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Northern Star (1837-1852), 1st November 1845, Edition 3 of 4, Page 6, PROBAMLTIT OF A FAMINE THROUGH. PR0B ^^ ...

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      THE NORTHERN STAR . November 1 , 1845 _^ i _* n '¦ ¦ _—^^—~~^^—^ mm _^ mm _^ _mmamm _t _^^^ _i _^ _B _** ' _^ mm ' _*****—^ mmmm _^^^^^^^^ , _. ¦¦¦ ¦ ~ - ¦ — - _^^^^ TT _^^ r . — ¦ .... - ,.. _' .. ¦ _, jt _i i I mi

      Probamltit Of A Famine Through. Pr0b ^^ ...

      PROBAMLTIT OF A _FAMINE THROUGH . PR 0 B _^^ _' OUT EUROPE . _w _ . _^« rf : fiom _the ~~ G ~ a 7 ate d'Augsburg the _followX _^ _SSe crops of 1485 in Europe :-- IHE COB * CROPS OP _SDBOPB . , 'According to the custom _^ e ' _iw » ¦ _Jwg _^ i _ . iii _dt _^ onr account of the results of the last _SiX wo _^ rts- _^ ne referring to the east , and ? _Kh _£ to _thV _^ _st of Europe . For several years _SSf _eSSthreatenedmwitJisterility ; it fat _^ l he ean in Russia , spread over Poland and _Frus-^ aKpeared Wen this year likely to diffuse _Slf in tne east of Germany . Experience has _Generally proved that in tbe boreal latitude the rainy leas are more sterile than the dry ones . This fact

      _W again been connrmeu uunns me las * years , a was humidity that diminished the crops a few years uso in Russia , and which produced the like effect in Poland Galicia , and Upper Silesia in tie course of last year ! In Germany the humidity has net produced any unfavourable consequences , but in certain countries ; there are others , on the contrary , which have suffered for want of rain . The results of the crops are , in the mean time , far from being satisfactor and . from the calculations which nave heen made , will not suffice the public consumption . It is far from onr intention to represent the situation of tlrinp in more dreary colours than belongs to them ; . but -we do not wish , and we ought not , to exaggerate the advantages of it , desirous as we are of

      attaining our present object , which is to furnish aa exact appreciation of actual circumstances . We shall separately name the different countries , and indicate the supplies they stand in need or can dispose of . Russia will have sufficient com for the whole empire , without purchasing any foreign corn . Its Governments are in a position to assist mutually each other , bnt it is very doubtful whether they can send much corn abroad . The crops of Poland are not sufficient for its general consumption , and , unless it has been previously supplied , will suffer from a scarcity , or be obliged to receive corn from abroad . But whom can one have recourse to when one ' s neighbours have only had themselves but middlintr crops , and havenot

      wherewith to supply the deficiency ? Money ahw is scarce in Poland , and important sums cannot be sentabroad lo 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 the results of the last crops are very mediocre . In the grand Duchy of Posen only a middling crop has been obtained , and anterior provisions can alone prevent a scarcity . The author does not remember having 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 ihe 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 still on the rise . In- Hungary , which is usually so productive , the Government has been obliged to lay in large stores of corn to prevent a famine . The hope entertained of having good crops has been still more cruelly disappointed than in Silesia . In Austria , . Moravia , and Bohemia , ihe results of this year's crops are below thoBe of the average ones , and most scarcely suffice 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 are very farfrom being abundant .

      The same may be said of the provinces ol . Brandenburg and of Magdeburg . Bavaria , like other countries , has suffered greatly this year from hail-storms and water-spouts ; tiie results of the crops have in consequence been diminished , as likewise _byfche state of the atmosphere , which has shown itself bnt little favourable to the cultivation of corn , Wurtemburg , the country of Baden , Westphalia , and the Rhenish provinces , havebeen better treated ; bnt the disease which has ravaged the potato crop sill be severely felt . _Nevertheless the potatoe crop has been generally good throughout Western Germany ; it will supply many deficiences in the crops of places , although ihey are not so much grown as in other parts of Germany . Belgium and Holland have had but bad crops ; and ihe news from France sufficiently proves that this year has not 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 . England , where the states of the European continent generally find a market for their surplus corn , appears to-day to be re-assured on the wants of its internal consumption , or at least the alarming news which arrived from that country has been succeeded by much more favourable intelligence . Those who count npon corn supplies fiom the 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 quantify of wheat has this year been struck by blight , and this disease , T which has spread throughout Germany , Poland , and Hungary , has deteriorated ihe quality

      of the corn as well as diminished the quantity . Farther , it cannot now be accurately known whether at a 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 countiy . In the contrary case she will look to supplies fiom America , or from the countries bordering on fhe 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 yeaxs past thero has not been so unfavonrsble a year as the present one ; and if it be added that last year only furnished bnt indifferent crops in comparison with the preceding ones , this circumstance ought to give rise to measures Mng taken to prevent the danger which threatens ns . "

