Cornell University Library S 20.J52 The Royal agricultural society of Englan 3 1924 001 124 803 fi)tate College of ^qtitultwt Sit Cotned Wnibectfitp ILihtax^ THE ROYAL laRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. BY It AUG 2 mS ![ H. M. JENKINS, F.G.S., - SECRET Any OP THE EOTAL ' AGBICULTUBAL SOCIETY, AND EDITOR OF ITS 'JODRNAt.' LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAJii|'OED STREET AND CHABINa CROSS. 1878. Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924001124803 THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. BY H. M. JENKINS, F.G.S., BEOBETARY OP THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, AND EDITOR OF ITS 'JOURNAL.' LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMTOED STREET AND CHABIHG CROSS. 1878. FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL AGKJCDLTDRAL SOdETY OF ENGLAND. VOL. xiv.-a s. PART ir. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. — Objects, Constitution, and Management. When founded and incorporated by Eoyal Charter — •Exclusion of Politics — Necessity of this Provision — Objects of the Society — Practice with Science — Constitution — Election and Powers of President and Council — Present -Number of Governors and Members — Finance — Staff — Standing Com- mittees — President — Functions of Committees .. .. ..Pages 5-12 CHAPTEE U.— Practice. Annual Exhibition — Honorary OfiBcers — Development of Show — Results from 1839-1877 — ^Exhibition of Implements — Subordinate Position in 1839 — Competition for Prizes — Its Advantages — Classification of Implements for Trial — Existing System — Steam Cultivation — Its Origin in 1854 — ^Its Posi- tion in 1866— Besum^ — Exhibitions of Live Stock — Confined to breeding Stock- — ^Increase in the Number of Breeds — Shropshire Sheep — Present Policy commenced at the Battersea Meeting in 1862 — Horses — Farm Prizes — Originated at Oxford in 1870 — Subdivision of Classes in 1877 — Competi- tion not always keen- — Conditions of Competition — Instructions to Judges — Reports of Judges — General Results .. .. .. Pages 12-28 CHAPTER ni.— Science. Chemistry — Members' Privileges of Analysis — Reports on Sales of inferior and adulterated Manures and Feeding-stufis — Advice to Members — Experi- ments and Investigations — Natural History — Members' Botanical and Zoological Privileges — Veterinary Department — Members' Privileges — ^Im- portance of the Veterinary Department — Investigations into Diseases of Animals of the Farm .. .. .. .. .. Pages 29-34 CHAPTEE lY.— The Propaganda of Agriculture. The ' Journal ' — ^Its History— Its Usefulness — Agricultural Education — Senior Examination — Junior Examination — Examination of Veterinary Surgeons • — Education of the Landowner — and of the Labourer — Retrospect Pages 35-39 lO A 2 THE EOYAL AGRICULTUKAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. Introduction. It has been thought desirable to add to the series of Memoirs on English Agriculture, a brief account of the Royal Agricul- tural Society of England, — the institution under whose direction the book was written, and upon whose model the Societe des Agriculteurs de France was framed. Mr. Caird, in his Paper, alludes to the absence of a Ministry of Agriculture from our executive government, and the distribution of certain sta- tistical, sanitary, and judicial functions between the Board of Trade, the Privy Council, and the Inclosure Commission.* The other duties which usually devolve upon Ministries of Agriculture, such as stimulating improvement in the various breeds of live stock, in the cultivation of the land, in the education of the agricultural classes, and generally in what has been termed "the propaganda of agriculture" are in England ignored by the Government, and therefore left to the " private initiative" of individuals or Societies. The Royal Agricul- tural Society. of England is the largest and the most influential of the Societies which have been established in the three king- doms for the advancement of agriculture. Owing to its national character and the extent of its operations it has obtained the support of a large number of leading landowners and tenant- farmers in England and Wales, besides not a few in Scotland and Ireland, which portions of the United Kingdom also possess their own national Societies. Nearly every county and even many smaller districts in England can also boast of their Agricultural Society, each one having its independent manage- ment and its own annual Exhibition, except when the " Royal " comes their way, at which time the county Society generally suspends its Show for the year, and makes a contribution from its funds towards the expenses of the national Exhibition, most frequently in the form of special prizes having a local interest. It need scarcely be added that the Society receives no subsidy from the Government in aid of any of its operations. * ' Journal of the Boyal Agrioultuial Society of England,' vol. xiv., p, 320. (i The Royal Agricultural Society of England. CHAPTEB I. Objects, Constitution, and Management. When founded The Royal Agricultural Society of England commenced its and incorpo- career in 1838 under the name of " The English Agricultural qI^.^1 ^"^^'^ Society."* On March 26th, 1840, it obtained a Royal Charter of Incorporation, which enumerated the chief founders of the Society, and recited that they had " formed themselves into a Society for the general advancement of English Agriculture," and that an " essential principle " of its constitution was, " the strictest Exclusion of exclusion from their councils of every question of discussion Politics. having a political tendency, or which shall refer to any matter to be brought forward, or at any time pending, in either of our Houses of Parliament." Accordingly, the Royal Charter was granted " under the condition that a principle of its constitution shall be the total exclusion of all questions at its meetings, or in its proceedings, of a political tendency, or having reference to measures pending, or to be brought forward, in either of our Houses of Parliament, which no resolution, bye-law, or other enactment of the said body politic and corporate, shall on any account or pretence whatever be at any time allowed to infringe." Political subjects were further defined to be " those questions of debate on which the people of every individual country entertain sentiments so much at variance with each other." Necessity of The exclusion of questions of a political nature from the this provision. Objects of the Society was no doubt essential to its success at the time when the Royal Charter was granted ; and if the Charter has conferred on the Society no other benefit, it had the very beneficial effect of producing cohesion in the newly formed association by giving the force of law to what was previously a voluntary resolution which might have been rescinded by the majority of members present and voting at any Meeting of the Council. Of late years it has often been questioned whether the Society should not be at liberty to * It may be desirable to mention that in the United Kingdom there is no obstacle to the voluntary association of individuals for the promotion of any law- ful object. The embodying of such an association into a corporate body, whidi has power to hold property in its own name, and to be itself responsible for its debts — thus relieving the individual members from personal pecuniary liabilities arising out of its action — can be accomplished either by means of a Royal Charter, or (of late years) by registration under the " Limited Liability Com- panies Acts." In the former case, the objects and rules of the association must be approved by the Privy Council, and their essence is embodied in the Royal Charter of Incorporation, the limits of which must not be exceeded. In the latter case, the Board of Trade is the examining body, and its function has a more or less commercial character. Eoyal Charters are not now granted except for well-dofined objects of reoognisod public utility. The Royal Agricultural Society of England. 7 discuss practical questions which are to come before Parlia- ment ; and the Government itself has from time to time sought information on such subjects from the Council and officers of the Society. These cases, however, have not actually been, at the time they were under discussion, pending in either House, but were preliminary to that state of things which the Charter seems to contemplate. No objection, therefore, has been raised to the Society petitioning the Government to take measures, for instance, to defend agriculturists against a common enemy, such as the Cattle Plague or the Colorado Beetle ; but there would be an insuperable objection to the discussion by the Society or the Council of the provisions of any Bill which might be laid before Parliament for such purposes. The Charter not only informs the Society what it may not Objects of the do, but states its function to be " the general advancement of Society. English Agriculture" and the prosecution of the following national objects, namely : — " First, to embody such, information contained in agricultural publications, and in other scientific works as has been proved by practical experience to be useful to the cultivators of the soil. " Second, to correspond with Agricultural, Horticultural, and other Scientific Societies, both at home and abroad, and to select from such correspondence all information which, according to the opinion of the Society, may be likely to lead to practical benefit in the cultivation of the soil. " Third, to pay to any occupier of land, or other person who shall under- take, at the request of the Society, to ascertain by any experiment how far such information leads to useful results in practice, a remuneration for any loss that he may incur by so doing. " Fourth, to encourage men of science in their attention to the improvements of agricultural implements, the construction of farm-buildings and cottages, the application of chemistry to the general purposes of agriculture, the de- struction of insects injurious to vegetable life, and the eradication of weeds. " Fifth, to promote the discovery of new varieties of grain and other vegetables useful to man, or for the food of domestic animals. " Sixth, to collect information with regard to the management of woods, plantations, and fences, and on every other subject connected with rural improvement. " Seventh, to take measures for the improvement of the education of those who depend upon the cultivation of the soil for their support. " Eighth, to take measures for improving the veterinary art, as applied to cattle, sheep, and pigs. " Ninth, at the Meetings of the Society in the country, by the distribution of prizes, and by other means, to encourage the best mode of farm cultiva- tion and the breed of live stock. " Tenth, to promote the comfort and welfare of labourers, and to encourage the improved management of their cottages and gardens." These Objects have been well embodied in the Society's motto. Practice with " Practice with Science," and to describe the manner in which S'''^'''^^- they have been carried out will be the chief aim of this paper. It is necessary, however, to give a brief sketch of the " Consti- Constitution. Tlie Royal Agricultural Society of England. Election and powers of President and Council. tution and Management " of the Society, to enable the mode in which its operations are conducted to be properly understood. The Charter enacts that the Society shall consist of an indefinite number of Subscribers classed according to their rate of pay- ment into Governors and Members (with such individual privi- leges as shall appertain to them respectively), as well as such Honorary, Corresponding, and Foreign Members as may be found desirable. It also stipulates that there shall be an Annual General Meeting held in London on the 22nd of May ; a General Meeting held in December, also in London ; and a third " in such other part of England or Wales as shall be deemed most advantageous in time and place for the advancement of the objects of the Society." At the Annual Meeting in May the Governors and Members "have the full power and privilege of electing the