The North Wales Times

(Lxkitmg. If any reader who is in difficulty with reference to his garden, will write direct to the ad- dress given beneath, his queries will be an. swered, free of charge, and by return of post. —EDITOR]. Some correspondents omit to add their names, or merely end with initials. In these cases it is obviously impossible to reply.—E.K.T. VEGETABLE PESTS. INTRODUCTORY. Many a promising crop is spoiled owing to its grower not knowing what measures to take directly a disease or insect pest is observed; end we therefore propose briefly considering the prevention and remedy of all of the worst troubles of this kind, so that our readers may be enabled to recognise the symptoms of an Infestation, and to make the proverbial stitch in time. Generally speaking, deep autumn cultivation of the soil, thorough cleanliness and a (lod rotation will be found infinitely more effective weapons in fighting insects and fungi fcnan the majority of nostrums advocated in gardening works. APHIDES. Green fly are readily exterminated by syrin- glOg with a preparation made by adding 2ozs. of shag tobacco and 2ozs. of soft soap to a gallon of boiling water. BIRDS. The injury done by small birds can be pre- sented by netting seed beds, or protecting them with coloured twines, to which rags, feathers, pieces of tin, etc., are hung in such a manner that they can sway to and fro. CATERPILLARS. The only really reliable remedy is to hand pick the insects, and destroy them. This should be done the day the symptoms of infestation are observed. EARWIGS. Small inverted flower pots, with moss in the bottom of each, placed on the tops of stakes to which plants are tied, constitute excellent traps for earwigs, as also do pieces of crumpled paper and short bundles of cut bean stalks. MILLIPEDES. These little creatures are something like wireworms in appearance, being also almost equally persistent and omnivorous. Strong brine, made with salt or nitrate of soda, is a most effective remedy. SLUGS. These pests are very troublesome indeed amongBt seedlings and young plants. The raost dependable method of exterminating them lies in frequently repeated sprinklings of lime and soot, salt or nitrate of soda. Small heaps of bran form excellent traps. WIREWORMS. Of all garden infestations that of the wire- Worm is perhaps the most difficult to remedy and most destructive. Deep autumn cultiva- tion is valuable, and potatoes make excellent traps, but no thing is really effective save gas time, applied in sufficient quantity to destroy all insect and vegetable life. This should be ,c done in autumn, Jcwt. being used per rod. The dressing must be allowed to remain exposed on the surface for six weeks or two months, after Which period it may be pointed evenly into the soil, where it will form a valuable fertiliser, of the nature of gypsum. BROAD BEANS. The bean aphis (or black fly) occasionally does much damage to plants. At the first symp- tom of its presence, visible^as a sooty appear- ance of the tips of the beans, cut off and burn all infested tops. Thorough syringing with soapy water is a useful remedy, and the addi- tion of a small quantity of paraffin makes it still more effectual. As in all plant diseases, a healthy growth, induced by good cultivation, is most beneficial, and the application of liquid manure is desirable. BEETS. The beet fly maggot sometimes injures gar- den crops by feeding on the pulp inside the leaves. Badly-infested plants should be rooted out and burned. The grub may be destroyed by pinching it in the leaf between the finger and thumb, being careful not to break the outer skins. The fungus which causes potato scab also infests beet. Crop rotation is the best preventive. CABBAGES. Club-root is by far the worst disease to which this crop is subject. For remedies refer to turnip. The cabbage gall weevil maggot causes the smooth, rounded galls or knobs sometimes to be found on cabbage-roots, and the injury thus done sets up local decay. Clean cultiva- tion and constant rotation are the surest pre- ventives and remedies. Infested roots should be burned. Caterpillars are often exceedingly troublesome. Hand-picking is the only effec- tual remedy, though hot or salt water, syringed over and into the plants, is of great assistance. Aphides may be washed off with soap-suds. CARROTS. Wireworms and the maggots of the carrot fly sometimes injure the roots. Judicious selection of suitable soils, a regular rotation of Mops, and deep autumn digging, involving the incorporation of some soot or wood ashes with the bed, are the best means of prevention. CELERY. Slugs and snails can generally be checkmated by soot and lime. In some seasons the celery fly grub causes serious injury by gnawing away the inner substance of the