      THE POTATO FAILURE . —ALARMING

      ACCOTJ _. XTS FROM IRELAND . The Dublin correspondent , ofthe Times , writing under the date Oct . 22 nd , says : —• The reports to-day are very conflicting—almost all ad mitting considerable injury ; hat seTeral describing the disease as much less destructive than others , Under these circumstances I shall place all the accounts , such as they are , before you , observing that the statements made l > y the provincial journals axe much less unfavourable than those proceeding from private individual ! . Meantime the scientific persons employed by the Government are prosecuting their inquiries , in co-operation with the Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland , and they expect to nave their report in the bands of Sir Robert p _& a _* i _ Mn & fortnight , lhe following communication from the county of Galway are written by a clergyman of the established church , who described what he list actually witnessed , and who is , I am quite sure , incapable of any _-srilfol _exeggeratxo-o , and not likely tobe influenced Vy any undue alarm : —

      "Tojui , _Satubdit _Evtniko . —I write a homed hue to tell you that the potato rot has appeared everywhere in this district I speak ofa circuit of ten miles , which J have myself examined ; as far as I can learn , it has appeared since my leaving home a few days ago—it presents the same character as in England . Ihave heard of cue field in this neighbourhood , of five acres , being wholly lost , but from what I have seen myself , I fancy 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 not a potatoe in a hundred—I might even say * thousand—rotten , all fhe land was very inferior in quality , and manured with Hack mua or bog stuff mnd j clay . Potatoes grown in this mould have , 1 nave heard , as yet escaped . On Monday and Tuesday last , it appeared extensively in the King ' s County ; and now that it

      has beyond question , and , I confess , contrary to my expectation , crossed the Shannon , and entered _Connaaght , -ax such a distance too from the Shannon as we an here , I apprehend the very worst consequences . My potatoes , cups , were dug and housed nearly three weeks ago They were tlen carefully examined , but presented no "appearance of the rot . Yesterday , in those served to table , I saw one fermented with the disease—whatever it maybe , ammalcuhe , or , as I rather incline , fungi—to the Tery heart . There ought to be an immediate _"" _""» - tion made , chemically , entomologically _, and _botanicall y 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 , ofthe capsule that contain the seed , in the cryptogamia classes—will , I fear , iu the present state of botanical science , and of mechanical power , as applied to it render this scarcely passible . ' *

      "Toah , _Mohuat Evening . —Au my inquiries , since I wrote on Saturday , are not merely confirmatory of what I then wrote , but open up a prospect even more disheartening . The rot is not only more extensive than I then nad reason to believe—thai is , a larger portion of the crop is already tainted—bnt it is also injured in a greater degree than I thought . The specimen I examined on Saturday , and the accounts I then received , left with me the impression that the crop was not _extender / injured , nor to a very injurious degree ; but , I < J _e * " ] . lj regret \ o say , that a _larec portion is already

      ais-«*» ed to a degree unfit for use , either by man or pig . nhat makes this the more alarming is , the gigantic _^ * ** ith which the pestilence has overran tha district " _j _^ on Monday last , one week ago , was apparently free ~~ P _** oc <* -eds as it _hashed , there will not be _*^ _£ o _^? J ** ** _« ia * _**& ' _tt * weeto _s « _Z ? _^ T ~ cup 3 a _° 8 ont * -a housed three _* e « _erai _£ , one _£ _^ , ? . < me ah » Med on Saturday . *» iat _i to a _gr _^ _j * _ftOT " w _" _' « ' *« celyonefreefirom however , appea « a s _^' _atS . _^ * T ne _Skater part , " Ace _* _SH _£ _^ _^ *»* »* enthp « t < rfae Honed in your pane , _esi _^ . _? _^_ DunU 1 ™ _****• • _fe < _- * wof the J _^ JS _^ _SJr * _***" _- _****** «™» nut , _l W * . Te , _tWjtiartailftln-i

      Probamltit Of A Famine Through. Pr0b ^^ ...

      abound more « r . less . _iaMt _^ z _^ _-Jl _^ _presents Tot be . caused by fungi , _aoy alkali , lime , or even earth , might be found to neutralise its vegetative powers , and check the propagatdonof the plague , which if fungi we know can , from the seed , become in twelve hours a perfect plant , and may in an inconceivably shorter time . I hare not yet heard of any potatoes grown in bog soil being injured . Perhaps the antiseptic qualities of peat may preserve them , or their turn may not have come yet . All , in fact , is conjecture ; and clever , indeed , must the botanist be Who can do more than conjecture in the present state of botanical science , of the more cryptogamic portion of the dass cryptogamia . _** The Lublin Evening Pott contains the following remarkable statement irom . a correspondent in the county of Meath .: — -