President, Trustees, Vice-Presidents, and other members of the Council from the Governors and Members ; " but beyond this point they have no voice in the management of the Society, for the Charter further enacts " that the President and Council shall have the sole management of the income and funds of the said body politic and corporate, and also the entire management and superintendence of all the other affairs and concerns thereof." This condition is not usually found in the Charter of Incorporation of a learned Society, and its insertion in this Society's Charter is probably due to the political circum- stances of the time. Harshness has been wisely softened as much as possible by the Bye-laws which have been enacted by the Council. These permit Governors to be present at the meetings of the Council, and to speak, though they may not vote. It is also the practice to ask the Members at the General Meetings whether they have any suggestions to offer for the consideration of the Council ; and the suggestions made on those occasions receive careful attention at the next meeting of the Council. Thus, although the Council have the entire management and control .of the affairs of the Society, the Members have the opportunity of expressing their views on the action of the Council at the General Meetings three times in the year, and the Governors can do the same at each Monthly Council. Further, all the Trustees and Vice-Presidents, of whom there are twelve of each title, are elected annually at the General Meeting in May, when 25 out of the 50 other Members of the Council are also elected by the Governors and Members then assembled. Therefore two-thirds of the Council might be replaced at any Annual Meeting. Governors pay an Annual Subscription of 51., or a Life Com- position of 501. ; and Members pay an Annual Subscription of 11., or a Life Composition of lOZ. At the last General Meeting The Royal Agricultural Society of England. 9 held in December, 1877, the numbers of the Society were as Number of ^ follows : Governors and Members. 81 Life Governors, 74 Annual Governors, 2280 Life Members, 4182 Annual Members, 17 Honorary Members. Total . , "6634 The income from Annual Subscriptions for the year is thus Finance, theoretically 4552/.; and in the year 'ending December 31st, 1877, it was actually 4413/. 18s. In that year, however, the Life Compositions received amounted to 1201Z., and the question therefore arises, in what manner are such payments treated ? In the infancy of a Society the recognised principle is that all Life Compositions should be invested either in dividend-paying stocks or in some property of a permanent and remunerative character. When, however, a Society acquires stability^ and may be regarded as established' on a permanent footing, it is generally held to be sufficient if the acquired property repre- sents a sum equal to that of the Life Compositions of existing Members. Thus, if 100 new Members pay Life Compositions amounting to lOOOZ. in any year, and if during the same year 100 old Life Members die, it would be safe to treat the sum of 1000/. as part of the income of the year, for the interests created are balanced by the interests extinguished. At the end of 1876, the value of the Society's property was 30,126/., of which 25,511/. was invested in Government securities, while the compositions of Life Governors and Life Members on the list at the General Meeting in December amounted to 26,850/. This is as close an approximation to theoretical requirements as can fairly be expected in the accounts of a Society whose finances must fluctuate with the result of its annual Exhi- bition, and whose expenditure includes large annual grants to . defray the cost of important scientific investigations. It may be of interest to mention the proportionate cost of the several departments of the Society's work to each of the 6634 members, supposing all to pay an Annual Subscription of 1/. « That sum would roughly be apportioned as follows : manage- ment, including rent, taxes, &c., printing, postage, &c., and salaries would absorb 6s. 6c/. ; - Journal,' including postage, but deducting sales, 4s. 6c/. ; Chemical, Botanical, Veterinary, Edu- cation and other grants, 5s. ; thus leaving a margin of 4s. in the £, or 20 per cent, towards the cost of the annual Exhi- bition. 10 B 10 The Royal Agricultural Society of England. Table I. — Stowing the Numbee of Membbes, the Beceiftb and the ExPBNDiTUEE of the EoTAL Ageiotiltueal Society of England from 1841 to 1877 inclusive. SubBcriptions, Year. No. of Members. including Compositions of Life Members. Divi- dends on Stock. Total Receipts. ToUl Ex- penditure. £ £ £ £ 1841 4595 5818 200 6018 3493 1842 5834 5884 214 6098 3630 1843 7000 6628 245 6873 3984 1844 6927 7117 320 7437 3921 1845 6933 6342 251 6503 3402 1846 6971 7040 221 7261 5063 1847 6391 6365 221 6636 4112 1848 6335 5211 312 5523 3830 1849 5512 6372 280 6652 4131 1850 5261 6083 321 6404 3994 1851 5121 5953 321 6274 3664 1852 4981 5244 334 5578 3892 1853 4923 4801 327 5128 4022 1854 5177 5053 335 5388 3362 1855 4882 3449 261 3710 3678 1856 4979 5156 259 5415 . 3538 1857 5068 3728 265 3993 4051 1858 5146 5339 282 5621 3734 1859 5161 3027 289 3316 3466 1860 5165 6398 319 6717 3877 1861 4633 4789 425 5214 4181 1862 4823 5463 505 5968 5041 1863 5183 5050 478 5528 3960 1864 5496 5144 546 5690 4282 1865 5752 4796 672 5468 5140 1866 5622 4238 561 4799 5501 1867 5465 4835 518 5353 4869 1868 5461 4732 487 5219 4950 1869 5446 5043 649 5692 5021 1870 5438 5138 786 5954 4459 1871 5648 4958 748 -S706 4859 1872 5766 5998 754 6352 4934 1873 5916 5085 765 5850 5391 1874 5846 5269 733 6002 5256 1875 6145 6264 607 6871 5614 1876 6349 5752 565 6317 5604 % 1877 6634 5614 752 6366 5867 Staff. The operations of the Society are so extensive that an efficient organisation is an absolute necessity. The Charter'' gives power to the President and Council " both to appoint, and, as they may think fit, to remove, one general Secretary to the Society," whose duties must be defined by Bye-laws or special resolutions, but no other executive officer is mentioned. Under the general clause giving them the sole management of the Society's affairs, the Council have power to appoint such other The Royal Agricultural Society of England. 11 officers as they may deem necessary, but those officers cannot con- tract or discharge in the name and on the behalf of the Society. Practically, the only paid officers of the Society, other than the Secretary and his staff, are its scientific advisers, as will be ex- plained presently, for even the editorship of the '- Journal ' has for the last ten years been merged in the secretaryship. The direction of the Society's affairs must therefore be the standing work of the Council in reality as well as in name ; and for this Committees. purpose each department of affairs is placed under the charge of a Standing Committee. These Committees report to the Council at large, and in the event of their recommendations being adopted, it becomes the duty of the Secretary to carry them out, and in cases of difficulty to confer with the Chairman of the Com- mittee having charge of the department affected. This system is common in England, where all classes of society are thoroughly imbued with the principles and practice of " self-government." The most able members of the community give their time and thoughts to the affairs of the country and of its several institu- tions in the interests of the public at large. Thus a large, an instructed, and an influential governing body, who work for the honour and the pleasure that such labour brings with it, is generally found, as in this case, controlling the affairs of an institution established for the public benefit. The President of the Society is elected for one year only, and President. according to the Charter is not eligible for re-election until after an interval of three years. The list of Past-Presidents contains the names of some of the most influential landowners and most prominent agriculturists in the country, including the late Prince Consort, the Prince of Wales, the late and the present Dukes of Richmond, t'he late Earl Spencer (first President), the late Lord Walsingham, the present Earl Cathcart, Viscount Bridport, and Lord Vernon, the late Mr. Pusey, M.P., Sir H. S. Meysey Thompson, and Mr. E. Holland (the founder of the Royal Agricultural College), and many others whose names are house- , hold words in the annals of English Agriculture. The President of the Society for the current year (1877-78) Functions of is Colonel Kingscote, C.B., M.P., of Kingscote, Gloucestershire ; C'"°™"««^- and the following is a list of the principal Standing Com- > mittees, with the names of their Chairmen : — Committees. Chairmen. Finance .. .. Mr. C. Eandell, of Chadbury, Worcestershire. Selection .. .. Earl Cathcart, of Thornton-le-Street, Yorkshire. Stock Prizes .. Mr. R. Milward, of Thurgarton, Nottinghamshire. Implement .. .. Mr. J. Hemsley, of Shelton, Nottinghamshire. „ . .. (Lord Skelmersdale, of Lathom Hall, Lancashire Country-TMeting .. \ (Ex-President). B 2 12 The Royal Agricultural Society of Englartd. Committees. Chairmen. „, .n J. , (Mr. Jacob Wilson, of Woodhorn Manor, Northum- Showyard Contracts < i,er]a,nd. Chemical .. .. Mr. W. Wells, of Holme Wood, Northamptonshire. Botanical .. .. Mr. C. Whitehead, of Maidstone, Kent. „. . rHon. W. Efrerton, M.P., of Eostheme Manor, Vetennary .. .. | c^^,y^i,^_ Jowmal .. .. Mr. J. D. Dent, of Ribston Hall, Yorkshire. Education ,. .. Duke of Bedford, of Wobum Abbey, Bedfordshire. The foregoing brief sketch of the Objects, Constitution, and Management of the Rojal Agricultural Society will, I trust, be sufficient to enable readers of the following pages to understand how the Society's operations are carried out under the supervision of the Standing Committees just enumerated. It has already been mentioned that the Society's motto is " Practice with Science," and I shall now endeavour to show how its functions are performed in accordance with that epigrammatic synopsis of its objects. The Finance Committee, of course, have charge of the accounts. The Selection Committee recommend the election of successors to vacancies in the Council and in the various Honorary offices. The Stock Prizes, Implement, Country-meeting, and Showyard Contracts Committees divide amongst them those objects which come under the head of " Practice ;" the Chemical, Botanical, and Veterinary Com- mittees include the " Science," while the ' Journal ' and ' Educa- tion ' Committees deal with those subjects which form the connecting link suggested by the central word in the Society's motto, and which I have placed under the heading of " The Propaganda of Agriculture." CHAPTEE II. Peactice. Annual Annual Exhibition. — Improvements in Agricultural Practice are Exhibition. stimulated, and successful attempts are rewarded by the Society at or in connection with an Annual Exhibition, which is held under the clause of the Society's Charter which stipulates that in addition to the two General Meetings held annually in London, there shall be held a third "in such other part of England or Wales as shall be deemed most advantageous in time and place for the advancement of the objects of the Society." This meeting is afterwards mentioned as the " Country Meeting," and by that name it is generally known to the Members and referred to in official documents. Before the incorporation of the Society, the principle of a peripatetic Country Meeting had been adopted, and it took the form, which it has since The Royal Agncultural Society of England. 