foliage. The best preventive is to dust over the leaves lightly with soot during June, while they are Wet with rain or dew. Badly infested plants must be drawn from the beds, and conveyed directly to the furnace. The maggots can easily be destroyed by pinching them in the blister which indicates their presence, but care must be taken not to break the outer skins of the leaves. Celery leaf blight, a fungous disease, causes the leaves successively to be- come spotted, turn yellow and brown, and then die. Pick off and destroy all diseased leaves in autumn. CUCUMBERS. The most serious trouble is a disease caused by minute eel-worms in the rootlets, These misroseopic pests produce knobs and nodosities On the roots, and eventually the total failure of the crop. Infested plants must be burned, and the earth, in which they have been growing, should be removed, and sterilised with quick- ie. Red spider can be to a great extent prevented by a moist atmosphere. In bad at- tacks, paint the hot-water pipes with a mixture of clay, sulphur and water, heating them very moderately only. As a general rule, syringing will keep cucumbers free from this pest. Mil- dew sometimes produces white mould like spots on the upper surfaces of the leaves. Evapora- ted sulphur is the best remedy. Great care must be taken that the sulphur does not actually urn. Green-fly are destroyed by fumigation. ONIONS. The larvae of the onion fly occasionally otally destroy a crop by eating their way into the bulbs. All infested plants should be lifted With the surrounding earth and burned. A good rotation is the best method of prevention. nion mildew is a dreaded disease in districts. fcK i 'ves kegin to turn yellow about the time P'ants commence to form bulbs; and in bad tacks the crop becomes one loathsome mass Putrescence. The only sure preventive with 1 we are acquainted'is autumn sowing on jg d that is not infested, though deep trenching re i'Q0flciaI> Onion smut produces dark, ir- fch^ ar 8P°t8 °n the first leaves of ^seedlings, Th*8 if not actually killing them, to S°J • ?^e°tive means of prevention appears mi* A • ling an PUi!^e sulphur and lime, of e<l_ual proportions by weight, to a row sevft i witk the seed. The crop is subject to Httl ■ °"ier serious troubles, but at present 6 is known regarding them. Sna PEAS. parrows are the most traubleeome enemies of this crop, and from the first appearance of the seedlings it is imperatively necessary to protect them with strings, to which hmgiug rags, feathers, an i pieces of tin are attached. Pea guards, made by fixintr wire netting on a fraruwork of semi-circular wire hoops, are most useful for protecting sowings. Mice fre- quently demolish early sowings before they have germinated. A good preventive is to cover the seeds with a little soil and then with two inches of sharp sand. Another method consists of moistening the seed with sweet oil, and then covering it with red lead. Pea mil- dew causes serious destruction amongst late sowings, btib no easily applied remedy has yet been discovered, though Bordeaux Mixture has in some cases given good results. An occasional dusting of soot, while the foliage is damp with dew, tends to minimise the injury caused by pea weevils and other insect pests. Where the presence of weevils is suspected, subject seed- peas to a temperature of 145 degrees for an hour, directly they are picked. POTATOES. The two fungi, peronospora infestants and fusisporium solani, annually work much injury the former being responsible for the dreaded potato disease which causes discoloured and decomposing tubers. Though the planting of sound seed in dry, warm beds in open sunny situations is beneficial, nothing is an effectual remedy save Bordeaux Mixture. This invalu- able fungicide is prepared by slaking 41bs, of quicklime (61bs. of air-slaked) in a vessel con- taining a small quantity of water, and by dis- solving in another receptacle 6lbs. of sulphate of copper in 4 or more gallons of water. When the former solution is quite cool, pour it into the copper mixture, and keep the fluids mixed by constant stirring, while adding enough water to make 40 gallons of preparation. Stir well before applying in the form of fine spray to foliage, preferably with knapsack sprayer, directly the first symptoms of the leaf spot ap pear. Further applications must be made at intervals of from 10 to 12 days. Another fungous disease, potato scab, causes the well known rough and pitted patches on the tubers. Plan only sound and clean seed. Rotation of crops is of the utmost importance in the pre- vention of all potato diseases. Insects very seldom do serious injury to the plants in this country. TOMATOES. The crop is subject to very serious fungous diseases,—the worst being that known as the 'Sleeping