Burlington Free Press

MR. EVERETT.

Our Minister to England has been obliged to deny, through the newspapers, that he had made a statement to this effect in one of his late agricultural speeches,—to wit:—that "not the slightest comparison existed between American and English beef and pork"—and that "in America it was impossible to grow either turnips or mangel wurzel, in consequence of the great drought." The gentleman who imputed these remarks to Mr. E., is himself an English baronet, Sir John Tyrell. But these were not the least of Sir John's blunders—nor half so queer as some others he fell into in the course of a speech at an agricultural dinner. He is reported in the Examiner to have said (hear, hear):

"He had all along felt the competition we should be exposed to in pork and salt beef: but with respect to the imported pork it was a matter of notoriety that it wasted very materially in boiling, even to the extent of one-half. Hear, hear. The reason of this great waste had been intimated to him by those who had lately been in America, and he would state it as a fact, because in distress it was always agreeable to listen to alleviating circumstances. In America, the sheep were so worthless that, except in a few instances, the skin only was used, while the carcass was thrown away. The reason of this was, as had been stated by the American minister, whose ability and knowledge as an agriculturalist he need not dilate upon, that they could not grow turnips nor mangel wurzel on account of the heat in summer and the cold in winter. The way, then, in which the pork was fattened was this—the pigs ate the sheep. (Loud laughter.) He did not state this on light authority; in point of fact the pigs in America eat the sheep. (Continued laughter.) If this were the case the poor man who bought American pork need not at all wonder at its waste in boiling. Persons had been accused of giving offal to pigs in this country, and the Americans were only carrying out the same principle. Mr. John Webb would no doubt be astonished to find his farm yard assailed some day by an army of pigs; they would like his excellent mutton, no doubt, but it would be a marvelous sight, nevertheless." (Laughter.)

To this speech, ludicrous and laughable as it is, Mr. Everett thought proper to make the following reply. It seems he had said nothing about our pork and beef, and as to "turnips and mangel wurzel" his remarks were as follows:—

"As turnips and mangel wurzel are grown in great quantities in the United States, I could not, of course, have made the remark here attributed to me. Mangel wurzel was not named by me, neither was drought. The climate of the United States is less humid than that of England; but a drought affecting agriculture is as rare an occurrence, I believe, in that country as in this. What I said was, in substance, that the climate of a considerable portion of the United States is colder in winter and warmer in summer than the English climate, and this difference (I observed) led to corresponding difference in the agricultural products of the two countries. Owing to the greater length and warmth of the summers, Indian corn, which (I believed) was not known as a crop in England, was largely cultivated in America; while, on account of the length and severity of the winters, the turnip culture, so essential a part of English husbandry, had been much less extensively introduced into the United States."

The reply of Sir John is very civil, also, and we quote the material parts of it, for the sake of the fact relative to Indian corn, and also to show the pertinacity with which he still misinterprets Mr. E.'s statement respecting turnips.

"I never gave your authority as the ground for a presumed superiority of English over American beef or pork. But, I regret I was induced by a report of your speech, which it is clear must have been incorrect, to consider that the culture of mangel wurzel hardly existed in the United States. It does seem, however, that by reason of the heats and colds, turnip culture has not been extensively introduced there. Some ten years since, I tried the cultivation of the Indian corn here, which completely failed, although it was the opinion of the late Mr. Cobbett, from his experience in the United States, that it was likely to succeed. I regret that I had no the honor meeting you at Audley-End, upon the occasion when the observations to which you refer, were made. If it would be any satisfaction to you, I shall be happy to forward your letter to the 'Examiner.'"

If Sir John could have seen the crops of turnips annually raised by some of our sturdy Vermont Farmers, he would have been able to appreciate a little better the capacity of American soil in the fine art of turnip raising.