13 maintained on an ever-increasing scale, of an annual Exhibition of Live Stock, Agricultural Implements, Farm Produce, and Miscellaneous Articles of domestic utility. For more than thirty years the Country Meetings of the Society were under the honorary direction of Mr. B. T. Brandreth Gibbs, to whose fostering care and unremitting exertion much of the success of the Exhibitions must be ascribed. Mr. Gibbs retired upon his well-won laurels in 1874 ; and his office was divided between an Honorary Steward of General Arrangements and the paid officers of the Society. The following is a list of the Honorary Officers for the Liverpool Meeting last year : — Stewabd of General Areangbmbnts. Honorary Mr. Jacob Wilson, Woodhom Manor, Morpeth, Northumberland. officers. Stewards op Live Stock. Hon. W. Egbbton, M.P., Eostherne Manor, Knutsford, Cheshire. Mr. Joseph Shuttlbworth, Hartsholme Hall, Lincoln. Mr. William Wells, Holmewood, Peterborough, JSTorthamptonshire. Sir R. C. M0SGBAVB, Bart., Edenhall, Penrith, Cumberland. Mr. William H. Wakefield, Sedgwick, Kendal, Westmoreland. . Stewards of Implements. Mr. J. BowEN Jones, Ensdon House, Montford Bridge, Shropshire. Mr. John Hemslbt, Shelton, Newark, Nottinghamshire. Mr. G. H. Sand at, Wensley House, Bedale, Yorkshire. Steward of Forage. Mr. Thomas Eigbt, Damhall Mill Farm, Winsford, Cheshire. It would be tedious, and of merely antiquarian interest, to Development describe in detail the earlier Shows of the Royal Agricultural "^ Show. Society for the purpose of showing the enormous development which has steadily gone on during the thirty-eight years which have elapsed since the first Show was held at Oxford in 1839. It may be mentioned, however, that at Oxford, in that year, there were twenty exhibitors of Implements, and at Cambridge, the following year, there were thirty-two. The report of this meeting stated that " heyond controversy such a selection of imple- > ments was never before collected in one Showyard" Contrast these facts with these relating to the second Show of the Society at Oxford in 1870, when 359 exhibitors showed 7851 articles described in the Implement Catalogue. The exhibits of Live ' Stock, which were about 100 in 1839, attained their maximum of nearly 2000 at Battersea in 1862, and generally range between 1200 and 1500 entries of Horses, Cattle, Sheep, and Pigs. Such an increase in the number of exhibits has entailed an enormous increase in the size of the Showyard and in the expenses of every department of the Exhibition. Thus the area of the Show held at Liverpool in 1841 was 7 acres, and that of last year's Exhi- bition held at the same town was no less than 70 acres, — an area 14 The Royal Agricultural Society of England. Results from 1839-1877. which left little or no superfluous land unoccupied. But if the extent and the cost of the annual Exhibitions have so largely increased of late years, it may safely be added that their popularity and utility have at least advanced in an equal ratio. The following Table, though incomplete for the twelve years preceding the Gloucester Meeting in 1853, will doubtless be found interesting : — Table II. — Showing the Ebbxjlts and Extent of the various Countkt Mektings of the Eotal Agkiotjltubal Society since its Esta- blishment. Number TSTiiinT'fcAi* t\f Receipts Expen- Year. Place of Meeting. of Imple- ments ex- Stoclc ex- hibited. iTiiiiuocr 01 Persons admitted. in excess of Ex- diture in excess of hibited. penditure. Receipts. £ £ 1839 Oxford ^, .. 1161 1840 Cambridge .. .. ,, .. ,. ., 939 1841 Liverpool .. .. 312 324 ,, ,, 2166 1842 Bristol 455 510 ,, .. 1806 1848 Derby 508 730 .. 3164 1844 Soutbampton 948 575 ,, 2142 1845 Sbrewabury .. .. 942 437 ,, ,, 2995 1846 Newcastle .. .. 735 €37 ,, ,, 2138 1847 Nortbampton 1321 459 ,, 1636 1848 York 1508 718 ,, ^^ 2826 1849 Norwich 1882 624 .. 1958 1850 Exeter 1223 619 ,, .. 1629 1851 Windsor 988 ,, 1294 1852 Lewes 1722 655 ,, 3218 1853 Gloucester . . 1803 737 36,245 ,. 2083 1854 Lincoln 1897 735 37,635 1002 1855 Carlisle 1314 808 37,533 860 18S6 Chelmsford .. .. 2702 752 32,982 1982 1857 Salisbury 2496 1027 37,342 346 1858 Chester 3648 1026 62,539 1181 1859 Warwick 4618 1159 55,577 1434 1860 Canterbury .. 3947 891 42,304 2006 1861 Leeds 5488 1027 145,738 4471 1862 Battersea .. .. 5064 1986 124,328 3634 1863 Worcester .. 5839 1219 75,087 1279 1864 Newcastle .. .. 4024 1099 114,683 1342 1865 Plymouth 4023 934 88,036 743 1866 No Show. 1867 Bury St. Edmunds 4804 719 61,837 2040 1868 Leicester 6369 994 97,138 448 1869 Manchester .. .. 7724 1315 189,102 9153 1870 Oxford 7851 1377 75,749 2504 1871 Wolverhampton* . . 7650 1267 108,213 2175 1872 Cardiff 5843 1293 87,047 603 1873 Hull 5634 1145 104,722 413 1874 Bedford 5931 1527 71,989 3717 1875 Taunton . . . . 4214 1096 47,768 .. 4576 1876 Birmingham . . 6414 1499 163,413 3425 1877 Liverpool 6930 1292 138,354 4283 Exhibition of Duplicate Implements prohibited after this date. The Royal Agricultural Society of England. 15 Implement Department. — -The subordinate position of this Exhibition of department in the earlier Shows of the Society has been briefly I™pl«™«°'s. mentioned, and contrasted with its present importance, which demands that two-thirds of the total area of the Showyard should be allotted to it. There is no department of the Society's ope- rations which in past years gave rise to so much discussion as the action of the Council in their endeavour to encourage the invention and manufacture of improved agricultural machinery ; and it may be useful to give a brief outline of the history of the subject. At the present day it is almost impossible to realise the primitive condition of this now enormous industry at the time of the earlier meetings of the Royal Agricultural Society, before it had been systematically stimulated by the trials which were made ip connection with the annual Country Meetings ; but the following extract from the late Sir H. S. Meysey Thompson's paper " On the Royal Agricultural Society and the Progress of Agriculture" will carry more Weight than the same facts ex- pressed in any other words : — * " The subordinate position occupied by agricultural machinery at the time Subordinate of these [the two first] Meetings is sufficiently evident ; but a striking corro- position boration of the fact is to be gained in the first Essay read before the Society in 1839. (March 13th, 1839), by that accomplished writer, the late Mr. Pusey. The title of the paper was ' On the present State of the Science of Agriculture in England,' and no one was more capable than Mr. Pusey of justly estimating the relative importance (according to the ideas of the day) of the numerous subjects discussed in that valuable and exhaustive article.f It is curious to find that the only implements there alluded to were the plough and the harrow, the turnip-.slicer and the threshing-machine, with the exception of the following paragraph on the drill, which sounds so strange in the ears of a fanner of the present- day that it seems barely credible that it should have been penned by one so thoroughly conversant with his subject at so late a date as 1839. ' The use of another instrument, the drill-machine, a more complicated one^ it/ which the seed is laid in regular rows, has lately become frequent in Southern as well as in Northern England ; though it has established itself so slowly, that for a long time travelling machines of this hind have made yearly journeys from Suffolk as fa/r as Oxfordshire, for the use of those distant farmers hy whom, their services are required.' Volumes of proof of the complete revolu- tion which has taken place in farming implements since 1839 would not be more convincing than the simple announcement that Mr. Pusey, in his inaugural address to the Members of the Royal Agricultural Society, thought it necessary to inform them that the drill was a machine by which the seed was laid in regular rows ; or than the surprising fact which he records, that Suffolk drills have actually perambulated the half of England since the accession, not of good Queen Bess, but of her gracious Majesty, Queen Victoria ! " At the first meeting of the Society, in 1839, prizes for agri- Competition cultural implements in the form of money and medals were ^"^ Pnzes. * ' Journal of the Boyal Agricultural Society of England,' vol. xxv., pp. 9, 10. t Ibid. vol. i., p. 1. 16 The Royal Agricultural Society of Sngland. offered for competition, and the plan has been pursued ever since under various regulations. For some jears, with few exceptions, no particular classes of implements were indicated as those which were specially designed for trial. As the stamp of the Society's approval, by the award of a prize or a medal, became appre- ciated by the public, and therefore more desired by the manu- facturers, more new implements were exhibited year after year, and a continually increasing number had to be tried in the comparatively short time available for the purpose, in the week preceding the Show. The effect of the system pursued was, however, very marked ; and, after an experience of ten years, was thus described in the Reports of the Stewards of Implements for 1848 and 1849 :— Its advantages. « T}ie principal advantages to be derived from Shows of Implements may be classed under three heads, of which the first and most important is, that the awards of prizes should point out to every fanner who enters the Showyard the best implements in their respective classes which the kingdom produces. Farmers, as a body, have neither the means nor the leisure required for travelling about to visit the manufactories of the various implement-makers ; nor, if this were practicable, could they safely decide on the comparative efficiency of their respective productions by merely seeing them in the makers' yards. It is, therefore, a great advantage to the farmers of any district to have a large show of implements brought into their neighbourhood, especially when the best of each class are pointed out to them by competent judges after a fair trial.* " The attention of some of the leading members of the Society (especially of the late lamented Mr. Handley) was earnestly directed to the improvenient of this department, and they soon perceived that little was gained by collecting implements in a Showyard for people to gaze at, unless an adequate trial could be made of their respective merits. To attain this end great exertions were made, and every improvement iu the mode of trial was followed by so marked an increase in the number and merit of implements brought forward at subse- quent Shows, as to prove the strongest incentive to further effort. . . . The jidditional amount offered in prizes at the later meetings has undoubtedly assisted in creating this great increase of competition, but it cannot be con- sidered the principal cause, since the implement-makers are unanimous in declaring that, even when successful, the prizes they receive do not reimburse them for their expenses and loss of time. How, then, are the increased exertions of the machine-makers to be accounted for ? Simply by the fact that the trials of implements have gradually won the confidence of the farmer, so that, when selecting implements for purchase, he gives the preference to those which have received the Society's mark of approval. . . . " It thus appears that, concurrently with the extension and improvement of the trials, a corresponding increase and improvement has taken place in the exhibitions of implements ; and thouiih it is difficult to proae that the one has been the cause of the other, still the probability that such is the case almost amounts to certaiuty, when it is found that classes of implements which are so faulty in construction as to be strongly animadverted on by the Judges at one Meeting, are at the next nearly free from those riefecis which had been previously pointed out. ... If the ibregoing reasonins; be correct (and the facts on which it is founded will not admit of question), the Society may fairly * ' Joiu-nal of the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England,' vol. ix., p. 378. The Royal Agricultural Society of England. 17 claim to have been, in great measure, the authors of the very rapid improve- ment made of late in almost every kind of agricultural implement." * It will thus be seen that an experience of ten years was suffi- cient to demonstrate the utility of the Trials of Implements. The anxiety of manufacturers to obtain the Society's medals and prizes kept pace with the increasing importance which was attached to them by the agricultural community. It therefore became necessary to spread over a series of years the labour and cost of submitting to trial the ever increasing variety of farm implements. Accordingly a triennial scheme was arranged in Classification 1855, as the result of an interview between the Council of the of implements Society and a deputation of the Agricultural Implement manu- " ^'* ' facturers. This first division was as follows : — 1. Implements for tillage and drainage. 