Disease,' of which the first symp- toms are the drooping of the leaves from the root upwards and the dingy brawn colour of the wood when a root is split. Directly these peculiarities are noted, every affected plant should be rooted out and burned. In tomato blight, affected leaves show dark brown spots on the under sides, the upper surface at the same time turning yellow, and the edges of the leaves curling downwards. If the disease appear under glass, pick off and burn infested foliage, keep a dry cool atmosphere, and dust over attacked plants with dry sulphur. Out- door crops can be sprayed with Bordeaux Mixture, as advised for potatoes. Black spot disease, or tomato rot, is first indicated by a small black spot appearing at the blossom end of the half grown fruit. The spot rapidly in creases in size until half of the tomato is des- troyed, the dieeased portion being sunken and black. Burn affected fruits, and thoroughly spray the plants with Bordeaux Mixture. The soil in which diseased tomatoes have grown mast be sterilised by mixing a large proportion of quicklime with it. Plants sometimes suffer from a kind of dropsy, induced by too much wet and too little light. Of winter blight disease very little is known. Red spider can be kept in check by syringing. Tomato and cucumber plants are sometimes infested by a microscopic eel-worm, which causes galls on the roots, and eventually the 'death of the plant. Infested plants must be burned, and the earth, in which they have been grown should be sterilised with quicklime. A sure preventive is the use of soil that has been thoroughly frozen since the last crop was grown upon it. TURNIPS. The turnip fly, a voracious little beetle, oc- casionally destroys the plant almost as soon as it is visible. The cotyledon, or seed-leaf, stage is that of special danger, and the surest preven- tive is to promote a regular and rapid growth by obtaining a fine tilth, and by sowing in drills in which a couple of inches of decayed manure, or of a mixture of guano, ashes, and soil, is covered with a light layer of earth, to prevent the seed coming into, actual contact with the fertilizer. As remedial measures, dressings of lime, soot, and ashes are valuable, if applied in early morning while the foliage is still wet with dew. Caterpillars of various kinds are most troublesome to garden crops of turnips, but a sure remedy exists in hand picking. The most serious disease, however, of these and allied plants is that known as club. root, anbury, or finger-and-toe. Infested roots become swollen and malformed, and eventually loathsome decay sets in, and myriads of fungus spores are released, to in turn germinate, and attack such cruciferous plants as may be at hand. Constant rotation and clean cultivation, involving the destruction of all weeds which might serve as hosts for the fungus, will be found the best preventives. A very heavy dressing of lime often proves an effectual remedy in attacks, but no cabbages, turnips, or radishes should be grown for several years on infested land. E. KEMP TOOGOOD, F.R.H.S., pro Toogood and Sons, The Royal Seed Establishment, Southampton.

THE LIQUOR LAWS COMMISSION. LORD PEEL RESIGNS. At Wednesday's meeting of the Royal Commis- sion on the Liquor Laws the differences of opinion between the chairman and the majority came to a crisis. Various amendments to the earlier portions of Lord Peel's draft report were proposed, but the chairman refused to put them to the vote on the ground that those parts of his report had been already discussed. Sir Algernon West then moved, on behalf of the neutral members, the substitution of their alternative scheme for Part V. of the chairman's report. With- out putting the motion to the vote Lord Peel de- clared that he dissolved" the Commission, and left the room. The remaining Commissioners thereupon elected Sir A. West to the chair. It was then proposed that the alternative scheme should be put to the vote, but the new chairman deprecated this course for the present, and eventually it was agreed to adjourn to a fixed date in order that the situation may be more fully considered. The opposition to Lord Peel's report is not confined to Part V., which deals with the reduction of licences, nor to other recommenda- tions made by him it extends to the selection and summary of evidence contained in his report, in which it is alleged that statements of witnesses have been quoted without, the qualifying statements by which they were accompanied. On behalf of Lord Peel's action, it is claimed that he is supported by precedent. The majority at Wednesday's meeting in- cluded all the neutral members, the representatives of the trade, and one temperance member. Sir Charles Cameron, Mr. W. S. Caine, and Mr. J. L. Wharton were absent.

