ALBERT R. MANN 
 LIBRARY 
 
 New York State Colleges 
 
 OF 
 
 Agriculture and Home Economics 
 
 Cornell University 
 
Cornell University Library 
 S 20.L67 
 
 A century of agricultural progress, bein 
 
 3 1924 001 093 610 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 924001 09361 
 
The Agricultural Gazette, 
 
 The BEST MONDAY Agricultural Journal. 
 The only ILLUSTRATED Agricultural Journal. 
 
 Ci)e agrttultural (gazette 
 
 (ESTABLISHED 1844.) 
 
 For LANDOWNERS and TENANT FARMERS. 
 
 Every Monday, Price 4d. ; Post Free, 4|d. 
 
 The AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE gives full Market Reports, both Metropolitan 
 and Provincial ; accurate accounts of Prices and Sales, Proceedings of Agricultural 
 Societies, Farmers' Clubs, and Chambers of Agriculture — their Meetings, Exhibitions, 
 and Discussions — are Reported fully, and with prprnptitude. « 
 
 Especial attention is given to Agricultural Implement Manufacture. 
 NO EXPENSE IS SPARED IN ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Not only Implements, but Plants, Weeds, varieties of Cultivated Crops, &c. ; ana 
 Animals— Breeds of Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Pigs; also Poultry, Insects, General 
 Natural History ; and Buildings— Farmhouses, Homesteads, Cottages ; Photographs, 
 Illustrative of Country Life and Occupations whether at Home or Abroad ' — all these 
 provide subjects for the engraver. 
 
 PORTRAITS and MEMOIRS of NOTEWORTHY AQRICULTtrRISTS 
 are alao occasionally given. 
 
 SUBSCRIPTIONS (PAYABLE IN ADVANCE), 
 Including Postage to any part of the United Kingdom, 
 
 Twelve Months, 19/6 ; Six Months, 9/9 \ Three Months, 5/- 
 
 Post Office Orders to be made payable at the King Street Post Office, W.C, 
 to ALEXANDER K. BRUCE. 
 
 Publishing Office and Office for Advertisements : — 
 
 7, CATHERINE STREET, STRAND, 
 
 LONDON, W.C. 
 
EDMUND RACK. 
 
 Founder of the Bath and West of England Society. 
 
 FkOM a PORTKAIT IN THE POSSESSION OF THE COUNCIL. 
 
 1777. 
 
CENTURY 
 
 OF 
 
 AGRICULTURAL 
 
 PROGRESS, 
 
 BEING ONE HUNDRED YEARS' HISTORY OF THE BATH 
 
 AND WEST OF ENGLAND SOCIETY, FROM ITS BIRTH 
 
 IN 1777 TO ITS CENTENARY IN 1877. 
 
 BY THE EDITOR OF "THE BATH HERAT.D. ' 
 
 BATH: 
 
 WILLIAM LEWIS, "THE HERALD' OFFICE. 
 
 1879. 
 
THIS 
 
 UNPRETENDING HISTORY OF 
 
 AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS 
 
 DURING THE CENTURY OF EXISTENCE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND 
 
 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY 
 
 DEDICATED TO THE COUNCIL 
 
 BY THEIR 
 
 OBLIGED AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, 
 
 WILLIAM LEWIS. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 England a Hundred Years Ago 
 
 13 
 
 Agriculture „ „ 
 
 18 
 
 Society in 1777 ... 
 
 23 
 
 Biography of Edmund Rack, the Founder . . . 
 
 27 
 
 Introduction of the Society — Early Proceedings 
 
 31 
 
 The Merino Sheep Controversy ... 
 
 35 
 
 Objects Encouraged (1787— 1 800; 
 
 41 
 
 The Bedfordian Medal 
 
 44 
 
 Election of a Mohawk Chief 
 
 46 
 
 Progress of the Society (1802—1814) 
 
 47 
 
 Presidency of the Marquis of Lansdowne 
 
 SO 
 
 Society's Operations (1817 — 1828) 
 
 SI 
 
 Improvement of the Labourer 
 
 S4 
 
 An Enterprising Member 
 
 57 
 
 Declining Days ... 
 