2. Machines for the cultivation and harvesting of crops. 3. Machines for preparing crops for market and food for cattle. This scheme was expanded to a quadrennial one in 1859, but again reduced to a triennial in 1864, and afterwards enlarged to a quinquennial in 1869. This last classification^ in spite of its extension, was found too condensed for practical use, and was further expanded on account of the time required to try, thoroughly and scientifically, the increasing number of imple- ments in each class. The following statement of the amended classification, arranged in its natural order and not as actually tried, will give the best idea of the trial-system in its final development : — 1. Horse-power machines and implements used in tillage. 2. Steam-power machinery used in tillage. 3. Machines and implements used in the cultivation and carrying of crops. 4. Machines and implements used in the harvesting of grass crops. 5. Machines and implements used in the harvesting of grain and root crops. 6. Machines and- implements used in the preparation of crops for market. 7. Machines and implements used in the preparation of food and in the feeding of stock. At the present time a rotation or classification of implements Existing for trial in successive years is not included in the Society's pro- system. gramme. For some years the cost of the trials of agricultural implements to the Society alone has exceeded an average of * ' Jourfial of the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England,' vol. x., p. 528. 18 The Royal Agricultural Society of England. 2000Z. per annum, while the cost to the numerous competitors must have been enormous. In itself, the cost of a public benefit is regarded by the Society as of secondary importance ; but it is essential that, as trustees for the public, the Council see that the benefit obtained is commensurate with the outlay which it has entailed. Of late years, it has become increasingly evident that the quality of certain classes of agricultural implements had become so uniform that no public advantage could be derived by submitting them to further competitive trials, until, at least, the expiration of several years ; therefore in 1875 it was decided that the trials should, for the present, be confined to the follow- ing classes of Implements : — Machinery for cultivating the land by Steam-power, Double Ploughs, Root-thinners, Manure-dis- tributors, Mowing Machines, Horse-rakes, Haymakers, Reaping Machines, Sheaf-binders, Stacking Machines, Thatch-making Machines, Agricultural Locomotives and Waggons suitable to be drawn by them. This list is not classified, but, according to circumstances, the Council selects certain classes of the imple- ments contained in it for special encouragement in each year, and this has recently been done three years consecutively in the case of sheaf-binders. The agricultural wants of the locality in which the Exhibitio'n is to be held also receive attention ; * * For instance, at Bristol, which is in the centre of a large dairy district, the following prizes are this year (1878) offered for dairy appliances : — Prizes. „ 1. For the best Milk-can, suitable for conveying milk long distances by road or rail without injury 10 2. For the best Churn for churning a sufBcient quantity of milk to produce not more than 20 lbs. of butter 10 3. For the best Churn for churning a sufBcient quantity of cream to produce not more than 20 lbs. of butter 10 4. For the best mechanical or automatic Butter-worker, suitable for large dairies and for factories 10 5. For the best mechanical or automatic Butter-worker, suitable for small dairies ; price to be specially considered 10 6. For the best Cheese-tub ; economy of labour to be specially considered 10 7. For the best Curd-knife 5 8. For the best Curd-mill 5 - 9. For the best Cheese-turning apparatus 10 10. For the best mechanical means of cleansing churns and other dairy utensils .. 10 11. For the best automatic means of preventing the rising of cream .. 10 12. For the best Milk-cooler 10 13. For the best method of keeping a large quantity of milk at a tempe- rature under 40° Fahr., for a period of not less than twelve hours, sufficiently economical for practical purposes 20 14. For the best Milking-machine, to be tested during six consecutive months of the spring and summer of 1879 50 The Royal Agricultural Society of England. 19 and any new implement or important improvement exhibited at any Show may be put to trial and receive an appropriate award if found worthy of the approval of the Society's Judges.* The detailed results of the Society's efforts to encourage the Steam-oulti- improvement of agricultural machinery would require a volume t*'">»- for their description, and cannot be even glanced at in this brief Memoir. It may, however, be claimed for the Society that, without pursuing any chimerical views of over-sanguine inventors, it has appreciated and steadily fostered the germ of any real improvement in the mechanical appliances of the farm. The encouragement of steam-cultivation may be cited as an illus- tration of the manner in which such questions have been dealt with by the Society. At the Lincoln Meeting in 1854 Mr. Fowler received a Silver Medal for a "Steam Draining Apparatus," and at the close of their report on its work when under trial, the Judges rematrked, "Surely this power can be applied to more general purposes. We earnestly commend this idea to our Its origin engineers and mechanists." In the following year the Society, "* ^^^*- acting upon this hint, offered a prize of 200/., without effect ; but in 1856 two competitors appeared at the Chelmsford Meeting to contest the prize, then increased to 500Z., " for the Steam-cultivator that shall in the most efficient manner turn over the soil,t and be an economical substitute for the plough or the spade." Neither of the competitors fulfilled the conditions included in the terms of the prize ; the offer of which was renewed the next year at the Salisbury Meeting, and again the year after at Chester. At the latter meeting the prize of 500Z. was awarded to Mr. Fowler, and a Gold Medal to Messrs. J. and F. Howard. At Warwick in 1859, Worcester in 1863, Leicester in 1868, and lastly at Wolverhampton in 1871, the relative merits of different systems of steam-cultivating machinery were put to the test, and on each successive occasion in a more exhaus- tive manner. In 1866 the Society appointed three Committees * There are ten Silver Medah, the award of which the Judges appointed Tdjt the Council have the power of recommending in cases of sufBcient merit in New Implements. t Mr. Smith, of Woolston, has always argued against this condition of the Society's prize for a steam-cultivator, and has maintained that for effective culti- vation by steam it was not necessary that the soil should be inverted. In this respect he was very much in advance of his time, and at present a great number of practical agriculturists are of opinion that the beat use of steam power, espe- cially as a preparation for the root-crop, is to thoroughly break up and pulverise the subsoil without bringing it to the surface. At the same time, it must be observed that much less power is required to break up the soil than to turn it over with a plough, and that Mr. Smith's steam-tackle, which competed at Chelmsford, was not designed to comply with the condition which was embodied iu the Society's offer of their Prize, and by which their Judges were bound. 20 The Royal Agricultural Society of England. of Inspection to inquire into and report upon the results of steam- cultiyation in the various counties of England and Wales up to that date, with special reference to different classes of soils, and to different descriptions of ownership of this kind of farming machinery, including partnership arrangements and systems of hire. One of the three reporters (Mr. J. A. Clarke) thus tersely sums up the work of these Committees and the objects with which it was undertaken: — Us position " The experience of some 140 practical farmers upon an area of 66,000 acres in 1866. arable, — consisting of lioldings of all sizes, from less than 200 up to 2500 acres, and averaging 536 acres each ; embracing a great diversity of soils, and situated in the most varying climates, from the draughty east to the rainy west, from the chilly north to the sunny south ; an experience derived from four up to ten years' employment of all the different forms of apparatus now in use, under every system of working, and with every style of management ; an ex- perience also, for the most part, investigated upon the spot by ten business meu, whose names and reputation are staked upon the toiithfulness and im- partiality of their Reports, — ought to establish the success or demonstrate the failure of steam-tillage in this kingdom. And the Society's munificent outlay upon the Inquiry will be sanctioned by results, if only a small percentage of its members and of the proprietors and tenants of land still under horse cul- ture shall be led by the mass of evidence concentrated in the three Eeports to treat their fields as well as their produce by the power of the steam-engine." These reports will always rank with the classics of agricultural literature ; and the evidence which they contain in favour of the application of steam power to the cultivation of the soil has since been strengthened by the more recent improvements in steam-cultivating machinery, the rise in the wages of the agri- cultural labourer, and the increased price of horses. Since these reports were written the Society has twice submitted steam- cultivating machinery to trial ; and on the last occasion, at the time of the Wolverhampton Meeting, the investigations were more searching than at any other trial of any class of agri- cultural machinery. Again, from time to time, medals have been awarded for essential improvements in engines, anchors, and other separate parts of a steam-cultivating apparatus, while the ' Journal ' of the Society has contained reports upon special matters connected with steam-cultivation, such as the influence of a very wet autumn, and the management of companies formed to extend the hiring system. I have given this brief sketch of the Society's efforts to stimulate the application of steam to the cultivation of the soil as an example of the manner in which its influence has been used to promote the improvement of agricultural machinery. Its trials are open to the public, and those who prefer to rely upon their own judgment have every opportunity of forming it for themselves ; while for the benefit of others, the work of adjudication is intrusted to practical farmers, assisted by emi- TTie Royal Agricultural Society of England. 