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Germany supplies seventy per ceut. of the world's consumption of dyestuffs from coal-tar.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—APRIL 10. The House reassembled after the Easter recess. Very few questions were put to Ministers, and of these only two or three were of public interest. CIVIL SERVICE ESTIMATES. On the motion for going into Committee of Supply on the Civil Service Estimates, Mr. McKenna called attention in a thin House to the administration of the Foreign Office in Uganda, East Africa, and Zanzibar. Referring to Sir A. Hardinge's report on affairs in British East Africa, he expressed regret at the decline of the export trade from the Protectorate, and complained that there was no direct line of steamers between Great Britain and Zanzi- bar, and that British traders suffered inconsequence. Reviewing past events in Uganda, he deplored the loss of life in the small wars that had occurred, and commented with disapproval on the employment of Soudanese mercenaries, when Swahili troops were available. He ascribed the rebellion in Uganda to the policy of Imperial expansion northward, which he considered a mistake. Colonel Denny explained the nature of the offers which had been made to the Foreign Office with a view to the establishment of a line of steamers between this country and British East Africa, and condemned the department for refusing to entertain the proposals put before it. Sir J. Kennaway urged the Government to delay no longer before abolishing the legal status of slavery in Pemba and Zanzibar, asserting that the country was becoming impatient with regard to this matter. He suggested that if the views of Sir A. Hardinge were an obstacle in the way of the change which he advocated an early opportunity should be taken to nromote that able public servant to some superior post. Moon having made some observations, Mr. Brodrick replied, remarking at the outset that with one exception the questions which had been raised had already been discussed three times this session. The exception was the question as to the means of communication between Great Britain and East Africa, and, dealing with this, he showed that we were not dependent upon foreign steamship lines as had been alleged, there being at this moment four British lines which sent steamers from the South of Africa to our possessions on the East coast. Altogether there were six linea of steamers that traded with East Africa, and there was no ground for making any sacrifice of public money in order to establish a seventh. He was willing, however, to consider any new facts that might be brought to his notice. Replying to the alle- gation that the administration of Uganda had been expensive, he denied that the money had been thrown away. and described the railway as an asset which could not be regarded as unsatisfactory. Turning to the subject of slavery, he asserted that in Pemba and Zanzibar the liberation of the slaves was pro- ceeding with as much rapidity as they desired themselves. Defending the administration of Sir A. Hardinge, he stated that that official had loyally carried out the orders transmitted to him at different times and had shown great Ministerial capacity. In the East A frica Protectorate there had been satisfac- tory progress in the last financial year, the receipts having increased and the expenditure having diminished. Explaining what had been achieved by Col. Martyr's expedition, he said that there were now only 200 miles between the point which it had reached and Lord Kitchener's troops. He repeated the state- ment which he has made on former occasions that the Government do not intend to send out any fresh expeditions, and that their object now will be to ad- minister the possessions which have been acquired in such a way as to promote trade and to introduce humanising influences into Africa. Sir C. Dilke, reverting to the question of slavery in Zanzibar, maintained that it could be disposed of without difficulty by following the course which was taken when it was recognised that slavery must cease in India. Mr. Labouchere asked what precisely was Uganda, and regretted there were no fixed frontiers toit. Mr. Duckworth endorsed the appeals which had been addressed to the Government on the subject of slavery and Mr. R. G. Webster drew attention to the subsidies given to certain cable companies, and stated his reasons for holding that it was desirable that all cable communication between the various parts of the British Empire should be under Imperial control. The House then went into Committee. On the vote to complete the sum of E49,000 for Royal Palaces and Marlborough House, Mr. Caldwell, who was dissatisfied because the public were not given access to Buckingham Palace, moved to reduce the