this paper, unless he perfectly knows such party, and is fully convinced that in all respects he or she is a proper object of the bounty.

The number of families that partook of this bounty for the last year, was as under:

"Besides this bounty (which is very much increasing), of the strongest Yorkshire cloth, Lord Egremont constantly distributes three and four times a week, good soup to the poor of the neighbourhood, made of barrelled beef, Scotch barley, and potatoes, besides regaling between three and four hundred families at Christmas with beef and pork pies. "A surgeon-apothecary (Mr. Andrew) lives in Petworthhouse, for the express purpose of attending upon the poor of that and the neighbouring parishes gratis. All who come under his care, are treated in the best possible manner if a limb is fractured, it is set; if physic is wanted, it is administered, as there is a complete apothecary's shop and surgical apparatus at hand.

"In 1795 his Lordship sent an expert woman to the British Lying-in Hospital, to pass through the qualifications requisite in the business of midwifery, preparatory to ber settlement at Petworth.

"Another woman has been settled in the neighbourhood, for the sole purpose of inoculating the children of the poor." The following sentiments, concerning the existing poor laws of this realm, are likewise truly welcome.

P. 453. "On the subject of the poor laws and manage

ment

ment of the poor, Lord Sheffield, who has had upwards of thirty years' experience of their effect, is fully aware of all the difficulties which have arisen from the abuse of them, and the misconception of their great object; and he con" siders all the deviations from the principles of the law of Elizabeth, as promoting the mischiefs which now embarrass us. The original law of Elizabeth was excellent in principle, but a false interpretation, and bad execution of it, and above all, the nonsense of sentimental economists, who never comprehended its spirit, have rendered it a great nuisance, highly oppressive of the landed interest, and crippling of the resources of the country. He observes, that a kind of system has been established, of relieving the the poor, by no means supported by law. The statute of Elizabeth was well imagined, and answered all the pur poses intended; it merely gave a power to the parish officers to provide for the lame, blind, and impotent, and to set the idle to work; which was peculiarly necessary at that time, as there was a number of idle, needy, and disorderly people, who used to receive alms from the monasteries, previously to their dissolution, and of soldiers and mariners, who were turned loose after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. But it has been so much misconstrued and abused, that it bas, in a great degree, destroyed a provident spirit on the part of the lower ranks, and promoted the neglect of their families and children, by suggesting notions that the parish is obliged to maintain, not only their children, but themselves also; thereby leading them to look to other means of subsistence than their own industry, than which á greater mischief cannot be imagined. Unfortunately an ill-judged conduct on the part of those who were not aware of the views of this excellent law, and who never had a practical knowledge of the country, has encouraged these evil consequences, which are becoming highly calamitous."

WORKING ANIMALS.

HORSES.-P. 376. "The horses employed in the husbandry of the county, have nothing in them which deserves particular notice. Considerable numbers are annually bought up at the fairs and markets, which come from other places."

OXEN.-Breeds.-The ordinary breed of working oxen is that of the County.-Lord Egremont works “ Hereford, Sussex, Devon, and a mixed breed between Hereford and Sussex. The Hereford breed appears to be the best of the three, when pure, for the two objects combined, of working and fatting; but the mixture of half Hereford and half Sussex, are equal." p. 264.

"Lord

"Lord Sheffield prefers the blood bay, such as he has seen of the Devonshire breed.

"A principal reason for preferring the cattle which be now rears is, that they make the best working oxen. The coarsest kind of Sussex grow too heavy for work soon after six years old, and are very slow; but the kind which Lord Sheffield raises, step out better and faster than horses, and do the same work, for he never employs more than four for any purpose."-p. " 466."-476.

Mode of Working Oxen -P 278. "The mode of working their oxen in this county has, from the earliest ages, been the established one of bows and yokes, both single and double. Oxen in collars are a late improvement. A wide difference of opinion amongst practical men exists, with regard to the best method of using oxen, in yokes, or in collars."

Different opinions, on this point, are brought forward; but nothing decisive is made out, in favor of either prac tice; until we reach the close of the section; where a report of Lord Egremont's mature practice would seem to decide in favor of the yoke.

P. 282. "Lord Egremont has worked his cattle each way, and in road and field work, upon a large scale; and bis experience fully confirms the general opinion, that the old established mode is superior to the new method, and that any number in yoke are equal to an equal number in collar."

In the Appendix, however, we find the like experience of another noble lord casting some considerable weight into the opposite scale,

P. 466 (476). Lord Sheffield "has only two cart-horses and eighteen working oxen, who are harnessed like horses, have bridles, and are accustomed to be led."