21 nent engineers, who have at their command the most refined means of testing every qualification which may be deemed an essential element in the competition ; and every important detail in the construction of the competing implements, and in the nature of the work performed by them, is described in the reports published in the Society's ' Journal,' which are drawn up by qualified men, specially appointed for the purpose. It will have been seen that the Society's efforts to improve Eesum^. agricultural machinery were in the first instance successful beyond the calculation of the most sanguine of its supporters. Thirty or forty years ago it was a difficult and expensive matter to travel long distances, and therefore such journeys were rarely undertaken for the purpose of investigating the merits of a farm- implement. The Society's Country Meetings soon became recog- nised as a centre where the best implements could be examined, and their efficiency at work could be proved ; and thus it is easy to account for the rapid and extensive diffusion of improved machinery in those early days through their agency. With the extension of the railway system and the coincident multiplication of country and district Agricultural Shows, the Country Meetings of the Royal Agricultural Society lost something of their general interest, while they acquired a new and special importance owing to the classification of implements for trial, and the uniform offer of medals and other rewards for new inventions. The trials made by the Society's officers have always been more exhaustive than those made elsewhere, and of recent years have acquired the character of elaborate scientific investigations. One result has been that the quality and efficiency of the standard implements of the farm have approached more and more to a uniform level, which has thus, for a time, rendered the Society's further tests of them practically unnecessary. There remains, however, for the future a very large field in the encouragement of the invention of labour-saving machinery generally, and particularly in the development of a system of steam-cultivation which shall be within the purchase-power of an occupier of 200 or 300 acres. Live Stock. — The improvements which have been made in Exhibitions of the breeds of live stock since 1839 have been frequently de- ^"^ Stock. scribed as the extension of excellence to a larger number of animals, rather than the further improvement of a few choice individuals. This is doubtless a fair statement of the case with reference to Shorthorns, and possibly one or two other standard breeds of cattle, and also with regard to Leicester and South- down sheep and horses, both agricultural and thoroughbred. Prizes were won in 1839 with animals which would probably win prizes if they could be shown in the same condition at the 22 Tlie Royal Agricultural Society of Englavd. Confined to breeding stock. Increase in. the number of breeds. Paris Exhibition in 1878. But, on the other hand, it may be confidently asserted that the prizes offered by the Royal Agri- cultural Society during the last fifteen years for some of the less widely known breeds of animals of the farm, coupled with the regulations attached to the competitions, have given fixity of type and increased excellence to Sussex, Jersey, and other breeds of cattle ; as well as to Hampshire Downs, Oxfordshire Downs, Shropshire, and other breeds of sheep. Further than this, the historians of our several breeds of farm-animals concur in main- taining that the average representatives of all breeds now possess that quality which is known as " early maturity " to a greater extent than their progen^'^ors. Premising that the efforts of the Society are confined almost entirely to the improvement of breeding animals, and that the Judges are prohibited from taking into account the value of the animals to the butcher, it seems not unreasonable to ascribe much of this early maturity to the application of experience gained in the endeavour to " make up" animals for show purposes.* On the other hand, these efforts not unfrequently have a prejudicial effect upon the breeding qualities of the animals, and therefore some breeders no longer run the risk of permanently injuring their most valuable animals by preparing them for show. This con- sideration, however, does not affect the value of steers or wethers forced for the butcher, and although the overfeeding of breeding stock is an admitted evil, and frequently a serious loss to those who practise it, some compensation may have been obtained by the knowledge of the principles of the fattening process thus gained, and by their application to ordinary farm practice. For many years the prizes for live stock offered by the Roj'al Agricultural Society were confined to the breeds of Shorthorn, Hereford, and Devon cattle ; Leicester and Southdown sheep ; Pigs, without distinction as to size or colour, and two or three classes of Horses, together with an open class for " other breeds of cattle," and another for " other breeds of sheep." The prac- tice of encouraging the exhibition of local breeds commenced, however, as early as 1844, when the Society's Show was held at Southampton, and special prizes were offered for Channel Island cattle. The plan was followed at Shrewsbury, in 1845, and Newcastle, in 1846, by the offer of prizes for " Sheep best adapted to a Mountain district;" and at the latter meeting the classes * It should be mentioned that the Shows of the Smithfleld Club, which are held annually, about a fortnight before Ohiistmaa, have of late had a direct bear- ing upon the attainment of the quality of " early maturity " in tlie standai-d breeds of sheep and cattle. With this view, classes for young steers and for fat lambs have been introduced, a limit has been placed upon the ac;es of old steers eligible for competition, and the classes for old sheep have beeuabolished altogether. The Royal Agricultural Society of England. 23 of Pigs were for ■ the first time divided into two sections, de- signated " Large " and " Small " breeds. At Lewes, in 1852, Kentish sheep ; at Gloucester, in 1853, Shropshire sheep ; at Lincoln, in 1854, Lincoln sheep ; and at Carlisle, in 1855, Cheviot and Herdwick sheep were similarly recognised b,j the Society as local breeds deserving of encouragement. In 1853, also, the open class for sheep was divided into two, one for " Long-wooUed sheep not qualified to compete as Leicesters," and the other for " Short-woolled sheep not qualified to compete as Southdowns." It is not necessary to follow in detail the prize-sheets of each Shropshire successive year, but it will probably surprise many to learn that ^''^^P- it was not until the Warwick Meeting in 1859 that Shropshire sheep were deemed of sufficient national importance to entitle them to rank as a separate breed in the Society's Showyard ; and it may not be out of place to mention that, although twenty years have since then nearly elapsed, the true characteristics of a Shropshire sheep have been a " bone of contention " until the last two or three years. This matter would not require notice in a sketch of the Royal Agricultural Society if it did not forcibly illustrate the results of the Annual Exhibitions as an educational institution, in addition to their influence as a stimulant to breeders of pure stock. Some years ago the Shropshire breeders petitioned the Council of the Society to appoint certain well- known connoisseurs of the breed as Judges for a term of years, for the avowed purpose of fixing, by means of their awards, the true type and character of a Shropshire sheep. The Council, in reality, gave effect to the' desire of the memorialists ; and thus the animals decorated by the Society's Judges became annually very special objects of study to those interested in the breed. Each one saw for himself what to acquire as well as what to avoid, and with the knowledge of his own flock could estimate in what direction his efforts should be turned. In this indirect manner the Society's Shows have enormously increased the number of good animals of all descriptions throughout the country, while the experience of every winner of Show-honours testifies to the direct value of a Royal Prize and even of a Com- mendation. The Battersea Show of 1862 was the turning-point in the Present policy history and the policy of the Society's Exhibitions of Live ^^g^-^^'^;!^^^^* Stock. Held in the year of the International Exhibition, when Meeting in the means of locomotion in and about London were already 1862. overtaxed, and in a suburb of the metropolis which was almost inaccessible to the multitude, it was not visited by so large a number of people as might have been expected, and the Society consequently suffered a large pecuniary loss. But the benefit 24 Tlie Royal Agricultural Society of England. which has been conferred on the breeders of those kinds of sheep and cattle which had not before been recognised by the Society, in consequence of the continuation of the policy then commenced, must many times exceed in value the drain which the Exhibition entailed upon the Society's funds. At that Meeting the Stock Prize-sheet was . expanded to include classes for the following recognised English and Scotch breeds of Horses, Cattle, and Sheep, in addition to others for certain foreign races of cattle : — HOBSES. Thorouglibred — Hunters — Carriage ^ — Roadsters — Suffolk Agricultural — Agricultural (not qualified to compete as Suffolks) — Clydesdale — Dray — Ponies. Cattle. Shorthorns — Herefords — Devons — Sussex — Longhomed — Norfolk and Suffolk Polled — Welsh — Irish — Channel Islands (Jerseys and Guernseys) — Polled Aberdeen and Angus — Polled Galloway — Highland — ^Ayrshire. Sheep. Leicester — Lincoln — Cotswold — Kentish, or Eomney Marsh — Long-wooUed — Irish pure native Long-woolled — Southdowns — Shropshire — Hampshire and West Country Down — Oxfordshire Downs — Dorset — Mountain — ^Blackfaced — Cheviot. The majority of the newly recognised English breeds con- tained in the foregoing list have since retained their place in the Annual Prize-sheet of the Society, especially the Channel Island and Sussex cattle, and the Cotswold, Lincoln, Oxford- shire Down and Hampshire Down sheep ; while the Norfolk and Suffolk, the Longhorn and the Scotch breeds of cattle, the Kentish, the Dorset, and the different Moor and Mountain breeds of sheep receive due recognition whenever the Society's Meeting is held within a reasonable distance of the limited districts in which they severally prevail. jlorscs. Ill its efforts to encourage the breeds of horses the action of the Society has been similar to that which has just been sketched in reference to cattle and sheep. Commencing at Oxford and con- tinuing at Cambridge with but three classes, namely cart stallions, cart mares, and thoroughbred stallions, the two former were at the first Liverpool Show subdivided into two-year-olds and older horses ; and this classification appears to have satisfied the requirements of the times until 1855, with the exception that, during the most of that interval, the class for thoroughbred stallions was supplanted by one for " roadster " sires. At Car- lisle, in 1855, the Clydesdale was recognised as a distinct breed, and in 1857, the thoroughbred came once more to the front. The Royal Agricultural Society of Englcmd. 25 a distinction being at the same time drawn between the sires and dams suitable for breeding Hunters and Hackneys respectively. At Battersea, as already stated, there was a great advance, including the recognition of the Suffolk as a distinct breed of horse, and ever since that Show a similar prize-sheet has been issued, varying chiefly in details rendered desirable by the geographical position or other circumstances of the locality in which the Show was to be held. Farm Prizes. — The efforts of the Society to improve the agri- Farm Prizes. culture of the district in which the Country Meeting is held in any year, were extended, in 1870, by the offer of prizes for the best managed farms in the district or county. Public attention is by this means drawn to those farms which may be entered for competition. Farmers living in their neighbourhood follow the course of cultivation on them through the year of trial with great interest, and discuss with one another the respective chances of the competitors. Those who have not the advantage of neighbourhood content themselves with a personal visit to the winning farms at the time of the Show, or with reading the generally exhaustive reports of the Judges, which are pub- lished in the Society's ' Journal.' The definition of the class or classes of farms which are entitled to compete varies from year to year in accordance with the variations in the methods and styles of farming which are characteristic of the several counties of England. In 1870, Originated at the first year of these competitions, the farms entered were ^^"J!^ '" required to be not less than 200 acres in extent, as the Country Meeting was held at Oxford, in the midst of a district of large arable farms. The prizes consisted of a handsome silver cup, value 100/., given by Mr. Mason, the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire (who may really claim to be the originator of the competition for farm prizes in connection with this Society), and prizes of 50Z. and 25/., given by the Society, by whom also the expenses of judging are always borne. Next year the Country Meeting was held at Wolverhampton, and the prizes were offered in two classes, one for arable and the other for dairy farms ; the prizes in each were — 1st, lOOZ. ; 2nd, 50Z. ; with two special prizes of 25Z. each. It is not necessary to give these details for each succeeding year ; but before passing on to the current year (1877) it will be sufficient to mention that in 1870 there were 21 competitors, and in 1871 there were 23 in the arable and 4 in the dairy class. In connection with the Liverpool Meeting a more minute Subdivision subdivision of the farms into classes was made by the Local °g^l?