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down to carve a joint after the spectacle—he loathes the very sight of butcher meat ; nor is this natural revulsion easily overcome by reflection . This , however , is beside the question . The staple food of England must be manufactured in some way , and if it appears , hereafter , that this method is as safe as it is profitable , its inventor will rank among our greatest benefactors . . ¦ ¦¦' .. ' ¦ . i M . Lavergne ' s work , the title of which heads this article , is concerned with the questions lying in , or connected with , what we have above written . His Essay , as the preface informs us , is a fragment of the course of lectures which he had undertakenfor instruction in Rural Economy , at the
Agri-, cultural National Institute in France , and is rather a practical demonstration of the utility of the science than a preceptive work on it . M . Lavergne chose for this demonstration the British Isles , as well because of the advanced state of agriculture here , as because it affords so many points ot contact and departure , of comparison and contrast , with that of his own country . In the course of this demonstration he surveys the whole oi Britain , from south to north , showing an intimate acquaintance with it and with us , but affecting , it must be noticed , to be in possession of reliable statistics concerning the state of our agriculture as regards expenditure , profit , and produce , which we ourselves do not pretend to have , and only
hope in the course of the present year to acquire . It is but lair , nowever , to mention that in regard to farming in Scotland , M . Lavergne has followed the tables drawn up by Mr . Smith , which would appear from the recently published report of the Scottish Agricultural Statistics Society to be tolerably correct , at least as compared with the imaginary figures of Mr . M'Culloch . The moral of the statistics just obtained in Scotland is , that great statists are , generally , great impostors , as will appear from the following table ; and there is reason to believe that the errors made in estimating English produce will be found to be indefinitely greater than those here shown : — ¦ - QUARTERS . M'Culloch . Smith . - Ascertained . "Wheat , 1 , 225 , 000 660 , 000 606 , 062 Barley ..... 1 , 300 , 000 980 , 000 954 , 950 Oats 6 , 500 , 000 5 , 737 , 000 4 , 231 , 789 Beans and Pease 150 , 000 300 , 000 135 , 115 9 , 675 , 000 7 , 677 , 000 5 , 927 , 916 Here we find Mr . Smith , M . Lavergne ' s authority , making an error of nearly two million quarters over the small area cultivated in Scotland . It is , therefore , plainly impossible to say what the value of M . Lavergne ' s results may be . We are safe in adding that his style is admirably clear , and his judgments sound , so far as they can at present be tested ; while Jt is no rare merit in a foreigner that he so thoroughly appreciates our institutions , history , and idiosyncracies , and is so familiar with our . literature as to have written a book on England , as full oT instruction : and interest foif Englishmen as for his own countrymen . From a work like M . Lavergne's , which-is mainly _ an enumeration and analysis of a multiplicity of facts , it is next to impossible to make any extracts " such as might convey an idea of it as ^ a whole , and equally impossible to sum up his conclusions and present them in a condensed form in a newspaper . We may , however , allude to some of the questions which he discusses . And first , we present the result of his balances of English and French produce , profits , rents , &c ., ' noting that a hectare is equal to two English acres and a half . Prance . England . Proprietor ' s rent 30 francs per hectare 60 do . do . Profit of the cultivator ... 10 „ 32 „ Taxes .. 5 „ 20 „ - " - - * - "" Accessory-expensesivvv ^ vi---5 ' — - - „— - 40 1 »— — — Wages 50 „ 48 „ Total 100 200 The figures in the English column here , are reduced by 20 per cent to accommodate the money values in the two countries , for the purpose of exact comparison . It appears from this table that the produce from equal areas is double in England what it is in France , at the same time that all the recipients from the land , excepting the labourers , receive a larger share in the former than in the latter . For instance , it will be seen that in England , compared with France , rents are double , profits more than treble , and taxes quadruple . The balance of wages is in favour of France ; but it must not be inferred froin this that the French labourers are better off than our own . On the contrary , it is one of the great triumphs of our agricultural organisation that we produce double with less labour . "In England 30 persons suffice to cultivate 100 hectares , so as to produce 200 francs per hectare , whilst in France 40 are necessary for obtaining an average production of 100 francs , and in Ireland 60 . " This advantage ne ascribes in the main to the system of raising cattle , which yields us half of our gross produce , while in Franco it yields only one-fourth . In addition to facts and figures bearing on the profits of agriculture and the produce of the two countries , M . Lavergne ' s book contains many speculations on side subjects of interest . We would refer to his pages all who desire to have light thrown on [ the question of small versus large farms , small versus large properties , on the vexed question of tenant right , and on the theory of leases . On the first of these , ami on the second , M . Lavergne concludes for the advocates of neither extreme , but for medium farms and medium properties ; on the third , he pronounces against tenant right altogether , and on grounds which appear to us to be good . On the subject of the Highland clearances and evictions , we confess not quite to agree with him . \ Tho public interest of Britain would have been better consulted by a different policy . Nor is it correct to say that the evicted from the Sutherlandshire estates wore in distressed circumstances . They were very far from , being so , and were mostly well-to-do fanners , holding from 50 to 70 acrea apiece . However , the evil is now irreparable ; the moral of the evictions is just being road to statesmen nuzzled how to keep up an army , and casting eyes all over Jiuropo for recruits . The notes'contributed to this work by " A Scotch Farmer" ore short and few . We fancied in perusing M . Luvergno ' s work that there were many I
points besides those noticed by him on which "A . Scotch Farmer" mi <» ht have thrown light . If the work come to a second edition , we would suggest that either he be removed from the title-page or made to do such work as might be expected from the position assigned to him .
