this gentleman has already received one or two notices that he will h
shot . Whilst at Belvoir I obtained a calculation , which was derived from the tenantry themselves , as to the cost of improving an acre of moorland and thoroughly draining it with 30-inch drains at 21 feet apart , and cultivating it for four successive years in the manner in which the tenantry , according to the best of their knowledge , cultivate itj with potatoes the two first years and oats the two following , together with the produce , which according to their estimation , would be yielded , charging for the price of labour and for every expense , and estimating the produce at a low rate . The country around Belvoir is generally thin poor moorland . My object in obtaining this ynluation was to show the folly of-the excuse for
apathy and want of exertion on the part of | the tenants , which I again heard here as elsewhere , — that the rent would be raised if they improved their land , and they would be no better off . I wished also to take their own valuation and estimate of both cost and produce , and their own mode of cultivation ( which every agriculturist will see at once is not the best ) , in order to prove on their own showing , the inexcusable apathy of not improving , and the absurdity of their excuse . In the following estimate the price of labour is charged at the fuO rate : spread over a little time the tenant and Ms family would themselves be able to accomplish this labour , so that it would coit them nothing , and would in fast leave nothing but the cost of lime and seed to pay for . '
The outside rent of the moorland , unimproved is , say os . the Irish acre ; and the tenants agreed that they could barely get this value out of it for rough grazing . I will now show what they agreed it would cost to improve it , and what the produce would be , accordiag to the general crops ;~ First year . —Draining , trenching , and bringing in the land , and sowing it with potatoes : — £ s . d . Paling and burning , SO men or days , at KM . 15 0 DiggiDjr and spreading ashes , 24 ditto , at Ida " . 10 0
Seed , 180 stone , at 2 Jd . per stone , - .- . 113 9 Catting and sticking , 14 women , at Gd . ' - . 070 Trenching , < bc , 18 men , at lOd . . . . 0 15 0 Digging the potatoes , 36 men at lOd . - . - lio . o Picking ditto , 6 women , at 6 d , - - » 03 0 Lime , 40 barrels , at lOd . -. > - . 113 4 Drains , 160 perches , aV 6 d . - » - -400 First year—Total expense of improving and ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ... cultivating - - - _ ¦ - ' " '• - - £ 12 7 1 Produce of first year-- f 12 barrels ( of 96 stone ) of potatoes , at 18 s . 10 16 0
Lossfirstyear - ¦ - - - - £ 1 11 1 This is charging for the labour at the highest rate , 8 d . per day being the current wages . Most of the laDour the tenant might do himselt , as much of his time is unoccupied , and then the expense would only be for lime and seed , or £ 3 lls . Id ., leaving him a profit on his first year's crop , to pay him for his labour , of £ ? 4 s . lid . Second year . —Potatoes lowing— £ s . d . Re-digging , 12 men , at lOd . per man - - 0 10 0 Seed , 160 atone , at 2 Jd , per stone - . > 110 0 Cutting , &c , 14 women , at 6 d . per woman - 0 7 0 Trenching , 12 men , at lOd . per man - - 0 10 0 Second spitting , 12 men , at lOd . per man - 0 10 0 2 weedings , 8 women , at 6 d . per woman - -040 Digging , 40 men , at lOd . per man - ' 113 4 Picking , 8 women , at 6 d . per woman - - 0 4 o
Total expense - - - - 5 8 4 Produce of second year—18 barrels of potatoes , at 18 s . per barrel - 16 4 0 Profit second year , - - 10 15 8 Third year . —Sowing with oats—Seed , 12 stone , at 9 d . per stone - - - 0 9 . 0 Trenching , 12 men , at JOd . per man - - - 0 10 0 Cutting , 12 men , at 108 . per man - - - - o 10 0 Binding , 6 women , at fid . per woman ' - - 0- 3 o Stacking , < fcc , 4 men , at lOd . per man - ' - 0 3 4 Threshing , 8 men , at lOd . per man - - o 6 8 Cleansing , &c . - - - - - ; - 0 2 0 Total eipenBe - . . » 2 4 0 Produce of third year—120 stone of oats , at 7 d . per stone - - . a 10 0 Straw .. - - ' " . "¦ » ¦ .- . _ ., :- 2 in o
6 0 0 Deduct expense - - - -240 Profit of third year - - - 3 ieo Fourth year . —Oats-Extra expense over third year for digging , stubblea . _ . . „ . 0 100 For clover and grasg seed - . . » i o o Total expense - - ., ¦ " 8 14 ' 0 Produce of fourth year— " ~~ " ® B " ~ 144 ' 8 toneofoats , at 7 d . per stone - . JSP"T ^ h straw 5 . g ;„ - ¦ . ¦ . - ;¦ , - . ; J DeduetaptnB * - » ,. . > - " 3 " i * o Profit of fourth year . ' 8 io o EXPENSE .