^^^^ '° Committee, who offered the prizes ; and the following is the list, with the number of entries in each class : — 10 C 26 The Royal Agricultural Society of England. Section I.— Paems in Lancashire, Cheshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire. A. — Arable Fabms with at least two-thirds of their area under rotation of croppine : — '^'^ No. of Entries. Class 1. Fabms of one hundred and fifty acres and up-) jq wards in extent, 50? ! Class 2. — Fakms above eighty acres in extent, and underi one hundred and fifty acres, First Prize, 40Z. ; second, [ 4 20Z I Class 3. — Farms above forty acres in extent, and under) ^ eighty acres, 20Z > B. — Dairy or Stock Farms where the course of cultiva- tion is chiefly directed to the production of cheese or hutter, or of animal food : — Class 4. — Farms of not less than two hundred acres in) g extent, 50Z. ) Class 5. — Farms of not less than one hundred acres and) , o under two hundred acres. First Prize, 40?. ; second, 201. ) Class 6. — Farms of not less than fifty, but under onej . hundred acres, 202 ) Section II. — Farms in the Isle of Man. Class 7. — Farms of seventy acres or upwards in extent,) „ 25? \ ^ Class 8. — Farms under seventy acres in extent, but not) , less than twenty-five acres, 15? J Total .. 46 Competition It must not be inferred, however, that the Farm-prizes offered not always have always been so keenly competed for, or that the offers of the Society and its Local Committees may not again be received with indifference in some districts. For instance, the Council offered two prizes of lOOZ. each, in connection with the Hull Meeting in 1873, for the best-managed farms above 200 acres in extent in the Holderness and Wold districts respectively. Only four Holderness farms were entered, and in the Wold class there was no competition, although the areas defined were of considerable extent, and are both characterised by large and highly cultivated farms. The cause of this supineness was openly stated at the time to be that the prize-winners would probably have their rents raised in consequence of their success ; and this apparently extraordinary reasoning was supported by reference to a prize-winner at a local competition whose rent was afterwards raised, and therefore the relation of cause and effect was ascribed to the two events. Post hoc is often very different from propter hoc ; but if such a feeling as that I have just mentioned were to become general, the system of Farm-prizes would certainly die of strangulation. Fortunately, however, I have never heard it suggested that a Tlie Royal Agricultural Society of England. 27 Royal Farm-prize has been a cause of pecuniary loss to any of the winners. On the contrary, many landlords have supple- mented, not only the prizes, but even the commendations of the Society's Judges, by silver cups or other marks of their satis- faction ; and in nearly all cases a share of the credit obtained by the tenant is necessarily reflected upon his landlord. The landlord, or his agent, also knows that a bad farmer is a very expensive appanage to an estate ; and the practice of estimat- ing the value of a tenant by the success of his farming is becoming more and more general. If a farmer can produce good average or over average brops, with clean land, his land- lord is satisfied ; but if, on the other hand, the land is badly farmed, it becomes foul, yields poor crops, and the landlord will lose almost as much as the tenant, if the landlord does not soon change his tenant, or the tenant change his farming. It has been found necessary to attach certain conditions to Conditions of the offer of these prizes, with a view to exclude so-called " Model competition. Farms," which are held as an amusement at a great expense by wealthy men. The object of the prizes is to encourage good and profitable farming as a business, and the competitions are therefore limited to tenant-farmers paying a bona fide rent for at least three-fourths of the land which they cultivate. All the land in their occupation must be entered for competition, although some of it may not be in the area defined for the purpose. This is a necessary stipulation, to enable the Judges to come to a correct conclusion as to the quantity of stock maintained on a given acreage, that being one criterion of the quality of the farming. The Judges are instructed especially to consider : — Instructions ^ r .; to Judges. (1.) General Management with a view to Profit. (2.) Productiveness of Crops. (3.) Goodness and Suitability of Live Stock. (4.) Management of Grass Land. (5.) State of Gates, Fences, Roads, and General Neatness. (6.) Book-keeping. In the case of Dairy Farms there is an additional instruction on the " Management of the Dairy and Dairy Produce." Three Judges, one of whom acts as Reporter, are appointed by the Council of the Society, and the awards made are founded on the results of their inspections, usually three in number : — One in winter (preferably before Christmas), when the winter- management of stock is the chief subject of investigation ; one in spring (generally in May), when the state of the land, both as regards cultivation and cleanliness, the appearance of the growing corn, the preparations for turnip-sowing, and the management C 2 28 The Royal Agricultural Society of England. of the flock, can be thoroughly examined ; and the last in July, immediately before the Show, when the prospects of the harvest can be tolerably well estimated. Eeportsof The reports of the Judges, which are published in the Judges. I Journal,' and the unofficial descriptions published in the agri- cultural newspapers, are read with keen interest, especially by the competitors and their neighbours. It is to be hoped that a material effect is thus being produced, analogous to that already described as the result of the encouragement given during so many years to breeders of different classes of stock, namely, an increase in the number of really good farmers, for it is probable that the few who are now the best could not farm any better with profit to themselves. The time during which the system of Farm Prizes has been in operation is still too short, how- ever, to permit of any inference on this question being yet drawn. General Still, it may be asked whether the eight competitions which results. have already taken place have not pointed to any general con- clusions which may be safely accepted as guides to good farming. Opinions will doubtless differ as to the legitimate inferences to be drawn from the awards and reports of the Judges ; but, to my mind, there is one salient feature characteristic of all the competitions, and that is the value of green crops in the rotation. In each case the prizes have fallen to farmers who pursue the old-fashioned four or five-course shifts, to -the defeat of those who take successive corn-corps with the aid of stimu- lating artificial manures. Even at the Liverpool competition, of which the Judges reported very highly, stating that the com- petitors possessed complete freedom of action, grew what they liked, and sold what they chose, this freedom was used to grow more grass, green crops, and early potatoes, and not successive crops of grain. It does not follow, however, that this will always be the case, as our knowledge of the practical and systematic use of artificial manures for double-cropping is as yet confined to the experience of a comparatively small number of farmers. The increasing value of straw, as a crop to be sold off the farm, is also rapidly enhancing the importance of corn-crops, especially in the neighbourhood of large towns. Moreover, much weight must be allowed to the climate, not only of the locality, but of the year ; and a dry year in a dry district will necessarily furnish one extreme combination, and tell a different tale from that which would be observed in a wet dis- trict in a rainy season. The Royal Agricultural Society of England. 29 CHAPTER III. Science. Chemistry. — The Chemical department of the Society has for Chemistry. many years been one of the most important, especially since the Council resolved to publish the names of those persons who supplied to its members artificial manures and feeding-stuffs which on analysis proved to be inferior or adulterated. The Chemical Committee has the immediate supervision of this department ; and the post of executive officer, officially known as the " Consulting Chemist," has for many years been held by Dr. Voelcker, in whose skill and knowledge the Society and the public repose complete confidence. The duties of the Con- sulting Chemist are (1) to make analyses at a stipulated charge for those Members of the Society who are not engaged in the manufacture or sale of the substances sent to be analysed ; (2) to report to the Chemical Committee any cases of inferior or adulterated substances thus sent for analysis ; (3) to conduct or superintend experiments in the field and researches in the laboratory ; (4) to write such reports and memoirs as may from time to time be deemed desirable for publication in the Society's ' Journal ' or otherwise. The following Table will show the reduced scale of fees Members' charged for analyses made for the Members, and the extent to Privileges of which the privilege was used last year ; and it may be added that the average number of analyses made in a year is, in round numbers, about 700 : — No. of No. Analyses. 1. An opinion of the genuineness of Peruvian Guano, bone-dust or oil-oake .. (eaoli sample) hs.\ 2. An analysis of guano ; showing the proportion of moisture, ' I qk organic matter, sand, phosphate of lime, alkaline salts j and ammonia 10s.' 3. An estimate of the value (relatively to the average samples in the market) of sulphate and muriate of ammonia and of the nitrates of potash and soda 10s. 70 4. An analysis of superphosphate of lime for soluble phos- phates only 10s. 1 5. An analysis of superphosphate of lime, showing the pro- | y,-, portions of moisture, organic matter, sand, soluble and | insoluble phosphates, sulphate of lime and ammonia .. £1 ) 6. An analysis (sufficient for the determination of its agricul- tural value) of an ordinary artificial manure £1 49 7. Limestone : the proportion of lime, 7s. M. ; the proportion of magnesia, 10s. ; the proportion of lime and magnesia 15s. | 8. Limestone or marls, including carbonate, phosphate and > 20 sulphate of lime and magnesia with sand and clay .. £lj 30 The Royal Agricultural Society of England. No. of jfo. Analyses. 9. Partial analysis of a soil, including determinations of clay, sand, organic matter, and carbonate of lime £!■> 21 10. Complete analysis of a soil £3/ 11. An analysis of oil-cake or other substance used for feeding purposes, showing the proportion of moisture, oil, mineral matter, albuminous matter, and woody fibre, as well as of starch, gum, and sugar in the aggregate £1 206 12. Analysis of any vegetable product £1 21 13. Analysis of animal products, refuse substances used for manure, &c. from 10s. to SOs. 7 14. Determination of the " hardness '' of a sample of water before and after boiling .. 10«. 