Great apprehensions are entertained, by the Reporter, as well as by his friend, Mr. Stanley (in a note on the subject) in regard to the extirpation of ship timber, in Cheshire, and the kingdom at large. The former says much on the subject; but without infusing any thing of plan, or of interest, into his pages. The latter, however, suggests, or rather intimates, something new, for its preservation.N. P. 203. "If for one or more acres covered with a given number of thriving oak plants, the owner was to be exempted from the operation of certain taxes; if, for instance, his house was to be exempted from the window tax; or he was to be allowed the free use of bricks, to be employed upon his own land; or some gratification and exemption, equal to the good he did his country, new forests would soon spread themselves over the kingdom, and become a security for its future safety and prosperity. The value of the land given up to planting should be considered in the apportionment of the indulgence."-Again "We pay heavy taxes now, that the national debt may be extinguished fifty years hence; why should not taxes be paid now, that the navy may exist a hundred years hence?" See the NORTHERN DEPARTMENT, p. 224, for remarks on this subject.

The following regulations, probably instituted by the late Lord Warrington, will serve, at least, as an item of history, on the management of estates, and the propagation of timber, in former times.

N. P. 207. "Though too little regard is undoubtedly paid to planting in this county, yet there are individual instances, in which it is made an object of considerable attention. I have been informed that in Lord Stamford's leases for lives, the tenants are bound to plant every year a certain number of trees, oak, ash, elm, or poplar, proportioned to the extent of their farms. The plants are found by the owner of the land; and the tenants condition to preserve them. Similar clauses are inserted in the leases granted by other landed proprietors, but I doubt whether sufficient attention is paid to enforcing the execution of them."

FARMS.

DIVISION THE THIRD.

AGRICULTURE.

ARMS.-Sizes.-On this subject Mr. Fenna furnishes a "statement of the size of farms in four townships, situated

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in different parts of the county." The inferences from which are thus drawn.-P. 92. "From this statement it appears that, in the townships in question, the greatest number of holdings, in any of the foregoing classes, are under one acre each; and that the greatest quantity of land is occupied by tenants renting from 50 to 100 acres. An extension of these results to the county at large might probably be made without any great inaccuracy of statement. By calculations, formed with an express view to the ascertainment of this fact, it would appear that the average size of holdings cannot be estimated at more than 70 acres; and, in this statement, all those under 10 acres are excluded. Some few dairy farms in this county run as high as 350 or 400 acres."

Having stated these facts, in a Reporterly manner, and of course done all that bis duty required, Mr. H. ventures on the wide field of argument, relating to the sizes of farms, considered in a political light-a field that has, of late years, been trodden, until it is almost bare. The combatants, however, have mostly ranged themselves on opposite sides of it; leaving an untrodden space between them.

Mr. Holland takes his stand on the large-farm side; and acquits himself with becoming ingenuity; and with fluency of language; but without advancing any thing new, or making out any one point, with peculiar clear ness. Having spoken to the extent of five or six pages, in favor of large farms, he alters his position; and (as if he had had a rap on the knuckles,-perhaps by his friend Mr. T.) proceeds to cut down, and pare away, much of what he had been striving to establish; very judiciously bringing down his scale of tenements to a cottage with a cow-ground-a very proper thing in its place: namely as a first step, in mounting the ladder of predial holdings. Homesteads.-And Plans of Farms.-P. 66 82. The state of the farm-houses and buildings attached to them, is very various in Cheshire. On some of the large dairy farmis in the middle of the county, the buildings, in point of extent, and convenience of arrangement, are equal to those in most parts of the kingdom. In the hundred of Wirrall, the reverse is undoubtedly the case. Here, the farmhouses and buildings are all crowded together into villages, without any regard to the advantages of situation, or to regularity of construction. By this means the farmer is frequently thrown to the distance of two or three miles from his land, a circumstance productive of so many

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serious inconveniences, as to render the removal of its cause a measure highly desirable.".

Building Materials.-P. 83. "The covering of the old buildings is generally of thatch; and here it may be noticed that the dairy-maids usually give the preference to the thatched cow-houses, from their preserving a more unis form temperature than those covered with slate, or tiles."

In this Report are engravings of farmsteads. One of them is well enough, in itself; but not peculiarly eligible as a Pattern. Plates, however, are allowed, by the many, to "set off a book."

Cottages. There does not appear to be any thing remarkable, in the plan or construction of the cottages of Cheshire. In a Note, signed "J. T. S." are some sensible remarks, on the coverings of cottages.-N. P. 86. "It may be doubted, whether the substitution of slate for thatch, in cottages and small farm-houses, is an advantage. Thatch renders a house warmer in winter, and cooler in summer, than slate. In winter, it prevents the warmth produced by the fires from escaping; and in summer it absorbs few of the sun's rays; at least it allows but little heat to penetrate through it. A room below thatch may be kept warm with half the fuel which it would be when below slate."

The rents of cottages are remarkably high in Cheshire. "When a garden, only, is annexed, they usually let for four or five pounds, per annum," p. 86.