 59 
 
 The Great Revival 
 
 62 
 
 Migratory Meetings 
 
 6s 
 
 General Progress 
 
 69 
 
 Improvement of Stock 
 
 72 
 
 Mechanical Aids 
 
 74 
 
 Machinery at the Centennial Show 
 
 75 
 
 Summary of Advantages 
 
 81 
 
 Concluding Review 
 
 83 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The History of the Bath and West of England 
 Society contained in the fallowing pages was 
 written Jor and appeared in The Bath Herald 
 during the holding of the Centenary Meeting in 
 Bath in 1S77. As the operations of the Society 
 disclosed ''A Century of Agricultural Progress" it 
 was thought that the narrative possessed sufficient 
 value to warrant its republication in a more per- 
 manent and handy form ; for this purpose it has 
 been carefully revised and considerably enlarged, 
 and it is hoped that it will now prove not only of 
 more general interest, but, while attesting to the 
 great strides agriculture has -made and the impor- 
 tant services rendered to it by the Bath and West 
 of England Society, will tend also to promote the 
 success and prosperity of this venerable and 
 vigorous institution. 
 
 Bath ; April l^h, 1879. 
 
A CENTURY 
 
 OF 
 
 AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS. 
 
 I will go root away 
 The noisome weeds which, without profit, suck 
 The soil's fertility. 
 
 Shakespeare, 
 
 \ HERE is no department, either of Trade or 
 Commerce, that has not been benefited by 
 the application of science to mechanical 
 and industrial pursuits. Indeed, so vast 
 have been the changes effected by its instrumentality 
 that science has been called by its more fervid 
 apostles the latter day "revelation," and accepted 
 by them as a new creed, which ought without more 
 a,do to supersede the old. It is not necessary however 
 to be numbered among the votaries of this new form of 
 idolatry to have a keen appreciation of the advantages 
 theworld has derived from the discoveries under considera- 
 
lO A CENTURY OF 
 
 tion. Turn where we may evidence of this fact confronts 
 us, and not the least striking of the proofs are to be 
 found in the domain of Agriculture. To enumerate all 
 or even the more important of the changes which have 
 been wrought by the aid of this new power in farming 
 operations alone would require not a modest work like 
 that now presented to the reader, but a ponderous 
 volume, to which additions would have constantly to 
 be made through the unceasing triumphs of human 
 ingenuity. A general idea nevertheless may, we think, 
 be gained of the progress made since science began to 
 play the important part it has done and is doing, by a 
 general review of the operations of the Bath and West 
 of England Agricultural Association. One of the oldest 
 Societies of the kind existing in England or the world, it 
 has, during the hundred years that have elapsed since 
 it was founded, not only witnessed, but taken an active 
 and liberal part in promoting and encouraging that 
 iniprovement in agriculture which has tended to increase 
 enormously the wealth of the country, and to add in a 
 corresponding degree to the comfort of the people. 
 
 As all well know it is given to few institutions, 
 formed for purposes analogous to those which this 
 Society was intended to promote, to contend without 
 succumbing to the vicissitudes which the ever varying 
 conditions of society create, and the competition 
 which .the love of novelty and experiment is always 
 ready to encourage. The Bath and West of England 
 
AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS. ir 
 
 Agricultural Society presents nevertheless the gratify- 
 ing spectacle of an organisation acquiring vigour with 
 the weight of years, and fulfilling, after the lapse of 
 a century, more effectively the objects which its founders 
 had in view than at any other period of its existence. 
 High as was their aim, and sanguine as we doubt not 
 were their expectations, they could never, not even 
 under the most fervid inspiration of hope, have realised 
 the possibilities which lay potential in the scheme they 
 with so much thought and labour inaugurated. Though, 
 believing in the necessity of improving the agricultural 
 and manufacturing skill of the nation, they probably 
 looked around, as we are inclined to do, with a self- 
 satisfied air on the enlightened age in which it was their 
 happiness to live, and cast (as we do upon them) a com- 
 passionate eye at bygone generations who had the mis- 
 fortune to live under less favourable conditions, just as 
 we a century hence may have the like commiseration 
 bestowed upon us, not unmingled with wonder perhaps 
 that we found life supportable in the absence of so 
 many essentials to which science and art may have given 
 birth in the interval. Still, under encouragement, such . 
 as the young Society proposed to supply, they thought 
 the land might be made more productive by better 
 tillage, stock improved by more care in breeding, manu- 
 factures developed by stimulating scientific experiment, 
 and art generally carried to a higher pitch of excellence 
 by facilitating its pursuit and making it more profitable. 
 