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TWO " SHILLING" BOOKS . Who ' s your Friend ? 4 c . By Alfred W . Cole . James Blackwood . Twelve Inside and One Out . By Haia Friswell . - James Blackwood . EccentBic titles are here in full force , but it is pleasant to add that the booksby no means depend entirely upon their n ames for their humour or pathos . Mr . Cole ' s volume contains several stories— -republished , we fancy , —all having more or less point . In vulgar language ( which the general appearance of the book warrants us in using ) every tale or sketch turns upon a social " sell ; " and when it is known how popular " sells" are , and we say that these are tolerably good ones , well told , we have said enough . Mr . Frisw ell ' s book deserves some higher recognition . Very bad machinery , that of ah omnibus full of passengers , is employed as a means of introducing a dozen or more stories or sketches . Some are humorous , but often there is a very nice quiet vein of sentiment and pathos , and an occasional moral , which is felt rather than forced upon us . The morals are not very large , but in introducing them into railway literature it is , doubtless , a good plan to make them compact .
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BOOKS / ON OUR TABLE . History of Christian Churches and Sects from the Earliest Ages of Christianity . By the Rev . J . B . Marsden , M . A . ( Part 4 . ) Richard Bentley . A History of Modern Italy , from the First French Revolution to the lear 1850 . By Richard Heber Wrightson . Richard Bentley . Memoirs of the Court of England during the Reign of the Stuarts , tncluding the Protectorate . By John Heneage Jesse . ( New edition , revised . ) Vol . 3 . * . Richard Bentley . On Lateral Curvature of the Spine , its Pathology and Treatment . By Bernard E . Brodhurst . < John Churchill . A History of the War : Forming a Complete Narrative of the Origin and Progress of the Warcompiled from Public Documents and other Authentic Sources .
, Sampson Low , Son and Co . The Crimea : its Towns , Inhabitants , and Social Customs . By a Lady , resident near the Alma . Partridge , Oakey , and Co . Clytemnestra , The Earl ' s Return , The Artist , and other Poems . By Owen Meredith . Chapman and Hall . Blue Beard , or Fatal Curiosity . Semi-Burlesque , for Private Theatricals . By Peter the Friar . _ _ Chapman and Hall . Question of the supposed lost Tribes of Israel : A Paper read before Section E . of the British Association at Liverpool , the 26 th September , 1854 . To which are added two Appendices . By James Kennedy , Esq ., L . L . B . Arthur Hall , Virtue , and Co .
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THE ROYAL GALLERY OF ART . This undertaking makes very satisfactory progress . The intention of giving as much variety , in each part , as the nature and limits of the work will allow , has been judiciously adhered to ; and the fourth part is , on the whole , the best that has appeared . At the same time , we must state our candid impression that the success of the work is due , in a great measure , to the lighter < : lass of subjects , which come safely within the scope of steel engraving ; and that the qualities of artistic skill and high finish bestowed on those plates which represent familiar types of conventional exceUenceiapainttag ,. seem to ^ considering the result . We look , therefore , upon the fact that the Royal collection affords a proportion of only one such type in three pictures , as particularly fortunate to Mr . S . C . Hall ' s enterprise . Each part contains two modern designs and one specimen of an " old master "—generally Dutch . Last month we had a Ruysdael ; this time we have a Teniers . Everybody believes m Rdysdael , to such an extent , that having new prints of the " Windmill thrust under one ' s nose is like being preached to . Teniers , possessing more variety , in the
would bear repetition better . But there is a superficial softness engineturned accuracy of modern steel-engraving which is not happy as a means ot representing the effects achieved by Dutch ingenuity and labour . The little square etchings , done from Tbniers by some clever fellow a hundred years ago , are infinitely more faithful and kindly remembrancers of their original . The objection to Ruvsdael does not occur in the case of Uwins . . No one believes in him . Of all men and R . A . ' s , excepting one Solomon Hart , Uwins has received the greatest quantity of richly-merited condemnation . If asked to go and aee a mythological subject by Uwins , our reply would have been strongly worded to the effect that we would much rather not . It is , therefore , with pleased surprise that we look on a steel engraving , as delicate , rich , iignt , ana free from all hardness and metallic lustre as a lithograph by Lane ; a steci engraving which shows us a graceful study of a boy and girl , ^ ulpturosquoly poied , with certain accessories indicating a " Cupid and Psyche , ' and withthe incription , "T . Uwina R . A . fecit , " in a corner of the design . We _ can only regret that the artist who could so charmingly conceive and execute t is mue picture , should have allowed his name to bo " so long identified with the wor . i
class of painting . . ... . - . i The most attractive of the three prints , this month , is the one witlKthe title " First Love , " from the graceful design by Mr . Jenkins , of the JNcw vvaicr-Colour Society . The Teniers , which we have alluded to , is the ™! " * making , " one of the artist ' s out-door scenes . Stanfield s picture oi x . oi . i mouth Harbour" is the third subject . It is ably engraved , tho ^ ™»^ £ " . ? 2 being Boon recognisable . In selection of objects and vigour of treat none , wt think the design superior to the preceding work of Stanfibld s Mount at . Michael , " which appeared in the first part of tho " Royal Gallery .
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Sir Hknky Bmhop-Exwkk IlALi ,.-Mr . Mitchell announces that , c » c 0 ll ^ g by tho success attending tho afternoon concerts at tho J Ianover : SSied S selected entirely from tho compositions of thift-compo « r , ho has fg ^ J trying tho experiment on a largely extended scale at Exeter Hall , on ^ Jj " next , when , in addition-to the vocalists engaged at tho Hanover-square «« ^ Sims Reeves , Miss Birch , and a chorus of 200 voices will bo engaged . 1 ho afternoon concerts aro to be resumed after Easter .
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2 S 4 l ^ THE LEADEB . [ Saturday ^
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Leader (1850-1860), March 24, 1855, page 284, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2083/page/20/
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