      _Keixs , _Suhday Night ; Oct 19 . —I havebeen through the country again on Saturday and tbis morning . You know I am no croaker :, in fact , I always look to the happy Bide Ofthe picture ; and perhaps this is the reason why , after all , I am 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 my burly , happy-minded friend would or could say tliis . 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 bis fellow-man , not only in Ireland , out over the great portion of civilised Europe , and a part of America , has driven his brother

      man—tiie vast multitude ofhis 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 up bis snout at ; audi see the Omnipotent God destroy the soul-degrading root , and thus force man hack on better and more fitting food . I do notimagine 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 bas sent an abundant oat harvest—following in the march of science , which has rendered useless the supporting such sl 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 . Han must live on bread—and , strange to tell , the people are beginnning to look on what has hitherto heen considered a visitation , in

      that light . And what , think 50 U , is the result 1—that some ofthe peasantry talk of throwing down the bridges , to prevent the corn thus from being removed from tbe interior ofthe country . The potatoe , they say , was all that thelancQordleft them—God has" taken that from themand 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 bis mercy . And then they shrug their shoulders , and will tell you , "Well , if we can't get our own darling Repeal , surely God has , at all events , proved tee must have Hie other repeal—4 he repealoffhe _com-laics . 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 a load ol 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 pi eking 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 ont of , and treated them as well as ever potatoes were treated , and there is all I have left ofthe 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 .

      Ijthen met a woman with & basket on ber head , and a apadeinherhand ; she had been just digging the potatoes she was carrying . I examined them , and she told me she did not observe the potatoes had a fortnight ago , bnt 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 bave seen theBe 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 , a b forming any considerable portion the food ofthe _peeple for thiB year ; and if gone for one year , it will be many years before they can he in such demand again as the general , and , alas 1 the only food of a people .

      Couhtx of Hato . —Casteebab , Oct . 21 . —We have made inquiries 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 liad seen is either in his own potatoes , those ofany ofhis neighbours . Almost eveiy person we spoke to heard tbat other persons in his neighbourhood found some of their potatoes rotten , or affected by the disease ; but , strange to say , not one of them saw it himself . "While there ia doubtless some truth inthe statements published about the extent and progress of the dieease , we believe they are greatly aggravated . Most of the persons we have heard speak on the subject , said they scarcely ever had or saw a better potatoe crop ; and unless disease lias attacked it to the extent some aver , there will be a plentiful supply of this necessary article of fool —Mayo Constitution .

      _Beuabt , Oct . 21 . —We entertain a hope that ttie 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 tho 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 . Hot bnt 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 fiom information received iu 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 any inquiry that could be made , to ascertain the extent ofthe disease . Potatoes , which , when taken out of the earth , appear quite sound , are often found soon to show ncUy signs j and , in many cases , a short time suffices f ot the disease to run itt course , and cause the destructionthe death—of the potatoe . So we have before us the uncertainty arising from this circumstance . —Northern

      THE POTATO CROP . The following 1 b a report from the-Royal Irish Agricultural Society on the potato crop . : — Report from the Board of Trade on ihe Disease in Potatoes . " Office of Committee of Privy Council for Trade , Whitehall , 29 th Sept ., 1845 . "Sib , —I am directed by the Lords ofthe Committee of Privy Conncdl for Trade to transmit to you , for the information ofthe Irish Agricultural Society , the enclosed translation ofa special report of the committee of agriculture of the province of Groningen relative to the potato disease ia Holland . I haTe the honour to be , sir , your obedientHervant , "J . MacGbegob . " £ . Bu _ len _, Esq ., Secretary , Irish Agricultural Society . ** Report of the Commission of Agricultur * of the Pro vince of Groningen on the Disease Affecting the _Poitdoe in the Netherlands .

      1 ST . CAVSBB AKJ ) H-ITUBE OF TBS -DISEASE . The agricultural commission ia of opinion that the disease is not occasioned by any direct cause , but rather that various rircnmgtances 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 * 4 , and to the heavy rains which fell at the moment of the formation of tlie tubers . It is probably owing to this circumstance that many plants did not germinate . In the second place , the commission is 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 monthof March much injured the tubers .

      The more direct causes are probably as follows : — 1 . Ihe too rapid development of the plants this year . Itis well known tlui _tuose plants which spring up too quickly , and the grain sown on an over-manured soil , are subject to such diseases as ergot or rye , and other cereal grains , and rust for whe » t , and the presence of cryptoga mom plants . 2 . The intense heat in the early part of the summer of 1815 , and which amounted on the 13 th of June , 87 Pafar ., on the _Srd of July , to 87 _J , and on the 7 th of July , to 91 J , necessarily had 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 whieh , not being very deeply planted , were exposed to the action ofthe heated water .

      3 . This intense heat was succeeded hy cold and rainy weather , which lasted from the 15 th of July to the end of the month of August . This damp weather , and the total absence of the vivifying rays of the sun , caused a kind of rottenness among the pithy plants , and especially developed the cryptogamoui plants . 4 . On the 21 st and 22 nd of July last , an extraordinary fog was perceived in many places , wliich spread a disgusting smell . Soon afterwards , on the 28 th of July , the first symptoms of the disease were discovered in the provinces of _temingen and Horth Brabant , and itis more than probable that this fog , which was epidemical , was intimately connected with the disease .