12 A CENTURY OF AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS. 
 
 - All this in their opinion could be evolved out of the 
 social circumstances with which they were surrounded. 
 They knew nothing of the revolution which steam (as 
 applied to manufactures and locomotion), the electric 
 telegraph and education, were destined to achieve ; and 
 yet in spite of the vastness of the change wrought 
 through the instrumentality of these agencies, the 
 Society which they started is found to be as service- 
 able, at least, to modern England as it was to the 
 antiquated England of their day. What greater tribute 
 can be paid to the wisdom of Edmund Rack and his 
 associates than this adaptability of their Society to 
 political and social conditions so entirely different from 
 those current at the time of its conception? The 
 primary industries which they were desirous of fostering 
 have in truth attained a degree of perfection which was 
 never dreamt of in their philosophy. Familiar only 
 with the old and cumbrous modes of husbandry, what 
 would .they think of our steam ploughs, reaping and 
 thrashing machines, mowers, and the hundred and one 
 mechanical aids which science has placed in the hands 
 of the farmer ? of stock so choice that bulls and cows 
 fetch now and then over a thousand guineas ? of the 
 knowledge of the constituents of soils which chemistry 
 has revealed, as well as the fertilising properties of arti- 
 ficial manures, which is now considered so necessary to 
 the farmer ? 
 , Yet these results, wonderful as they are, are the 
 
ENGLAND A HUNDRED YEARS AGO* tj 
 
 product of the period embraced within the Society's 
 career of activity. Here and there (pace Mr. Thorns!) 
 lives perchance some venerable relic of humanity 
 whose age, equal to that of the Association, enables 
 him to speak from personal experience of the rough, 
 illiterate agriculturist of a bygone generation, and 
 of his educated, science-aided successor of the present 
 day, arid who yet lingers on like a frail bridge spanning 
 the chasm of time separating two such widely different 
 epochs. Without professing to have found any one of 
 these human bridges to conduct us across this interest- 
 ing gulf, we may just perhaps preface our history of the 
 Society by taking a hurried glance at 
 
 (ZBngianli a ^unDreD gears ago. 
 
 At that period George the Third was engaged with 
 his proverbial obstinacy in two ill-judged enterprises — 
 the usurpation of despotic authority and the subjugation 
 of the American Colonists. Lord North, the Prime 
 Minister, was supported by an obsequious majority ; 
 and the eloquence of Burke and Fox was poured forth 
 in vain in behalf of a conciliatory policy towards the 
 revolted American provinces. Conciliation was odious 
 to the King, and the news brought across the Atlantic 
 by the old three-deckers, or the lighter craft of the 
 privateers returning with plunder from the Spanish 
 main, seemed disastrous to the rebels, and made his 
 
14 ENGLAND A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 
 
 Majesty immovable as a rock. Chatham, worn out by 
 age and disease, was in retirement, from which he was 
 soon to emerge, only to have the embers of his once 
 fiery genius quenched for ever by the cold hand of 
 death. His son had not yet obtained a seat in the 
 House of Commons, neither had Sheridan, though both 
 were destined shortly to enter its portals and to obtain 
 therein imperishable fame. "Who is Junius.?" was a 
 question that the curious of the day were trying to solve, 
 but with no better success than subsequent investigators 
 fascinated by the mystery of this incisive but bitter 
 writer in the iron mask, whose declaration that his 
 secret should perish with him was no vain boast ; it is a 
 secret still, even though Lord E. Fitzmaurice has given 
 us a life of his eminent ancestor, Lord Shelburne, who 
 is supposed to have known more than anyone else about 
 this much-discussed topic. Mingled with speculations 
 respecting the identity of this great master of irony, 
 whose letters against the King and his minions breathed 
 a spirit that was leavening the popular sentiment, were 
 fears and congratulations over the successes of Warren 
 Hastings, who by force and fraud was laying the 
 foundations of our Eastern Empire, over which her 
 Majesty the Queen now rules as Empress. 
 
 Nor, we may be sure, was Captain Cook forgotten, for 
 the enterprising and successful navigator had recently 
 started on his expedition to discover the north-west 
 passage, but was doomed to find instead a premature 
 
ENGLAND A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 1 5 
 
 grave on the distant shores of Otaheite. Of Australia, 
 which now fills so large a space upon the map, only 
 glimpses had been obtained, and of so little worth was 
 it considered that it was about to be converted into a 
 convict establishment. No doubt the Draconian laws 
 then prevailing rendered necessary a somewha:t large 
 penal settlement, more particularly as the War of Inde- 
 pendence prevented the transportation of law breakers 
 by the shipload to the American plantations. Death 
 was the common punishment for /crime, great and small, 
 from the man who murdered in cold blood to the lad 
 who stole a few shillings from the pocket. Horse- 
 stealing, forgery, sheep-stealing, burglary and a host of 
 other misdeeds were all capital offences ; but about one 
 half of the culprits, by the clemency of the judges, were 
 sent for the remainder of their lives — and short they 
 were — to the plantations. The large discretionary 
 power vested in the judges led to anomalies which at 
 this distance of time it is difficult to reconcile. Report- 
 ing the assize intelligence of that period a newspaper 
 announces laconically — " A horse stealer was sentenced 
 to be hanged, and a man for killing his wife ordered to 
 be branded in the hand and imprisoned for six months." 
 A faint consciousness that the criminal code might be 
 relaxed without danger to the common weal had 
 however just been exemplified ; the law was abolished 
 under which when a felon refused to plead he was 
 stretched out upon his back at full length and a heavy 
 