vote by P-100. Mr. Akers- Douglas explained why the Palace could not be thrown open to inspection, and then the reduction was negatived on a division by 142 to 46. The vote having been agreed to, a vote to complete the sum of £ 119.000 for Royal parks and pleasure gardens was next considered, and Mr. Goddard moved a reduction of EIOO on the ground that the number of the officials employed was unnecessarily large. In the discussion which ensued many details of the administration of the London parks were criticised, and Mr. Akers- Douglas described some improvements which were to be effected. The motion for the reduction of the vote was rejected by 112 to 31, and the vote was agreed to, as also were votes for the Houses of Par- liament, buildings, for certain legal buildings, for art and science buildings, for Diplomatic and Consular buildings, and for Customs, Inland Revenue, and Post Office buildings. The Metropolitan Water Companies Bill of the Government passed through Committee, and the House adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—APRIL 11. TO CALCUTTA IN TEN DAYS. Mr. Maclean asked the First Lord of the Treasury whether, in view of the fact that the termini of the Indian and Russian Railway systems in Central Asia had now been brought within a few hundred miles of each other, and that when the projected line from Orenburg to Samarcand had been constructed, it would be easy to complete through railway com- munication from Calais to Calcutta without even a break at the Caspian, her Majesty's Government pro- posed to open negotiations with Russia for the establishment of this overland route, which, besides bringing London within 10 days of Calcutta, would provide India with facilities of access to the immense new markets which Russian railway enterprise is opening in Asia? Mr. Balfour said this matter would have to be decided on far wider grounds than those mentioned by the honourable member, and he was not pre- pared to make any announcement of policy on the subject. MR. HIIODES'S VISIT TO GERMANY. Mr. D. A. Thomas asked the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs whether Mr. Cecil Rhodes, in his recent visit to Berlin and his reported negotiations with the German Government, acted under any pre- vious arrangement or authority, either explicit or implied, with or from any Minister of the Crown in this country. Mr. Brodrick said that in his negotiations with the German Government Mr. Rhodes acted entirely on his own initiative. That was well understood by all concerned. RAILWAY COUPLINGS BILL. Mr. A. D. Thomas asked the President of the Board of Trade if he could yet state definitely the course he proposed to take in reference to the Regu- lations of Railways Bill. Mr. Ritchie said he was not in a position to add anything to the statement he had already made. CRISIS IN THE CHURCH. Mr. Sydney Gedge moved, "That this House deplores the spirit of lawlessness shown in a memorial which the English Church Union, adopted unani- mously at a meeting, held in London, on the 28th day of February last, and directed a copy of it to be sent to the Queen, and to every member of each House of Parliament, and approves of the declaration made in this House on the 2nd day of March last, by the First Lord of the Treasury, that neither he nor the Lord Chancellor would recommend any clergyman to a benefice un- less convinced that he was prepared to loyally obey his bishop, and in accordance therewith confidently hopes that no member of the English Church Union will be recommended by a Minister of the Crown for appointment to a bishopric, ecclesiastical office, or benefice, until the minister is convinced that he will loyally obey the law, as declared by the courts which have jurisdiction in matters ecclesiastical." The hon. member said he did not wish to stir up feelings of animosity in which he had no share, and which he hoped would not be introduced into this discussion. His desire was to maintain the Refor- mation, to maintain the Church as an Established «. iinrch and a Protestant Church. He did not take the question up in an angry spirit, butsimuly with the desire that this lawless memorial should meet with a proper reply from the House of Com- mons. He was prepared to admit that, taking paragraph by paragraph, there might be some difficulty in saying that any particular paragraph was in itself a defiance of the law. The memorial was very ingeniously framed, but it was clear that its whole intention was to bring back the Church of Eng- land to many evil practices, to un-Protestantise the Church, and to deny the law and the authority of bishops. If the memorial was not lawless, how was it that there was scarcely a newspaper in the country which did not believe that it was and described it as the revolt of the clergy ?" They had been