      According to all tiie 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 . Shis Is folly _confirmed hy an experiment made at _Sroaingen . As it is the upper part of the stalk which is generally first attacked , itis probable that the disease originates in the leaves , descends the stalk by means of the ped _, and then communicates with the part below fhe ground . 5 . On the leaves spots have been perceived , and also a kind of fungus described in the work of M . M . Malesehott and Baumbauer , and classed by H . de Martins among _thefusisporncnsaXam , These fungi are similar in every respect to those drawn by the above gentlemen .

      Itis very probable , then , that the above enumerated circumstances have been the simultaneous causes of the plant rotting , andof thefungi which are observed thereon _. It unfortunately happens that these fungi , which are ex-

      Probamltit Of A Famine Through. Pr0b ^^ ...

      tremely , minute , are quickly propngated . _ to . an inconceivable extent , favoured by the dampness of the atmoEphere . But the principal cause , or rather the character of the disease , is a kind of grangrene or mouldiness in the leaf , which occasions a very hurtful and even mortal decay to the plant . The dangerous influence ofthe _cryptogainous plants has long since been shown by the example of the rust \ aredo rubigo ) in com . As soon as the rust spot developes itself on the leaf of the wheat or oat plant , it 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 that the disease of these parts results from that of tbe leaf .

      second . _—BEM-emES POS THE DI 8 IABE . The disease itself , its character , and causes , having now been sufficiently considered , itis necessary to consider tie remedies for the disease , of which the commission points oat three different kinds , viz . : — 1 . A means which , unfortunately , it isnot in our power to adopt at pleasure , that is , a drier atmosphere ; for if it be damp that has caused the _moldiness of the leaves , and has propagated it among the plants , it fOllOWS that dry weather would put a stop to the ravages ofthe 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 its period . 2 , TO prevent the return of the disease , it is necessary to take the following precautions t—

      1 . To leave the potatoes inthe 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 thegroundatfirst in order to get dried , and afterwards to lay them out over the field . This would have the double _advantnge of rendering the vegetable more wholesome and preserving it better . 2 . The following applies especially to those potatoes 69 he used as seed for next year . It is necessary to beware of planting those plants which havebeen attacked by the disease . They must be clearly chosen from those whose ' stalks have not been attacked , and 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 hot penetrated . 3 . The withered leaves of diseased potatoes , whieh are of no value , should be immediately burnt ; the same should he done with the rotten potatoes which cannot be of any use . Nothing should remain of them ,

      4 . 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 most probable that seeds of tbe fungi have remained in these places , and there would be great risk of the ensuing crop being similarly attacked . Itis also necessary to manure the land with lime after the _potatoes have been taken up , and then to clear it ; and if tbe land be employed for produce which need not be planted hefore winter , it is bettor not to harrow it , and so allow the air and cold to penetrate it . Inthe spring the lime manure should be renewed as much as possible , ana the laud should be watered with diluted sulphuric acid ( one part of sulphur to 100 of water ) . 5 . Next year the potatoes should be planted in dry lands * , all damp places should be avoided , even places shaded by houses or treeB .

      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-produced in fresh soil . The report mentions that , in the commune of Marum ( province of Groningen ) , among other instances , is to be seen a field of potatoes , the produce of only three yearsculture , 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 _jsar , for it will then at any rate be certain that it has not been attacked by this scourge .

      7 . If , notwithstanding every effort , the disease should again break out next _ytar , 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 add , so as to . destroy the seeds of thecryptogamous fungi ; sulphuric acid , moreover , prevents rotting , and when prepared as above directed , can do no injury to the plaits 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 the 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 have remained untainted oh the same plant where there are spoilt tubers , may be eaten without hesitation . It is almoBt useless to remark , that pota _. toes which are completely . rotten are hurtful not only to man , hut also to cattle , and that a too _freftuettt US 6 Of spoilt potatoes is equally 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 . 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 meantime , it advises that as much use as possible should be made of the fecula of potatoes .

      THE POTATOE DI 3 TEMPEE . ( _FronxtM Correspondent of tlie Times ;) Dublin , Oct . 27 . —Making due allowance for exaggeration , the natural result of any panic , the aecounts to-day fully justify the supposition that no district is free from the fatal di 3 temper ; and that , 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 atthe instance of the Government by Professors Kane , lindley , and Playfair . 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 , hut are put forward as a means of cheeking the " progress of an enemy whose history and habits are as yet but imperfectly known _?—"Board-roem , Royal Dublin Society , October 24 ,

      "Mylord , — "We , the undersigned commissioners ap . pointed hy 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 to inform your Excellency , that we are pursuing our inquiries with unremitting attention . " We are fully sensible of the important and difficult nature of the inquiry , and therefore are unwilling to offer , 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 t ime we ought to state to yonr Excellency that we _have reason to hope the [ progress of the disease may be retarded by the application of simple means , which we trust may 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 foUowing plan for diminishing the evils arising from this destructive malady : — - " In the event of a continuance of dry weather , and in soils tolerably dry , we recommend that the potatoes should be allowed for the 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 delay .