a6 ENGLAND A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 
 
 weight laid upon his breast which was gradually 
 increased till he expired. Of a piece with this 
 legislation was the Act still in force, which prevented 
 the poor from settling in any other place than the one 
 where they had previously lived ; also the practice of 
 selling slaves in England, and of the neglect of education 
 which made the mass of the people as ignorant as they 
 were brutal. The want of sanitary knowledge likewise 
 was no less destructive physically than the absence of 
 education was morally. It was not uncommon for cities 
 and parishes to be devastated by fever and small-pox, 
 and parochial records tell us that a pest house was 
 provided for patients who were frequently stricken when 
 at work in the fields and were conveyed thither, and 
 thence to the churchyard almost invariably. 
 
 There is nevertheless a bright side to the picture : uncon- 
 genial as was the soil, literature, art and science flourished. 
 Gibbon was just receiving the felicitations of the learned 
 on the appearance of the first volume of his great 
 history, whose stately diction and grasp of facts have 
 secured for it a permanent place in English classics; 
 Johnson was still vigorous with his pen as he was 
 dogmatic with his tongue, and was preparing his 
 " Lives of the Poets," the most likely of his works to 
 give vitality to his fame ; Robertson was busy com- 
 piling those voluminous histories which yet find a place 
 in the library; Gilbert White was absorbed in the 
 observation of nature, animate and inanimate, and in 
 
ENGLAND A HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 17 
 
 writing those letters whose store of information and 
 unsophisticated charm retain all the freshness of recently 
 plucked flowers. In passing, we may note that under 
 the date May 20, 1777, he tells us that Farmer Young, 
 of Norton Farm, had about four acres of his wheat in 
 one field entirely destroyed by slugs, which swarmed on 
 the blades of corn and devoured it as fast as it sprang ; 
 and so good Gilbert throws out sundry hints on the 
 subject of slugs and worms, " in order to set the 
 "inquisitive and discerning to work." As history so 
 often repeats itself, it would be well to know whether 
 any Farmer Young has this spring suffered from a 
 similar plague of slugs. The same year is memorable 
 in dramatic literature for the production of the "School 
 for Scandal," Sheridan's masterpiece and the most 
 sparkling of comedies ; little Fanny Burney was conning 
 in secret the MSS. of her "Evelina," which was so soon 
 to waft her into popularity and Court favour ; Beckford 
 was publishing his first work, " Biographical Memoirs of 
 Master Painters ;" and Cowper was becoming conscious 
 of the "divine afiflatus," though as yet it had found 
 expression only in fugitive pieces. 
 
 At the same time the English school of painting was 
 .founded and carried to a high state of perfection, for 
 Reynolds and Gainsborough then flourished, with 
 Romney, Wilson, Opie, Lawrence and other famed 
 brothers of the brush. In science the elder Herschel 
 was busy exploring the heavens and widening the bounds 
 
t8 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 of astronomy ; Priestley was conducting those investiga- 
 tions of fluids and gases which proved the harbinger of 
 Modern Chemistry ; Wedgwood was infusing the spiriq 
 of Greek art into English pottery, and, by the way,, 
 held an exhibition of his " Queen's ware" in Bath this 
 very year; Hargreaves, Crompton and Watt were 
 divulging mechanical discoveries, upon which the manu- 
 facturing supremacy of the kingdom in the department 
 of textile fabrics is based ; and Adam Smith was laying 
 upon a sure foundation the science of political economy 
 in his great work on the " Wealth of Nations." Thus- 
 we see that the period, chequered as were its aspects^ 
 was a memorable one — a period indeed pregnant with 
 influences the effects of which have been felt throughout 
 the world, and to which time, it may be, will set nO' 
 bounds. Nor less marked are the beneficial results, 
 which followed from the efforts then made to improve 
 that which has special interest for us at the present 
 time, viz., 
 
 agticulture. 
 