15. Analysis of water of land drainage, and of water used for irrigation £2) go 16. Determination of nitric acid in a sample of water .. .. £1J Reports on In the year 1870, at the suggestion of the Earl of Lichfield, sales of inferior the Council passed the following resolution : — " The Consulting and adu e- Chemist is required to submit, in March, June, and December, rated manures ^ . ir irj* rr and feeding- a Report on the various samples of manures and feeding-stuns stufifs. forwarded to him by Members of the Society ; and such Report, together with the names of the dealers who supplied the sub- stances analysed, shall, if the Council think fit, be published in the Agricultural Journals." Thus was imposed the second of Dr. Voelcker's quartette of duties. Considering the nature of the English law of libel, and the absence from our system of any officer having such functions as the public prosecutor of foreign countries, it is obvious that the Council assumed a very grave responsibility when they passed this resolution. The Agricultural Journals soon asked for an indemnity against any consequences which might follow from their complying with the request to publish the Society's Reports ; and the requisite assurance was given to a certain number, on condition that the reports were published verbatim et literatim as issued by the Secretary. More than once the Council have been under the necessity of redeeming its pledge, and has paid the costs of expensive actions at law; but the Members of the Society and the Agricultural Associations throughout the country have un- animously and heartily approved of the course pursued by the Council, notwithstanding its cost. And if the publication of these Reports has been thus appreciated by purchasers, it can scarcely be doubted that its effect upon a certain class of manu- facturers and dealers has made them beneficial to the farmer by restricting, at least for a time, the growing practice of selling inferior, " mixed," and adulterated manures and feeding-stuffs under misleading names. Advice to In addition to these Reports, the Council have on several members. occasions issued advice to its Members, drawing their atten- The Royal Agricultural Society of England. 31 tion to the precautions which they should take and the guarantees of quality which they should obtain when they purchase various kinds of artificial manures and feeding-stuffs. Thousands of these circulars have also been issued by other Societies ; but still the Consulting Chemist finds ample material for his Quarterly Reports, although for a time the actions at law just referred to cleared the air of much floating mischief, and temporarily denuded those Reports of their most striking character. To defray the cost of the third and fourth heads of the Con- Experiments suiting Chemist's duties, the Council make an annual grant of *'"1. investi- 200Z. ; and every volume of the ' Journal ' contains one or two ^* "'°^' records of the results of those investigations made either in the field or in the laboratory. Last year, as has been already described, the efforts of the Society in this direction received a great impetus from the passing of the Agricultural Holdings Act, and were much facilitated by the liberality and public spirit of the Duke of Bedford, to whom the Society is entirely indebted for the Experimental Station at Woburn. It will thus be seen that the Chemical Committee have the charge of a most important section of the Society's functions, and that their activity is commensurate with their mission. But however great may be the work which they have done in the past, there can be no doubt that they have a still larger field for their operations in the future. The increasing use of artificial manures and feeding-stuffs for the mutual benefit of landlord and tenant will lead to a considerable extension of the use which has hitherto been made of the facilities for analysis which are afforded to the members of the Society ; while the establish- ment of the Experimental Farm at Woburn seems to open out the prospect that the questions upon which practical and scientific men are not yet agreed, will be submitted to careful and crucial tests under the supervision of a joint committee combining " practice with science." Natural History. — A separate department to take cogni- Natural sance of the application of these sciences to agriculture was History. not formed until the year 1871, when Mr. Carruthers, F.R.S., the Keeper of the Botanical department of the British Museum, was appointed " Consulting Botanist " to the Society. More recently the same gentleman has undertaken to supply the Mem- bers with advice on Zoological matters. Thus the Members of the Spciety can now, at the cost of a few shillings, have their seeds tested and obtain advice on any animal or vege- table pest that may damage their crops. The following is a list of the Natural History Privileges of Members of the Society : — 32 The Royal Agricultural Society of England. I. Botanical. . No. . . 1 Members' 1. A report on the purity, amount and nature of foreign materials, Botanical and perfectness and germinatii^ power of a sample of seeds .. .. 6 Zoological 2. Detailed report on the weight, purity, perfectness, and germinating Privileges. power of a sample of seeds, with a special description of the weeiis and other foreign materials contained in it 10 3. Determination of the species of any weed or other plant, or of any epiphyte or vegetahle parasite, with a report on its habits, and the means of its extermination or prevention 5 4. Report on any disease affecting the farm crop 5 5. Determination of the species of 'a collection of natural grasses found in any district on one kind of soil, with a. report on their habits and pasture value 10 II. Zoological. 6. Determination of the species of any insect, worm, or other animal which, in any stage of its life, injuriously affects the farm crops, with a report on its habits and suggestions as to its extennination 5 Veterinary Department. In other respects, Mr. Carruthers's duties are similar to Dr. Voelcker's ; but the Council have only recently decided to pub- lish the names of those dealers who supply the Members with bad or mixed seed. For this delay there are two reasons, viz., (1) there is a special statute, known as the " Adulteration of Seeds Act," which imposes penalties on persons convicted of killing or dyeing, or causing to be killed or dyed, any kind of seed ; and (2) this department of the Society has not been in operation long enough to bring the Members into the habit of systematically submitting their seeds for examination. There can be little doubt, however, that in a few years the facilities offered for the detection of bad, killed, or dyed seed, and of the presence of seeds of injurious weeds or parasites, will be more highly appreciated by the Members of the Society. Veterinary. — This department is organised upon analogous though not exactly similar principles to those just described. For many years the Society was intimately connected with the Royal Veterinary College, and the Principal of that Establish- ment (Professor Simonds, whose services to the Society in past years it would be difficult to exaggerate) is still the Consulting Veterinary Surgeon of the Society. The practical work of the department, however, is now done by the officers of the " Brown Institution," which was established for the investigation of the diseases of animals useful to man. Members of the Society have privileges with respect to the diseases of cattle, sheep, and pigs, as follows : — I. — Serious or Extensive Diseases. No. 1. Any Member of the Socipty who may desire professional attendance and special advice in cases of serious or extensive disease among his cattle, The Royal JigncuUural Society of England. 33 sheep, or pigs, and will address a letter to the Secretary, will, by return of Members' post, receive aL supply stating whether it be considered necessary that the Privileges. Society's Veterinary Inspector should visit the place where the disease prevails. No. 2. The remuneration of the Inspector will be 2Z. 2s. each day as a professional fee, and V,. Is. each day for personal expenses ; and he will also be allowed to charge the cost of travelling to and from the locality where his services may have been required. The fees will be paid by the Society, but the travelling expenses will be a charge against the applicant. This charge may, however, be reduced or remitted altogether at the discretion of the Council, on such step being recommended to them by the Veterinary Com- mittee. No. 3. The Inspector, on his return from visiting the diseased stock, will report to the Committee, in writing, the results of his observations and pro- ceedings, which report will be laid before the Council. No. 4. When contingencies arise to prevent a personal discharge of the duties confided to the Inspector, he may, subject to the approval of the Com- mittee, name some competent professional person to act in his stead, who shall receive the same rates of remimeration. II. — Obdinabt oe Other Cases op Disease. Members may obtain the assistance of the Veterinary Inspector on any case of disease by paying the cost of his visit, which will be at the following rate, viz., 22. 2s. per diem, and travelling expenses. Applications should be addressed to the Superintendent of the Brown Institution, care of the Secre- tary of the Eoyal Agricultural Society, ]2, Hanover Square, London, W. III. — Consultations without Visit. Personal consultation with Veterinary Inspector 5s. Consultation by letter .. 5s. Consultation necessitating the writing of three or more letters 10s. Post-mortem examination, and report thereon 10s. A return of the number of applications from Members of the Society during each half-year is required from the Veterinary Inspector. IV. — Admission op Diseased Animals to the Bkown Institution, Wands- worth BoAD, S.W. : Investigations ; Leotuebs and Rbpoets. No. 1. All Members of the Society have the privilege of sending cattle, sheep, and pigs to the Infirmary of the Brown Institution on the following terms ; viz., by paying for the keep and treatment of cattle 10s. Qd. per week each animal, and for sheep and pigs " a small proportionate charge to be fixed by the Professor-Superintendent according to circumstances." No. 2. The Professor-Superintendent of the Institution has also undertaken to carry out such investigations relating to the nature, treatment, and pre- vention of diseases of cattle, sheep, and pigs, as may be deemed expedient by the Council. No. 3. A detailed Report of the cases of cattle, sheep, and pigs treated in the Infirmary of the Institution or on Farms in the occupation of Members of the Society will be furnished to the Council quarterly ; and also special reports from time to time on any matter of unusual interest which may come under the notice of the Institution. Occasionally it is somewhat difficult to discriminate between cases in which the whole expense of the visit of the Veterinary Inspector should be borne by the Member, and those in which 34 The Royal Agricultural Society of England. a part should be borne by the Society ; but the Council have always endeavoured to deal with these matters in a liberal spirit, and the clauses have been most liberally interpreted in times of public danger — such, for instance, as an outbreak of cattle-plague. Importance of In some respects this is the most necessary of the scientific the Veterinary departments of the Society. The loss to farmers in consequence epai m . ^^ their buying bad seed, adulterated manure, or " mixed " cakes is often very great, but the action is their own ; and irre- spective of the Society, though probably with greater cost and less security, the remedy is in their own hands. In the case, however, of the outbreak of a contagious or infectious disease among his flock or herd, the farmer is practically powerless. He can rarely fasten the blame upon any one, and if he should be able to prove the carelessness of a drover or a shepherd it brings him no pecuniary compensation. His best course is to obtain without delay the most reliable advice, with a view to stay the progress of the destroyer; and this the Society has placed within his reach at a very moderate cost under any cir- cumstances, and at none at all in matters of public importance. Investigations This department of the Society's organisation is not confined into diseases jq ^jjg application of the known truths of veterinary science to the farm. *^^ diseases of animals of the farm, but it is largely occupied with endeavours to increase the technical knowledge of these subjects by stimulating research in reference to both preventive and curative measures. The volumes of the Society's ' Journal ' contain numerous papers embodying the results of experiments made at the Royal Veterinary College, the Brown Institution, and elsewhere ; and of a large number of local investigations at special farms into nearly every important disease which com- monly affects farm-stock. I may specially mention researches into cattle-plague and inoculation for pleuro-pneumonia, made over a large area upon the continent of Europe by Professor Simonds ; experiments upon almost every known contagious or infectious disease of cattle, sheep, and pigs made at the Royal Veterinary College ; and, more recently, very careful scientific experiments upon foot-and-mouth disease, pleuro-pneumonia, and anthrax, made at the Brown Institution ; while at the present moment arrangements are being made to test, on an extensive scale and in different parts of the kingdom, the protective efTect against pleuro-pneumonia, of the new method of inoculation devised by Dr. Burdon Sanderson. The Royal Agricultural Society of England. 