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THE AGRICULTURAL SIGN IN G…

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THE AGRICULTURAL SIGN IN G i E,T B IT A IN. OFFICIAL IFQUniY AT N&WPOrLT. On Wtclrescay at the King's Head Hot New- port, Mr. A. Doyle (xstistant- commissi HH'r) ui-jta number oi cm l,) .inu^bh ehire Chamber of Agriculture tor t ■« pu'^osa o investigating and o'otvnir.g evid^nc^ b-fiug the prevaÜiLg 8o(lrjcnitJ.bl ot tald district. At a lueeti" of thy .Vi >i> a ja.hoaire Chamber of Agrieuliu-y on trie 17un ult it Was arranged that i committee, oai.Mi?ti>;g of 22 gentlemen, should oolleot evidence tad Aaaiac the Commissioner in every poebiola •vay to elicit information in regard tj the past and present condition of agriculture. For this purpose a series of questions had been printed and circulated amongst the farmers of the county beat qualified to give information, with a request that these quesiijns should be answered and forwarded to the secretaries of the ohamoer for the use of the Commissioner. Laid Tredegar occupied the chair, arid there were present r. B. Stratton (the president of the chamber), Col. Byrde, Messrs. W. S. Cart wright. Morgan, Daniel Baker, Charles D. ,PttlPB\ HLanry Williams, W. Jones, D. Bees iLlanvatwn), ba^rge Thomas (Ely), J. S. Stone, yalent.iHe^t'd.raoQa, J. K. Stone, Charles SeyB, — i Frost, -Wordell, W. Eeee, E. C. Datfteld, &o. The first question was What was tne rateable value ct the parish in which yoa reside in 1859. and what is the rateable value ill 187 t ? Give a total of tho rates for all purposes ia ti1 pist year. To this a very numerous hat of replies bad been Bent in and the general expression of opinion was that the rateable value considerably increased during the past 20 years. The second question was as to the coat of manual labour per acre for the 1878 9, as contrasted with the years 1858 9. Biiaaoing up the result of the replica eent In there waa shown to be a clear increase of 25 per cent. The third question was—Are the hr!J18 in your district aa well cultivated now as 20 yeire ? Has the produce of the laid increasei or decreased during that period r Caa you eupy> t your opinion by reference to accounts ? the o.jiaioas expressed in the reuses wer* extremely varied, but in the majority of esses it was the oeuef that farms were better cultivated now tbau before, and that the produce was gredotHr except in instances where tho fertility of tue land bai baea exhausted by tho injudicious use of artificial manures.. < The fourih question was—Has the aba-noe ot freedom of cultivation and cropping had aa un- favourable influence for farmers? (hr replies were to the effect that where freedom QL1 not exist it has had an unfavourable ioflienoe. Limiting the tenants' action ia of cropping was corn-id ere d to have produced an udavonrable effect npon >isVX'ik..re. In reply to tha fifth quest-ion; as to whether the Agricultural Holdings Act &h'uUi be more geuo* rally adopted, it was centrally aouimod taat this county was not groat J y affect d llY it, because tenants generally did not plase theui-telyea uader it. The next question was—To ex"n^ dor0 the new Highways Act prejudicially afluoi yuaf Jn general terms it was cocaid* reil that 1.1 iligh- ways Act operated to tbe grett disAivanme of the farmer. A far larger expense ehouid oe thrown upon the union. Mr. Doyle remarked that this was the answer he got almost everywhere. Mr. Stratton stated that an opinion prevailed that people in towna paid ratea to wtiioa people iu the country were nou liable, aud Ifft it to ba assumed tbat this was the reason why tba main- tenance of the highways should fall more heavily on the country parishes. Bat the argute »t aid not hold good. If tow:;f-peoplo wat- e or gis rates, they got an excellent equivalent for tieir money, whilst in country Ritcao they had to sink wells, put up pumps, and keep tJem in rø. pair. Mr. Doyle: But you get the benefit of their gaa when you go into town Lord Tredegar And they get the benefit of the loads when they come out of the town. The seventh question was as to the preservation of game, and this gave ride to a broader disc us- aion. The question was—Has ths over preser va- tion of game, especially ground game, bee i a source of serious loss to you, or do you know of any such cases ? Many replies had been received, to tha effect that farmers had not experienced any personal lOlls. Mr. Daniel Baker remarked thtt in a strict sense Monmouthshire was not a (jain .preserving county. But there werariiBtriataia