officially informed that the laws were to be dis- regarded. The flag of rebellion had been hoisted and waved in their faces, and he thought they should take up the challenge. How were they to deal with the matter ? He thought the law was strong enough 11 as it was, if it was only put into force; but something should be done to show their opinion of the matter. The Queen had a great deal of patronage in her hands, and it seemed to him that they, in represent- ing the nation, were justified in saying to her Majesty or her Majesty's Ministers, that in the exercise of this patronage no person should be appointed unless they were satisfied that he would not disobey the law or defy the courts. Colonel Sandys seconded the motion, because he agreed that the object of members of the Church of England should be to maintain the Protestant Re- formation settlement. Mr. S. Hoare did not agree with the two previous speakers. He regretted the unfortunate memorial of the English Church Union but progress had been made in the last few months to meet the diffi- culties and differences in the Church. Al- though he entirely disagreed with the action of the Church Union, he observed that there were other sections of the Church where there was a want of discipline and a want of obedi- ence to the bishops; and if a motion was to be passed on the subject, it should embrace the whole of the Church, and not apply to this or that portion of the Church. He urged that the House should do nothing to weaken the Church, and concluded by moving his amendment, expressing a confident hope that the Ministers of the Crown will not recom- mend any clergyman for ecclesiastical preferment unless they are satisfied that he will loyally obey the bishops and the Prayer Book." Mr. Balfour, who was loudly cheered upon rising, said while he perfectly understood and sympathised with the views of the mover of the resolution, he greatly preferred, if the House of Commons desired to express an opinion, and perhaps it ought to express an opinion on the spirit of lawlessness now unfortunately existing in certain sections of the Church, that such expression of opinion should stand in the form suggested in the amendment. He preferred the amendment for two reasons. It was a pity to drag in by name for censure any particular association. It was not to the dignity of the House to feel bound to pass a resolution when a course objectionable to the majority of members had been taken by an extraneous body. There was an ob- jection to the motion. That was, that the resolution did not cover the whole ground, and if they passed it they should only weaken the moral authority they now possessed. The English Church Union had made an exhibition of great disloyalty to the Church, and he regretted that they were inflicting so serious a wound on a body of which they were members. He would not say they were guilty of what was called Romanising, but he did charge them with seek- ing to alter the traditional character of the Church in a manner which would make it practically unre- cognisable by its most distinguished and most loyal sons during the last three centuries. That was not loyalty to the Church. As a Scotchman, he was pre- judiced in favour of giving the Established Church of England the liberties that the Established Church in Scotland enjoyed. If there be a hope, as he be- lieved there was a hope, for the future of the Estab- lished Church, it lay, and could only lie, in the reso- lute.determination in all men of moderate opinions, who were sincerely loyal to the worship nnd ritual and doctrines of the Church, to unite together and express their firm resolution that neither by one party nor by the other would they allow this great fabric—the work of generations of able and pious men-to be destroyed by the short-sighted folly of honest but mistaken men. There was an injury done to the whole cause of religion by the policy of these men. What was wanted was greater freedom and autonomy for the Church, which had been doing such magnificent services in the cause of religion in this country. Lord Hugh Cecil supported the amendment. Mr. Gedge was so far satisfied with the speech of Mr. A. Balfour that he would accept the amend- ment. Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman thought that after the important speech of Mr. Balfour the debate might be brought to a close. He described the condition of the Church in Scotland and said as politicians the House should not support one party in the Church, but should see that the supreme authority of the law was maintained. He was glad that Mr. Gedge had withdrawn his resolution, which might give a degree of importance to a particular body that it did not deserve. He praised the way the debate had been conducted without any extreme language. Mr. Carvell Williams, amid cries of "divide," observed that the proposal before the House was only prospective and was limited in application. The resolution was then put and negatived without a division. On the amendment being put Mr. Bartley moved to add to it the words, And obey the law as declared by the courts that had juris- diction in matters ecclesiastical." Mr. A. Balfour thought for himself that this addition was injudicious as weakening the essential part of the proposal and imposing an arbitrary and improper test. Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman said it was not a test but a plain question that was raised as to obeying the law. Sir E. Clarke urged the Leader of the House to withdraw his opposition to the addition. Mr. A. Balfour said he would not oppose the addition as simply a declaration that the law should be obeyed. Lord H. Cecil could not assent to the addition, which struck at the comprehensive character of the Church. Mr. Cripps and Earl Percy followed, and the House then divided. For Mr. Bartley's addition, 200; against, 14. Mr. S. Hoare's resolution as thus amended was then agreed to. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—APWI. 12. COUNTRY FIRE BRIGADES. Mr. Pym moved the second reading of a bitt to provide for the efficient inspection of fire brigades in country districts. The measure was withdrawn, on the promise of the President of the Local Govern- ment Board that there should be an inquiry by a Select Committee. EVICTED IRISH TENANTS. Mr. O'Malley moved the second reading of the Evicted Tenants (Ireland) Reinstatement Bill, the number of Nationalist members present when the hon. member rose being comparatively small. He said that the object of the measure, like that of previous bills introduced in past sessions, was to restore to their holdings tenants who had been evicted since 1879. The bill would give the Land Commission power to reinstate them, either as tenants or purchasers, and the funds required for the pur- pose were to come out of the Irish Church Tempora- lities Fund. He insisted that these tenants had a moral claim to the holdings from which they had been driven in consequence of their inability to pay rents now admitted to have been exorbitant, and he put the present number of such tenants at 600 (in the course of the debate, however, widely differing estimates were made). Mr. Davitt seconded the motion, saying that the bill was not a revolutionary measure and that legis- lation of this kind would close the last chapter of the land war in Ireland. Replying to the charge that the Nationolists had neglected the interests of the evicted tenants, he mentioned that E130,000 had been contributed for their relief. Mr. Dillon commented on the vindictiveness which, in his opinion, had influenced the Govern- ment in their treatment of the evicted tenants, whoso unfortunate position would be a cause for dis- turbance until their just claims had been recognised. The subject, he warned the Government, would be taken up by the newly-elected county councils. Mr. Gerald Balfour, having said that it was absurd to charge the Government with irreconcilability and vindictiveness, referred to the intolerant attitude of Mr. Dillon, who had given unwise advice to the Irish county councils. He doubted, however, whether those bodies would have power to follow the hon. member's advice, and they certainly would, be making a great mistake if they should attempt to do so. Coming to the consideration of the bill, he sug- gested that the Nationalist members were only desirous of making a show of activity on behalf of the evicted tenants and did not really hone to secure any substantial advantages for them, for the question had been brought before the House on several occasions and the Government had refused to agree to milder proposals than those now made. The evil was a diminishing one, the number of tenants to whom the bill would apply being now comparatively small It was contrary to public policy to restore compulsorily to their holding tenants who has been evicted for non-payment of rent and to use public funds for the purpose. Such a course would have a most demoralising effect and would encourage the authors of the Plan of Campaign to repeat their old tactics in the future. There existed already an association called the United Irish League, which was said to be thf; direct inheritor of the objects and methods of t: Land League. He opposed the bill as one that w. bad in principle and would be mischievous u practice. Mr. T. P. O'Connor, Mr. J. H. Campbell, and Captain Donelan having spoken, The bill was rejected on a division by 167 votes to 69. TRAINING MIDWIVES. F The measure to promote the better training of women as midwives was under discussion ac the time for concluding the consideration of opposed business.