I found occasion to speak on cottage cowgrounds, under the head Poor Laws, &cp. 113; as the subject grew aptly ont of an extract there made, relating to the settlements of paupers. This subject, indeed, is of so doubtful a nature that it is difficult to say, precisely, where it ought to be classed whether under cottages, laborers, poor rates, or farms; the last has the best claim to it; as appears, above, p. 131.

On fences and gates, we find lengthened remarks; but without any practical information arising from them, that can be useful or interesting, in other districts; excepting what is noticed of iron gates,-for farm uses, I take for granted.

P. 122. "In some few instances, gates made of bar iron have been substituted for oaken ones. The bars in these gates are circular; and are usually four or five in number, with a cross piece, as in the common gate. The original cost varics, of course, according to the number of bars, and the weight of iron employed; but it may be estimated, in general, at from two to three pounds for a gate of the ordinary size."

Mr.

Mr. Staniey's suggestion of a gate law is, however, entitled to a place, here; as coming from an "experienced magistrate."-P. 120. "Gates are becoming a very expensive article; and the stumps being no longer made of the heart of the tree, but of refuse timber, all outside, soon rot at the bottom. Some law is wanted to prevent people from injuring gates. Nothing is more common than for them to be broken wantonly; thrown off their hinges; and to have the irons, on which they are hung, drawn out. Indeed many laws are wanted for the preservation of property out of doors. The only remedy now, against mischief of various kinds, is an action of trespass; which cannot be resorted to against a pauper or stranger, with any good effect, or without gteat expence."

OCCUPIERS. On this subject, Mr. H's remarks are sensible; but too general for a provincial Report. Suffice it to say, here, that the lower classes of Cheshire farmers are represented as adhering to the customs of their forefathers; but "that there are among the larger farmers in this county, a set of men, who for their general intelligence and respectability of character, and from the judicious and rational spirit of improvement by which they are animated, may deservedly rank among the first agriculturists in the country." p. 100. This is a fortunate circumstance, seeing how much they have on their hands, before they can raise the practice of Cheshire to a par with the best practice of the kingdom.

PLAN of MANAGEMENT of Farms in Cheshire,-P. 125. "The proportion of land occupied in tillage in Cheshire is by no means so considerable as in many other counties; though upon the whole, I believe, I should be justified in stating, that it is more so at present than it was some years ago. On the greater number of farms, the tenant is restricted, by the terms of his lease, from holding more than a fourth part of his land in tillage; the landlord being unwilling to allow a larger proportion to be employed in a way which is generally esteemed prejudicial to the fertility of the soil. In consequence of this restriction, the corn, raised on many of the smaller Cheshire farms, does not greatly exceed what is necessary for the consumption of the family, and the stock of the farmer, No considerable quantity of barley is sown, though there appear to be several districts of sandy loam favourable to its cultivation. Wheat and oats, but particularly the latter, constitute the principal objects of tillage in Cheshire." Succession of Crops.-Mr. Holland copies Mr. Wedge's

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round of rotations; and adds another by Mr. Fenna;` and others from information. I do not, however, consider any of them to be particularly entitled to public attention.

WORKPEOPLE.-P. 296. 66 The wages of servants and labourers have been very considerably advanced within the last twenty years, in a proportion perhaps more than equal to the decreasing value of money. This is particularly the case in the neighbourhood of Macclesfield, Stockport, and the manufacturing parts of the county. Such high wages are occasionally obtained by children in these districts, that few are now brought up to husbandry and it is there as difficult to get a boy to drive the plough, as a man to hold it."

WORKING ANIMALS,~P. 289. "The number of oxen employed in husbandry in the county is exceedingly small: a few gentlemen have tried them in their teams, but the example does not seem likely to be followed."

The Reporter, then (somewhat adventurously) proceeds to argue on the comparative merits of oxen and horses, in the employment of husbandry; and this, it would seem, from the general tenor of his Report, without the smallest share of experience, with either of them, in that capacity. With just as much propriety, and benefit to society, might Mr. Boys, or any other of the Board's agricultural Reporters, have risqued his opinion, on the typhus fever, compound fractures, or any other difficult matter, in physic, or surgery. See NORTH. DEPART. p. 378.

IMPLEMENTS.-There does not appear, from this Report, to be any thing peculiar in the instruments of husbandry in use, in Cheshire; excepting the "hodding scythe;" an account of which is copied from Mr. Wedge's Report, (see p. 34.) What is said of the mole plow, belongs to

The Draining of Farm Lands.-P. 114. "The moleplough for draining clay lands has been introduced on several farms; and, from the high and deserved estimation in which it is held by the farmers who have already adopted it, its use will, in all probability, become more general in the county."

TILLAGE. The summer fallow appears, from Mr. Holland's uninteresting account of it (p. 127) to be still common, for wheat. "Green crops,"-fallow crops, however are, it seems, annually increasing; but are not yet prevalent. MANURES.-Experiencing in Mr. Holland's account of the salt mines and manufacture of Cheshire, that he is not merely acquainted with the new nomenclature of chemistry; but likewise with the best writings, of modern chemists;