t-. \ ¦¦ ¦• * - b , a , First year . . . . ia 7 i Second year / - - : . 584 Third year - - - - 2 4 0 Fourth year - . - . - 314 0 Total . . . . 2313 5 PB 0 D 0 O 5 . First year . , . . . .... .. j 0 le „ Second year - - - -16 40 Thirdyear - .. . 600 Fourth year -. . . 749 Total - . . . im 23 13 5
. ¦ ¦;¦ . Total gain for four years 18 10 7 Or £ i 2 s . 7 Jd . average profit per . acre each year . From this profit there will be to deduct rent . Now akethe tenants o < nn argument , and Bunnnse thai ^^ r $ HWw * ' ^«» Kffi irovedmoorlaad , buttbatthe landlord , seeing the improvement and . prouu . ee obtained , kmedBJ raised the rent . Now a fourth of the produce is a feu ' rent ( see , on tins subject more fully , the evXce of the Earl of Mountcashel before the Land Commissioners , Appendix , Part III , p . H 8 ) : therefore this improved land would bear to pay £ 1 rent . But suppose the landlord was , in every respect , a hard landlord and he raised the rent from 5 s . the acreto 30 s for the improved land , which i * here a 4 r 7 nie Swouldt ' ' ° btained ' » YhS
First year's fent - . . ; - . ' oVn Thrue following years at 30 b . . ' . I 4 10 n Couuty cess , poor-rates , and tithe rent ! charge , estimated at 4 s . per year . . Q 16 ( Ml 5 11 0
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bhu ^^^^ - ^^^ The account will then stand— ~ " * Total profit for four yearB . ; ? : i . ..- - . , le 10 Deduct landlord ' s 'increased rent a ' nfl ''"" ¦ ; :-: ^ : cha » g « s ^ : - ' 2 ^ -S' ' ^ - 'V - ; y „ - 5 ^ fl Leaving clear profit to tenant in four years 10 19 7 Or £ 2 14 s . 10 . | each year per improved acre hp sidespayinghimforMg labour , and this under the most unfavourable circumstances that the tenant can supposewnamely that the landlord will put upon him an exorbitant rent as soon as he has improved . With proper cultivation and rotation of crops a much greater profit than this might be obtained . Now , this is an ordinary and every-day case . The statement cannot be disputed ; the whole calculation
is trom the tenants themselves ; the rent is charged high and the produce low . and yet the tenant , alter being paid for every day's labour at the highest rate this unfavourable calculation shows he would pocket about £ 215 s . profit per acre for improving the land in spite of his bad landlord . But whilst his land ig left unimproved , though he only pays 6 s . rent he pockets nothingatall . flow , aimple calculation shows this . It is the farmer ' s business to make these calculations , * the farmers and the schoolmaster made this very calculation for meshowing this result ; and yet with this result of their own showing before them they were still unconvinced , and kept crying , "Ye * but the landlord would raise the rent , and who should we improve for ? " The only surprising thing is , that
the priests , as men of education , should not see this and point it out to the tenants if they are too stupid to see it themselves . What matters it to the tenants whether the landlord benefits or not by their exertions so long as they themselves make a profit by it ? Now , let me point out to the tenants what would be another effect of their simply minding their own Interests , and endeavouring to gei as much produce out of their land as it will bear , and not caring whether the landlord or anybody else also derives a profit as well as themselves . They may depend upon tiis , that the laudlord is more likely to do things for their benefit if he sees them industrious , improving tenants , rather than if he finds them apathetic and indifferent , and seeking only to sublet the land to
the injury of his estate , which they ought to cultivate and improve . But the above calculation has shown that in the worst case they would reap a profit where they now get nothing . This year , unhappily , their potatoe crops hare generally failed . I am sorry to say that I was to-day informed by the priest of the p arish of Clonlea , in the barony of Tulla , the district in Clare about which I havegust written , tliattuB potatoes generally are infected with disease . He last week saw eight barrels of potatoes , or about five months' provisions for a family , apparently sound , put into a pit , and sixty barrels put into another pit , whicb ' on being opened to-day , had not a barrel of availalle potatoes in either ; nearly the whole of the potatoes were found to be diseased and decomposed . Hbis accounts to me are most alarming . On digging the poiatoes generally throughout the district they
are found in the same manner diseased , A black spot on them spreads undei the surface of the &kin round the potatoe , and at length goes through to the heart of it , the whole substance becoming black and decomposed . Some of the people have given up digging their potatoes in despair , and it is most alarm * ng to contemplate what the result may be , ' It is , iowever , certain that some steps will be required to be taken to avert the horrors of a famine . This is a subject too immediately pressing and dreadful to work out an argument . But had these poor people cultivated and . improved their land as they might have done , without stupidly refusing to Improve because it would benefit their landlords , the extra profit in their pocketsj Which they would be eertain to have made , would be sufficient to avert the severity of the calamity which they now apprehend .
It may astonish some English fanners to learn that these tenants told me they were constantly in the habit of getting nine successive crops of oats off this mountain land , manuring with lime only every third year , till at length it would grow nothing but a few weeds ; and that it is almost impossible With * outrunning the risk of being'sftotj-to get them out of their old habit of cultivation after this fashion . This , however , strongly points out the necessity of securing to the rising generation the meaus of being taught agricultural knowledge . That knowledge will dispel their present stupid and prejudiced notions , will , in fact , teach them the trade by which they live , will secure them from periodical famines , and in insuring them comfort and competence will benefit every class in the community !