Those two varying practices may have grown out of different circumstances. Lord Sheffield, using so inconsiderable a number of horses, is constrained to employ his oxen in every work of husbandry; whether with plow or cart, and whether on broad roads, or in narrow ways; in which the beasts of draft are obliged to draw singly. Whereas, in my Lord Egremont's practice, oxen are principally, I believe, employed in plowing; and I have long been convinced that, in this operation, and on land that will bear the tread of oxen, double, the yoke is preferable to harness; especially when oxen are driven with reins.

Having been thus incidentally led, to endeavor to clear up an important point in the practice of aration, I will not hesitate

A slovenly error of "the press"! pervading a succession of pages.

hesitate to suggest, to those who employ oxen in the vari ous works of husbandry, to enure them, in early training, equally to the double yoke and chain, and to the collar or single yoke and traces; and equally to work with each other, and with horses, as circumstances, and the multifarious labors of a farm, may require.

The Food of Working Oxen.-In Lord Egremont's practice.-P. 264. "When at straw in the winter, they work three days in a week; for instance, his Lordship has now thirty-four, being twelve three-year olds, ten four-year olds, and twelve of all ages above that, as they happen to be good for work. And here it is to be observed relative to turning off from work, that when an óx will not bear hard work and hard food, he may on an even chance, if put to feed, fatten as well as one that would stand work and hardship much better, as the qualities of fattening well, and bearing hard work, are distinct. But the perfection of breeding is to have such as will do both; and the free temper and willingness in work of an ox, may make him be thought tender, and unfit for labour, if due attention is not paid to this circumstance.

"Those thirty-four oxen are at oat-straw, with no other food, and sixteen of them are worked every day; and I could not but remark the very good order they were in; none of them complaining, by their appearance, of any want of better food. This straw system holds till about → the 10th of February; then hay is given, to prepare them for the fatigue of spring-sowing; the hay system lasting till May, when they are turned to grass.'

"

In Lord Sheffield's Practice.-P. 476. " They have never any food but grass or straw, until they begin to work hard in the spring, when they have hay cut with their straw."

Years of Work.-P. 233. "The age when the generality of farmers turn off their oxen from work, is at six years old. They will sometimes work them another year; but if we take the county upon a medium, we shall find that the far greater proportion send them to the grazing account at six. The proper time when cattle fatten to the best advantage, is a matter undecided in the opinion of some of the best judges in the county; yet it is a point that deserves ascertaining, for it is very necessary to know at what age they decline in the working state. It is affirmed, that young beasts are much more profitable for fatting than older ones, as the union both of growth and fat pays better than fat alone. We know that cattle will continue their full work long after the time they are usually sent to graze, and perhaps to greater profit than when they were young. At six, they are turned off; at seven, slaughtered; although

at

at ten or eleven, he is greatly to be preferred to the work of a four or five-years old steer, and the additional labour would probably out-balance any injury he might receive by more than three years' work; not that the cattle would be damaged by any alteration of this kind, for the greatest injury is effected in their growing state; and this ceasing at six, an ox cannot receive any damage which is not overpaid by his work. Lord Egremont has a pair of Sussex oxen in the eleventh year of their age, which, for seven years, have done as much ploughing and carting as any two horses in the county. His Lordship is now fattening those beasts, and they thrive very kindly, and more so than younger beasts in general. With half a summer's grass after taken from the collar, and an autumn's rouen, they were, without other food, sent to Smithfield, and sold for eighty guineas: a remarkable fact, bearing directly on the question of age and long work."

P. 264. Lord Egremont "works them three, four, or five years, that is, from three years old to four, from four to five, from five to six, from six to seven, and from seven to seven and a half, being in this last case put to fatten after the wheat season. But his more common system is, to work them four years and a balf, and then fatten."

P. 476. Lord Sheffield "often works them, when they are hardy and do the business well, till they are upwards of twelve years old. He has proved the fallacy of the notion, that if worked hard to that age, they will not fat well; he used two of his largest oxen beyond that age, without ever sparing them, and within one year they were fatted with oil-cake to the great weight of nearly 310 stone each. Such of his oxen or steers as prove clumsy or shortlegged, he sells or fats."

IMPLEMENTS.-Plows.-P. 55. "The wheel-plough most common, is the Kentish turn-wrest."

P. 56." This tool, which is not very well adapted for any thing except always throwing land the same way, and consequently doing well on steep hills, or for laying land to grass without a furrow, is in this county a great favourite. This is universal. Whatever plough we find in any ,county, is sure to be called the best in the world.

"In the maritime division of this county, a one wheelplough is much esteemed; it is generally drawn by three horses in a line.”

MANURES. For a novel comment on Yard Dung, see Wheat, ensuing;-and for Sheepfold, see the article, Sheep. Chalk.-P. 199. "This is in great request, and used in quantities from 800 to 1600 bushels per acre."

Lime from Chalk.-P. 202. “This is an article of the

greatest