35 CHAPTER IV. The Propaganda of Ageicultuee. Under this heading I shall attempt to describe briefly the manner in which the Society endeavours to promulgate the facts and principles of modern improved agriculture to its Members through its ' Journal,' and to the farmers, land-agents, and veterinary surgeons of the future by stimulating their technical education through the offer of rewards for special success at school and at College. The Journal. — From the date of its establishment in 1838, The ' Journal.' the publication of a periodical ' Journal ' has been one of the distinctive features of the Society's efforts. For the first three years three " parts " were published in each year, but since then only two, namely, one in spring before seed-time, and one in autumn after harvest. To a student of agricultural history, a comparison of the con- tents of the earliest with the successive and the latest volumes of the ' Journal ' cannot fail to suggest many interesting ques- tions. Forty years ago, when railways were comparatively few and far between, residents in remote country districts seldom had the opportunity of meeting to discuss practical questions which were then beginning to acquire importance. In those days, too, class newspapers devoted to technical subjects were comparatively unknown. Therefore the earlier volumes of the ' Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society ' teemed with short practical articles written by enthusiastic landowners and farmers who had been among the founders of the Society, and who were encouraged and stimulated by the example and the exhortations of the first editor of the ' Journal ' — Mr. Pusey, M.P. — to whom English agricultural literature, from a practical point of view, is indebted to an extent that is probably exceeded only by the services of Arthur Young. In the course of time, greater intercourse between farmers, the Its history. enormous deyelopment of the newspaper press, and other cir- cumstances, induced the writers of short practical essays to seek immediate publication, instead of waiting for the six-monthly interval between the publication of the numbers of the Society's ' Journal.' The Council, therefore, found it necessary to offer prizes for well-considered essays on selected subjects ; and for a series of years the contents of the ' Journal ' very largely con- sisted of the " crowned " memoirs, many of which were well worthy of their success, and to this day hold their ground as text-books upon their several subjects. 36 The Royal Agricultural Society of England. These two periods in the history of the ' Journal ' were, ten years ago, succeeded by a third. The Prize-system had become inadequate to supply sufficiently meritorious essays upon the subjects which then began to demand attention. Our agri- culture had become more scientific, and our food-supplies more dependent upon the wants and crops of other nations. There- fore the information required by the Society's Members was in most cases of such a nature as to require a special investiga- tion by a trained mind, or a special journey to a foreign country. Realising this alteration in the circumstances of agriculture, the Journal Committee gradually modified their practice in the conduct of the ' Journal,' until, as at the present time, and for some years past, each half-yearly number may be regarded as a collection of exhaustive essays upon their several subjects, not the least useful and interesting being the Official Reports on scientific investigations — Veterinary, Chemical, Botanical — and on practical competitions for prizes offered for Farms, Live- stock, and Implements. Its usefulness. Notwithstanding these alterations in the system of conducting the ' Journal,' in conformity with the spirit of the times when they were made, it may be safely asserted that no other publica- tion bearing upon agriculture contains such an amount of useful matter connected with so little that is irrelevant. The Chair- men of the Journal Committee (who, until the last twenty years, were also the editors of the ' Journal ') are singularly few in number, namely, Mr. Pusey, Sir H. S. Meysey Thompson, and Mr. Dent ; and the result of their successive labours is a most valuable magazine of facts, figures, and principles, elucidating the Science and Practice, as well as the History, of European Agriculture. Education. — The Society has made many efforts to carry out the seventh " Object " enumerated in the Charter, namely, " to take measures for the improvement of the education of those who depend upon the cultivation of the soil for their support." Many schemes have been tried, and all have more or less failed. At the present moment the only measures taken with a view to stimulate purely agricultural education are the encouragement of young men at College and boys at school to apply them- selves to the study of agriculture, and the sciences which are most necessary to its successful practice. The Senior Examination, chiefly applicable to young men leaving College, is held every April ; prizes and certificates are offered to the successful candidates, and every First-class Cer- tificate carries with it the Life-Membership of the Society. Very few candidates present themselves for examination ; and Agricultural education. Senior Examination The Royal Agricultural Society of England. 37 although this scheme has been in operation more than ten years, the value of the Society's Certificate as a proof of knowledge and ability does not yet seem widely enough recognised to induce many Students to go through the somewhat thorough course of study necessary to obtain it. The Junior Examination has not been in operation more junior than four years. Ten scholarships of 20Z. each, tenable for one Examination. year, are annually offered for competition to pupils of certain Middle-Class Public Schools. The examinations are held at the schools in November, and the scholarships are not paid until the following November, and then only upon receipt of a certificate that the 'scholar has passed the year either at school, or at an Agricultural College, or with a practical farmer approved by the Council. This scheme was designed as an inducement to tenant-farmers to keep their sons at school longer than they usually do ; and also as an encouragement to the schools to introduce the Science and Practice of Agri- culture into their curriculum. In both of these objects the scheme has already been fairly successful ; and it promises very well for the future, as the number of schools on the list, and the number of those which enter candidates for exami- nation, are both gradually increasing. In the course of time it may be hoped that this scheme may act and re-act upon the Senior Examination, first by inducing the junior scholars to enter upon the more thorough course of study for its own sake and for its practical value ; and secondly, by creating a demand for teachers at the Middle-Class Schools — the head-masters of which would attach due importance to the Society's First-class Certificate. A third educational examination has been established only Examination of two years, and has already achieved a fair measure of success. Jeteiii^iT Prizes and Medals are annually offered to Graduates of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons who have been educated at an English Veterinary College, and who have obtained their degree not less than three, and not more than fifteen months. The examination is both practical and theoretical, and is con- fined to the diseases, treatment, and pathology of cattle, sheep, and pigs, with a view to induce young Veterinary Surgeons to extend their observation and knowledge of the animals of the farm generally, instead of confining them, as has hitherto been too generally the case, exclusively to the horse and his ailments. In all the existing schemes, the education of the Middle-class Education of is alone sought to be stimulated. The Senior Examination aims ^^^ landowner at the large tenant-farmer and the land-agent ; the Junior Scholarships are offered to the smaller tenant-farmer of the labourer. 38 Tlie Royal Agricultural Society of England. future ; and the Veterinary Medals and Prizes to the rising cattle-doctor ; but the landowner and the labourer are alike unprovided for. With regard to the landowner, it may be said that if self-interest does not induce him to acquire some tech- nical knowledge of agriculture, no system of examination, and no oifer of prizes or certificates would be likely to tempt him. At the same time it must be admitted that the EngKsh Uni- versities have, one and all, failed to give proper facilities for such a course of study to the young landlord during his College career. and of the Xhe technical education of the young labourer is a more difficult and a more pressing consideration. The Education Acts have not yet been long enough in force to make much impression upon the rural youth; but that his intelligence will be much increased by their operation in the course of a few years cannot be doubted. Here, then, is the opportunity to remedy the growing evil of " worse work for more pay," which is heard whenever the agricultural labourer is mentioned. It would be foreign to the scope of this Memoir to enter into a discussion of the means which might be adopted for this purpose, and it is alluded to here in the same manner as other topics which are still in the future, to show that the scope of the Society's operations, which has been very largely widened during the last ten years, has not yet attained its ultimate extension. Retrospect. A retrospective glance at the last ten years will show that in so short a period of time the Society has increased in number 20 per cent. ; its ' Journal ' has become more popular with its Members; Farm-prizes have been established; the systematic testing of competing agricultural implements has been much improved ; scientific investigations into diseases of animals of the farm have been placed on a sound basis ; the technical education of Veterinary Surgeons and of tenant-farmers and land-agents has been stimulated and encouraged ; a Consulting Botanist and Entomologist to advise the Members has been appointed ; an Experimental Farm has been established ; and a system of exposure of persons connected with the sale of inferior or adulterated feeding-stuffs, manures, and agricultural seeds has been organised and fearlessly carried out, to the great benefit of the agricultural community. It has been said that a man should be strong at thirty, wise at forty, and rich at fifty. Ten years ago the Royal Agricultural Society had completed the first of those periods, and with 5500 Members might be considered strong in numbers and in influence. Its action Tlie Royal Agricultural Society of England. 39 during the past ten years entitle it, in my judgment, to dlaim that at forty years of age it is deserving of the epithet which belongs to that stage of existence ; and I have no doubt that at the end of another ten years it will, without any diminution of strength or wisdom, be rich in everything which will add to its power to carry out the great object for which it was established — the general advancement of English Agriculture. London; FkInted by willtam clowes and sons, Stamford strbe* and charing cross,