wiiijti ground game did a great deal of mischicf. Winged ga.r.19 did very little mischief. As for rabbits they were not game but vermin. Mr. Stratton Babbita;ehould be made vermin and foxes game. Mr. Baker also believed that keepers ware just as obnoxious aa game. Mr. Stratton believed it itr>possible to get pheasants without keepers to look after and teed them. Mr. Baker said partridges and pheasants did good to the land. The Commiefiioser stated that recently he had teen reading a contrast between some parts of the country 20 years ago, and now really he could scarcely think it was the same country. Lord Tredegar observed that in Birmingham and some Midland districts rabbits were nude a source of profit. The numbers sold were somewhat erormons. Mr. W. Jones believed people would rather buy beef than rabbits. The general belief was that ground game was prejudicial to the farmer, whilst winged gime was advantageous. The eighth question was as to the abolition or the Mais Tax. The replies eeut in wer9 favourable to the abolition of the milt tax, and of its imposi- tion on beer. Mr. Baker said barley wis t'ae most lruporDane article for the farmer* of this cournry Ki re- cently took a sample of barley to Br.H.,1 market. H3 showed It to one or two bra .Vi1r fiod neither would buy. They said they could not bay, for this reason. Maltetera had to pay a o^rt&in duty on all the barley that they malfce i, and it did not answer the purpose to pay th? sams duty 011 barley not so good in quality and condition' M UTrenoh b&rley. Now if he, as a consumer, had been allowed to malt his own barley, he C-JOM have made it answer his purpose. If he could have converted it into malt, he beiievedit wiald be found to be the best possible feading stuff for cattle. But a farmer dared not do it; he ooald not sellhia barley and was act allowed to matt it, and yet he had to pay .£50 a year for malt for purposes of the farm. Mr. Doyle; How labourers had you on yonr farm. Mr. Buker About 10 men aa a rule some- times 20 in harvest, and 30 if you can get them, and harvest time is the time for the consumption of beer. Mr. Stratton also believed malt to be an excel- lent focd for cattle. If grains were so valuable, ■what must the malt ba. It was the g-eateat restorative in the world for sick animal-). Mr. said in Worcestershire and in that district the principal cirick was cider. Mr. Baker added that he believed that if the tax pon malt was abolished, and placed upon beer, it would be advantageous, and would tend con- siderably to diminish drunkenness. Mr. H. Williams objeoted on the ground that whilet farmers suffered from the low price of \he1' had to pay tithes above the average, iion w t the diecussion of the eighth ques- in a'fair »», Jv*le^tier the tithe averages are taken rnncedpdfk a.aH8*aotory manner. It was generally SSSSSSMFCFCR'TO'10 bushel of wheat, «. «S £ eta°da'd feifht peP *t:ibs. Then no af«y 6 £ lba-» and of barley say «ntnai prices. T^°nlfcy w°*ld arise as to the fefltly unjust. Present systam was maui- There wero 17 replies sent. tbe tenth dSSkaes in etookB of an k^00.^ contagioas had much about the'preK depressed state of aP^^re ? The5 gene?Il fm. preeeion was tha^ it h nd even now where the rinderpest had been ar ^^ere fQot acd mouth ° The' Commissioner said i[1Je;6*^0u1d Sjve him the names of gentle J^'th the chamber he would address to• them^e question as to whether the appointment of such au er Would be approved b7 them. noints of evi flc?aYirig elicited.al!tbe x?lp0rtAd Lord Tredegar ^nce the Commissioner thanked ble infor. *nd the gentlemen present for the ▼ u„m. wa Ration the ohamber had afforded to com- should be happy, in framing his repo*l> J l>ly With their wishes on the various poifl" > Would take an opportunity of submitting P to them. Mr. Stratton said that in no connty in Ea?lan^ bad there been a betler feeling between landlord and tenants than in this county. (Hear, hear.) He had felt very acutely that the farmers ought to be exempted from the pressure of local taxa- tion. They ought to obtain relief under this liead. Mr. Morgan mentioned a matter which he thought required rerious looking into. The Uak »nd Monmouth Railway was leased to the Great Western Company for JE10.500 annually, and vet it was only rated at JE1,900. After some further dieous ion on inoidental topina, a cordial vot.c of tha.ks was passed to «>rd Tredegar fcr presiding; and his Lordship having acknowledged, the corrpliment, the pro- ^eedinga terminated.

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