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———? •• - ' ' . Address op the Hinckibt Fiumewohil-knicters to the Pobuc mj General . —The season of the year leingat hand When the great mercantile houses of London , engaged in the hosiery trade , send their agents into this our market , who commonly make large contracts for manufactured goods , and as a necessary consequence , buy up the JaboUT Of the framework-knitters for long periods to come ; we fe « l ourselves compelled by stern necessity , arising out of our duty to our wives and / amilies , to address you at this momentous time ; . ' with a cold » dark , and dreary vAnur before us , and famine around us , owing to the failure of those crops by which the
• oor are principally sustained , and the unparalleled ow rate of wages paid in this district . In adopting ihis method , in order to place our real position before ne public eye , we utterly disclaim having any iiiten * tipn or wish to disturb that harmony and good will , " which ever ought to exist between masters arid men ; but common iustice demands that the situation of the Framework-knitters of this town , and its vicinity , shoulu be fully known and understood . Could we assure ourselves that our present low prices wi * 6 necessavy , we would e ndeavour tobe resigned to the hardness of our lot . Could it be shown that ova sufferings were consistent with the arrangements o £
Divine Providence , submission would then become our duty . . Did we believe that a small advance would militate against the interests of our employers or the community ; , we would not ask for it . We will not offer an opinion of our own upon this subject , well knowing that the judgment of an interested party would weigh but little with wise and discerning men . VVe have repeatedly appealed to our employers during thelast three years , ( since the demand for our labour has been so abundant ) fo » a small advance of wages , and we have as often been told by a great majority of them -that our requests ' were reasonable , that they were willing to give it , and that the state of the . mMhJ *
would justify it , " but it has never been realised . ttecently , it has been recommended to make an effort 0 raise the prices ofthe Framework-knitters in Nottingharaslnre , thereby intimating that then a way would be opened lor an advance here . A letter was , therefore , instantly dispatched to a first-rate hous ! of Nottingham , soliciting information relative to the rate of wages paid by them ; the following reply has > een received , which we have the pleasure of laying bolore the public ; the writer is a gentleman of hief standing of unblemished reputation , aKf uSpeachable veracity ; the extracts are as follows ! --: . _ T _ . M inghan ?» September 24 th , 18 iS .
™ S ^ 7 exjed your . letter and cannot but feel compasswn for the Framework-knitters of your town and neighbourhood ; we make no cotton stockings in ^ ottmghamshire lower than twenty-four gages , and herefore your manufacturers meet with no toapeti-: nSi' ^" ' ? J beh 8 TO from anv o ^ manufac Bn twenty-two gages and under ; I do not see ¦ Aerefore but they might advance the prices of those iowSL 5 * fe 9 d ' Per weekient ** a ^ - row irames up to thirty gage , all above is . AU sorts SSnSSS * ? - aa P ff two : every other partis S ^ 4 plau \ thafc is > shift three stitches and nt ™ w > ex some finer sorts > which are So ^ ueSa ^ * 111011811011 ^ ^ se are paid Is .
Mt . XiMEe Leigh . " The following scale pueaents a comparative view of vici 5 ? I ? atNottin e namand Hinckley and its
_ ¦ NOIlltfGHAM , Gage . Jacks # , . l £ ngth ( p .. ce / 30 hose ...... 2 fi i , A d n 30 half hose 102 ... ' "" J ^ l l S ShaKe ^ r- 4 =:: || 24 hose in ; : ;;• " ill j q 2 * half hose 82 . ; ::.:. lil " 11 N B t ? JI | r ' - l ^ Wer . ' e ' d ^ xte . hoS hutfh ^ «? r . Sive 3 d . more for the half Jet K tefr ^ Plain ,
exceptthegus-^ age . Jacks , Lengtn , Price . IShateie ^ ::: — & ¦ ¦ \\ 26 - hose m :: ;• " ' l 3 11 26 hatf hose se . ;;; : ll 11 24 hose 111 it % n 24 halfhose 77 to 79 '" ::: m 3 0 WU All XI , * I .. I ... O V the eMMtion nf ? K r are narrowed two plain , with which have no f * he twenty-fow gage half hose , ley SeZh ° t ^ r ngsin th e gu sset . The llinck . yarn ^ hfchST"fer ? commonly working inferior upon h 7 s eSrnh . ™ ^/ - J lo 8 S « f « P « cent « morcShisSe ndMcharged l 8 ' *^ " metime 3
sSS ^^ rs KSreSSS ? - * he frames , there would - ftiKSagftasja !! ' * ' " * Jambs Leigh , / TaoMAS : Brooks ; m ^ . o ^ ^ im Tam 8 Aumt
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^^^ M ^ M * » TTT T \ NORTUERN STAR , NonmtMR 1 , 1 . 845 .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 1, 1845, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1339/page/6/
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