      " 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 days . " 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 whieh

      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 depth of a few inches . Thus mil be formed a bed ef potatoes , each potatoebeing completely separated from the other by a dry absorbent material ; upon this bed another layer of potatoes should be _gpTead in like manner , and be also covered with the dry materials employed ; as many aB four layers may thus be placed one above the other , and when the heap is completed it should be covered with dry clay , straw , heath , or any other materialadapted to protect it from rain .

      " In the event of the weather becoming wet theBe _recommendations are not applicable , In tbat 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-houies , the heaps may be left Inthe 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 ; hut we may

      Probamltit Of A Famine Through. Pr0b ^^ ...

      remark , that exposur e to light and dryness m all cases retards the progress of alterations , such as tlie disease in question , and we therefore suggest that ail such potatoes should , as far as possible , be so treated . " We do not mean to represent that these recommendations , if carried into ' effect , will prevent the occurrence of disease in potatoes , but we feel assured that the decay will extend less rapidly and less extensively under these circumstances than if the potatoes , when taken from tbe ground , are at once pitted in tbe usual manner . Neither do we offer these suggestions to your Excellency as a final means o f 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 sueh can be discovered . " All Which we submit to your Excellency ' s

      consideration , and remain , "Your Excellency ' s obedient and faithful servants , " Robert Kane . " John _Iinmev . '' LION TiiAJFAin , "To his Excellency Baron Heytesbury , & c . " Dublin , 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 lorwarded 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 , but the result—and a sufficiently alarming one it is *—will be learned by the following abstract , OS given in the Freeman ' s Journal : —

      " JIunster . —The same sad tale comes from _Munster-From Tipperary , Clare , Waterford , and Cork , the reports of September were favourable . From Tipperary and Waterford supplemental reports have been since farwarded of the most alarming character . " Ulster . —The reports from Ulster are still more alarming , being more numerous , and nearly all unfavourable ; most ofthe early reports brought intelligence of the partial attack of the disease , and the only supplemental reports tbat 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 are rising fast . ' . The price of the 21 b , loaf , " says the Freeman , —'' Was raised yesterday a sum oi * one halfpenny . A similar increase of price took place the Monday previous , and within a few weeks we have had a further advance . The consequence of this is , that we now pay 4 } d . for the 21 b . loaf ; whieh 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 Oc tober 28 . —A report bearing date October the 23 d . has Ibeen received Trom Galway from the Rev . W . Le Poor Trench , D . D ., rector oi Killerenan , amember of the Tuam Society , October 18 : — " 1 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 . orless _^ and at least one-third of the entire crop is already unfit i ' or consumption . My poorer neighbours generally look to me for information and guidance in their agricultural difficulties , and several have come within the last week to consult me as to

      the best course to pursue under the present deplorable emergency . I am of opinion that it would be more prudent not to dig out the crop except as wanted for use , but to leave it in the ground , putting an additional covering of six inches of day 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 fioui _* , a process familiar to every Irish housewife . I have likewise advised those who have oats or barley not to sell , but to send the grain from time to time to be ground into meal for the purpose of mixing in the proportion of one-fourth , or even one-eighth with the potato flour , in order to make itinto griddle cakes

      or stirabout

      THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND . ( From " The Times' Commissioner , " ) Limerick , Oct . 23 . Without entering into any lengthened description of the city of Limerick , it will be enough , perhaps , to state , that it is a large , well-built , and evidently a thriving town . It possesses wide and straight streets —the first instance I have yet met with of thiB 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 " pig factory , " as it is called , at which about 1 , 000 , 000 nigs a-year are slaughtered . The Shannon , which is here a macnificent river .

      passes through the town , which is built on either side of its hanks . A handsome bridge , _designedly _Niramo , and 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 is very inadequate for the trade . A number of men are seen idling about the streets , who might , it is said , obtain work at ls . aday , which they refuse ; still , however , an air of commercial activity and - prosperity pervades the place . ; The brush factory employs about 300 men , who receive from £ 1 to 305 . 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 js the chief food ; this rate of wages is high , as compared with that in most English towns . The lace factories give employment to about 1 , 000 girls ; tho most extensive of these factories—that carried on by Messrs . Greaves—employs 240 girls , who receive on an average 3 s . 6 d . a-week each . Very beautiful Jace is made at this factory , on ah 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 is 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 . Tho glove manufacture is falling off . The town and county of Limerick bave also obtained much celebrity for their pretty women .. I had the 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 , though it is scarcely worth while , to answer one slander 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 such an assertion may have a certain influence , and therefore it was made . The man , however , who unblushingly dared to slander the women of England en masse , by accusing them of being unchaste , was the last man , one would have thought , to forget his own glass windows when he threw this stone , eren had I madethe broad assertion that ¦¦ the women of Ireland were ugly , " which I need not tell you I nevei * did . In an early letter from Leitrim I drew a comparison between the appearance of the counties of Fermanagh and Leitrim , and also of the people , the contrast in 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 , seemed ' generally undersized and plain . In Forma ? nagh the country was infinitely improved—there waa generally cleanliness and order , and the people , both men and women , were tall and good-looking . It was " not convenient , " however , to "the Liberator " to State all this , * but by a process of reasoning , or rather broad unfounded afl & ertion , which tells " mighty well" before the audience at Conciliation Hall , be extracted out of this that I had said , that '' the women of Ireland were ugly . " I In my 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 Ireland where I have yet been , the 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 , untrenched , unimproved , and in the most wretched state of cultivation , you are quite certain to be met with the reply , "Sure , who should I improve for ? My landlord would raise roy rent directly , and if I could not pay it , he would turn me ont , and another would get my farm that I had improved . Sure , wouldn't I be ruiniBB myself by improving , and only _benefitine the

      landlord ? " Not only have I continually heard this from the tenants , _butscoresof times from the Roman Catholic priests , who , surely , ought to know better . Often and often I have tried to convince them 10 T _» jD of tho truth of that common sum in arithmetic , that " three and two make five ;"—that if the tenant by improving his land can make it yield a profit of £ 5 the acre where it yielded no profit at all before and taking them on their own ground , and _supposink the worst _. thatthelandlorddidimmediatel yraiscthcirront from 6 s . to £ 2 an acre ; still , U they put a _balance of £ 3 into their pockets by the improvement , it was clearly their advantage to improve , _eyen _though tliat which they Bern so terribl y afraid of should take place , and their hard landlords ( assuming them to bo such ) should increase their rentals , and profit £ 3 bv the improvement . r }

      Probamltit Of A Famine Through. Pr0b ^^ ...

      ¦ ' ¦ ¦ ¦ It may be of advantage to point thuj . clearly out , and to prove the fact by figures and . evidence . In one Of my early letters from Donegal , relating toj a a piece of land at Pcttigo , I showed that a piece of land which 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 bave 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 . . - t In the second part ofthe evidence given , belore Lord Devon ' s Commission , page 168 , Mr . G . C . _ _ . * . . ___» _ ' j .

      Wray , a large farmer of Ardnamena , near uonegai , says , " I consider that the cost of reclaiming moor land , where limestone is abundant and a proper fall for drainage exists , would le repaid in evmj case by the second crop , " and he gives instances to prove this . Mr . Alexander Thompson , a magistrate and 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 tlie first year . He says ( ibid ., pageJS 3)— lhe whole cost of an acre of potatoes which 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 in for £ 11 10 s . the acre , including everything . " That acre of land

      he estimates produced ten tons ol potatoes , " wnicn , at 3 d . the stone , would be about £ 20 . " Here , then , Was ft profit Of £ 8 10 s . the first year . Suppose a tenant farmer had done this , and his _landlara had put on the most exorbitant rent because of the improvement—say £ 3 an acre—still the tenant would put £ 5 10 s . into his pocket , even though his landlord did thus raise his rent ; and without the improve ment , even though his rent was but os . 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 hy 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 £ 800 of which

      is appropriated to paying his tenants to drain and subsoil their 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 farm cliefly 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 ofhis capital , the other half going to the benefit ofhis tenants . In consequence , however , of compelling his tenants to follow an improved system of cultivation , this gentleman has already received one or two notices that he will be 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 it , 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 valuation 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 full rate : spread over a little time the tenant and his family would themselves be able to accomplish this labour , so that it would cost 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 6 s . the Irish acre ; and the tenants agreed that they could barely get this valae out ofit for rough grazing . I will now show what they agreed it would cost to improve it , and what the produce would be , accordiag tothe general crops : — First year . —Draining , trenching , and bringing in the land , and sowing it with potatoes : — £ s . d . Paring and burning , 30 men or days , at lOd . 1 5 0 Digging and spreading ashes , 21 ditto , at lOd , 10 0

      Seed , 180 stone , Rt _2 iar per stone , - - - 113 9 Cutting and sticking , 14 women , at 6 d . - - 0 7 O Trenching , & c , 18 men , at lOd 0 15 0 Digging the potatoes , 36 men at 103 , - - 110 0 Picking ditto , 6 women , at 6 d . - - -030 Lime , 40 barrelB , at 103 , - - - - - 113 1 Drains , 160 perches , at 63 . - - - .-100 First year—Total expense of improving and — ¦ cultivating - £ 12 7 1 Produce ef first year—12 barrels ( of 96 stone ) of potatoes , at 18 s . 10 16 0

      loss first year - - - - .. £ 111 l This is charging for the labour at the highest rate , 8 d . per day being the current wages . Most of the labour the tenant might do himself , as much of his time is unoccupied , and then the expense would only be for lime and seed , or £ 3 lis . Id ., leaving him a profit on his first year ' s crop , to pay him for his labour , of £ 7 4 a . lid . Second year . —Potatoes sowing— £ S . d . Re-digging , 12 men , at lOd . per man .. .. 0 10 0 Seed , 160 stone , at 2 _£ d . per stone - - .. 110 0 Cutting , & c „ 14 women , at 6 d . per woman -070 Trenching , 12 men , at lOd . per man - - 0 10 0 Second _spitoinft 32 wen , at JDd , per man ~ o io o 2 weedings , 8 women , at 6 d . per woman - ~ 0 4 0 Digging , 40 men , at lOd . per man . . 113 . Picking , 8 women , at 6 d . per woman - - 0 4 0

      Total expense - - - - o 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 > -090 Trenching , 12 men , at lOd . per man - - 0 10 0 Cutting , 12 men , at lOd . per man - - - 0 10 0 Binding , 6 women , at « d , per woman .. -030 Stacking , & c , 4 men , at lOd . per man ~ » 0 3 4 Threshing , 8 men , at lOd . per man - - - 0 6 8 Cleansing , & c . - ¦ __ ¦ - .. ,. .. 0 2 0 _*«—¦¦_____ Total expense .. _« _« u 2 4 0 Produce of third year—120 stone of oats , at 7 d . per atone •« ... » 3 10 0 5 traw : - >• 2 10 0

      Deduct expense _- ¦ _ . _ _. -240 Profit of third year - .. > . 3 16 0 Fourth year . —Oats-Extra expense over third year for digging stubbles -,- _> _~ „ .. 0 10 0 For clover and grass seed - - .. -10 0 Total expense * - .. » 314 0 Produce of fourth year— _** _2 a « i—144- stone of oats , at 7 d , per stone - - . fit "i " o St _™» g - j - - - . ¦ - ™ 0 0 7 * 0 Deduct expense - . - _ > { , _uSmq Profit of fourth year . » 8 10 0

      XXFENBE . £ » ' d . First year - . - - 12 7 1 Becondyear - - _ . - 5 8 4 Third year - « . -240 Pourth year - - . - 3114 0 Total . - - - 23 13 5 VBODUCE . First year - . ., - 1016 0 Second year - _ _ - 16 4 0 Third year - . . - 6 0 0 " Fourth year - - _ . - 7 4 0 Total - - _. . 40 4 0 23 13 5

      Total gain for four years 16 10 7 Or £ 4 2 s . 7 § d . average profit per acre each year From this profit there will bo to deduct rent . Now take the tenants ovin argument , and suppose that for the first year he paid onl y 5 s rent tA _unim proved moorland , but that the _landlorf . _seeing the improvement and produce obtained , immediate !* raised the rent . _JHw a fourth of the _JHG _211 fair rent see , on this _subjeot more fully , the _»»«» _ _£ of the Earl of _MountcSshel _befow 1 & X _> HrS _? _missioned , Appendix , Part 1 ft p _ur \ . _T _? " this _improVedfand would _bValX _& $ _} £ _" _& suppose the landlord was , in _evew _™„_^ : & _laniord , and he raised th _^ e rent _SmTTO a ba d 80 s . for the improved land , 3 Sa ! _K _^ i ? * _£

      First year ' g rent - * _» . d . Three following years at 80 s . " . 1 r ! iH « County cess , poor-rates , and tithe rentcharge , ortimatod at 4 s , per year . . 0 1 « 0 M Ml 0

      Probamltit Of A Famine Through. Pr0b ^^ ...

      The account will then stand— . Total profit for ' four' year ' s - _\ « - 16 10 7 Deduct landlord ' s increased rent and charges » ... ; ., . - - 511 9 leaving clearprofit to tenant in four years 10 19 7 Or £ 2 14 s . 10 J . each year per improved acre , besidespayinghimforhis labour , and this under the most unfavourable circumstances that the tenant can suppose—namely that the landlord wili put upon him an exorbitant rent as soon as hehas 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 from the tenants themselves ; . the rent is charged high and the produce low , and yet the tenant , after __»_ __ ?» i n ' j

      being paid lor every Hay ' s labour at the highest rate , this unfavourable calculation shows he would pocket about £ 2 Ios . profit per acre for improving the land , in spite of his nad landlord . But whilst his land is left unimproved , though he only pays 5 s . rent , he pockets nothing at all . A ow , simple calculation shows this . It is the farmer ' s business to make these calculations ; the farmers and the schoolmaster made this very calculation for meshowing tliis result ; and yet with this result of their own showing before them they were still unconvinced , and kept crying , "Yes , but the landlord would raise the rent _j 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 tliemseives . What matters it to the tenants whether the landlord benefits or not Dy 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 gel 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 this , tbat the landlord is more likely to do things ior 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 ofhis 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 got nothing . This year , unhappily , their potatoe crops have 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 have just written , that the potatoes generally are infected with disease . Ilelasfc week saw eight carrels of potatoes , or about five months' provisions for a family , apparently sound , put into a pit , and sixty barrels put into another pit , which , " on being opened to-day , had not a barrel of availaue potatoes in either ; nearly the whole of the potatoes were found to be diseased and decomposed _, jtlbis accounts to me are most alarming . On digging the poiatoes generally throughout the district they

      are iound m the same manner diseased . A black spot on them spreads under the surface of the skin 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 alarming to contemplate what the result may be . It is , however , 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 . Bnt 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 pocket ? , which they would be eertain to have made , would be sufficient to avert the severity of ihe calamity which they now apprehend . .

      It may astonish some . English farmers to learn that these tenants told me they were constantly in the habit of getting nine successive crops of oats off tliis 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 without running the risk of being shot , to get them , out of their old habit of cultivation ate this fashion . This , however , strongly points out the necessity of securing to the rising generation the means 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 .

      Andkess Op The Hlscklet Flumewonk-Kniite...

      AnDKESS OP THE HlSCKLET FlUMEWOnK-KNIITEBS 10 the Public in Gbheral . —The season of the year being at hand when the great mercantile houses of London , engaged in the hosiery trade , send their agents into this onr market , who commonly make large contracts for manufactured goods , and as a necessary consequence , buy up the labour ofthe Framework-knitters for long periods to come ; we fe _« l ourselves compelled hy Btern necessity , arising out of our duty to our wives and . families , to address you at this momentous time ; , " with a cold , dark , and dreary winter before us , and famine around us , owing to the failure of those crops by which the

      poor are . prinoipaUy sustained , and the unparalleled low rate of wages paid in this district . In adopting this method , in order to place our real position before the public eye , we utterly disclaim having any intention or wish to disturb that harmony and good will , which ever ought to exist _betweenmauters and men ; but common justice demands that the situation of the Framework-knitters of this town , and its vicinity , should be fully known and understood . Could we as-Bure ourselves that our present low prices were necessary , we would endeavour tobe resigned to the hardness of our lot . Gould it be shown that our sufferings were consistent with the _avranuemenis of

      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 . We have repeatedly appealed to our employers during the last three years ( since the demand for our labour has been so abundant ) for a small advance of wages , u W ( _5 ( haTe 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 markets

      _wmta justify it , " but it has never been _bealised . _Recently , it has been recommended to make an effort to raise the prices ofthe Framework-knitters in Nottinghamshire , thereby intimating that then a way would bc opened for an advance here . A letter was 2 _« _fett _^ _" _^ _* _S _to _^ _rat-rate _housl of JNottmgham , soliciting information relative to the rate of wages paid by them ; the following reply has been received which we have the pleasure of laying _SSShS" f _^ V _^ V _^ _intleman of Sgf 1 _^^ _rfTO _* » _temirf _^ . n utatwn , and of _unimpeachable veracity ; the extracts are as Mows : — Nottingham , September 24 th . WM .

      am , _—l received your letter and cannot but feel compassion for the _Framework-knitters of your town and neighbourhood ; we make no cotton stockings iu Nottinghamshire lower than twenty-four gages , and therefore your manufacturers meet with no competition from us , or I believe from any other manufacturers , in twenty-two gages and under ; I do not see therefore but thev might advance the prices of those low gages . We charge 9 d . per week rent for all narrow frames up to thirty gage , all above ls . All sorts _r _ yi _^ _-T _r tiy ? Plain _^ the gusset , that is , shift four _stitches and narrow two ; every other partis narrowed one plain , that is , shift three stitches and narrow two , except some finer sorts , which are

      , Mr . Jameb Leigh . lne following scale presents a comparative view of SS -.-If * Nottm _* «* ASS ? Ind iS

      NOTTINGHAM . Gage . Jacks . Lengthi Prke > 30 hose 2 ft , * ; _* 30 half hose 102 .... . " . fi | 10 K 2 26 hose 124 ., „ or ! o a 26 _halfhose _8 G ZZ'Z l | 5 J 24 hose 114 or ? •* i 24 half hose 82 _ZZZ iff J 2 6 jacks wider , leg l inch _longer , _ed' _^ _xte a set _Thp "Vnm _™ , i _„ 5 P lain » except the

      _gus-BWCKXET . Gage . Jacks . Lcngthf price < 30 hose 125 o _ . 8 _i h 30 half hose 98 ' ? oi \ I 2 ft hose 121 J ?* * I 26 half hose & ? J * 24 hose m J ? * J 24 half hose _% £% """ . % J 2 ¦ ~ for 8 JS 8 * , s _*•« Is . and sometimes

      where _ffifS « h * h no _Wng «» disprove j with the 1 _wmtAT S skl 3 t 0 be _putuoonapar town "Sffir _amework-kkteM of that of _wrffid in Se _SSSi and _™ _% our" _--fferentsorts amouJt _RiLwd _KW ' " & ' _*• _"' ¦ S be an increased Satinn _JH _f rame 5- there W 0 U _H _mlAM _m JSSiSSSSff 1 " " * James Leigh , Thomas Brooks " , _TTinniri ... n 1 . Thomas AllsOPi BwcWey _, _Octoiwria _is _ i 5 .

  • Citation
    • Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 1, 1845, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_01111845/page/6/