 A century ago farming was in a very backward state,, 
 particularly in the western counties. The implements 
 employed were limited in number and simple in con- 
 struction. The agriculturist was guided in his operations 
 by custom, or by such modifications of it as observation 
 and experience might suggest. Societies for his aid 
 and encouragement had not yet extended to him their 
 
AGRICULTURE. 19 
 
 helping hand. He ploughed and he sowed after a 
 primitive fashion ; knowing little of the advantages of 
 manures, his crops were as a rule small and the quality 
 of the grain inferior. More likely than not, he thrashed 
 his corn after combing the sheaves with a hand comb 
 and cutting off the heads with a common knife. His 
 land for a great part of the year lay fallow because he 
 did not understand the rotation of crops. With swede, 
 turnips, or mangold wurtzel he had not become 
 acquainted, and his cattle was rawboned and ungainly, 
 for not only was the food inadequate, but the art of 
 cross-breeding was unknown. He tried with some 
 success to improve his sheep, because a good market 
 could always be commanded for the wool, then the chief 
 product of the country. The only thing was whether he 
 would-be able to reach the market, as the roads were so 
 bad as to be often impassable during part of the year. 
 When the quagmires and other impediments compelled 
 a return without reaching his destination, the pecuniary 
 loss was not the only one sustained ; the whole family, 
 labourers included, were deprived of the little knowledge 
 they could acquire of what was going on in the great 
 world around them. A news letter from "Lunnon" 
 might reach the 'squire at intervals and some of its 
 contents ooze out, or the young 'squire might have 
 escaped all the perils of a journey to and from the 
 metropolis and brought intelligence direct from the 
 coffee houses; but his budget of gossip excited less 
 
2d AGRICULTURE, 
 
 interest than he himself as the hero who had accom- 
 plished a formidable undertaking. 
 
 The farmer was illiterate, and "maister's" son, who 
 knew the three " R's," received the distinguishing appella| 
 tion of "the scholar" of the family. While the male 
 members, with the aid of a labourer or two, cultivated 
 the soil, the wife and daughters did all the household 
 .work and attended to the dairy besides. They also; 
 spun the wool from the black sheep (reserved specially 
 ^or the purpose), and the arrival of some wandering 
 tailor was awaited to make it into Sunday clotheSif 
 Leather breeches were worn at home and abroad, and 
 when put on after being wetted and dried, severe was 
 the punishment the stiffened wrinkles inflicted on the 
 unfortunate wearer, if he had to follow the plough or 
 engage in some other manual occupation. 
 . The labourers were barely one remove from the cattle 
 they tended ; their pay was about 6d. a day, which was 
 supplemented by a gift of milk from the dame, who, if well 
 pleased, would thrust occasionally into the can a knob of 
 butter. Fresh meat was a luxury rarely enjoyed, but 
 low as were his wages, Hodge managed to get salt meat 
 (mutton and beef, as well as bacon, being cured when 
 oxen or sheep were slaughtered in the village), and this 
 with bread and beer or cider formed the bulk of his diet. 
 If he lived to be old, he as a matter of course came upon 
 the parish, and the parish discharged its obligation by 
 quartering him upon the farmer ; once a year there was 
 
AGRICULTURE. 21 . 
 
 in some places this kind of distribution of the male 
 paupers by the churchwardens and overseers, those who 
 received them taking care to get as much labour as 
 possible out of the poor broken-down creatures. 
 
 We know how completely this state of things has 
 been revolutionised ; how vast has been the improve- 
 ment in all branches of agriculture with a corresponding 
 growth in the education and intelligence of the farmer, 
 and in the condition of the labourer. This gratifying 
 result is mainly due ^° ^^^ application of science to 
 husbandry, and for this application we are indebted to 
 the agricultural ; associations established within the last 
 century. 
 
 Neither should we forget the stimulating effect upon 
 farming operations which the travels and writings 
 of Arthur Young produced. It is said that between 
 1766 and 177s he realised ;£"3,ooo by his literary pro- 
 ductions. In 1784 he commenced a periodical work 
 under the title of Annals of Agriculture, which he con- 
 tinued through forty-five volumes. AH the contributions 
 were signed by their authors, a rule which he however 
 relaxed in the case of the king, George III., who 
 forwarded to the seventh volume a description of the 
 farm of Mr. Ducket, at Petersham, under the signature 
 of Ralph Robinson, of Windsor. Such was the fame of 
 Young abroad as well as at home that the Empress 
 Catherine sent three young Russians to be instructed by 
 him, and made him the present of a gold snuff box with 
 
22 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 rich ermine cloaks for his wife and daughter. In 1805 
 his son was employed by Czar Alexander to make an 
 agricultural survey around Moscow, and was rewarded 
 with a sum which enabled him to purchase an estate of 
 10,000 acres of fertile land in the Crimea, where he 
 settled. Pupils flocked to Arthur Young from all parts 
 of the world. The Duke of Bedford at his breakfast-' 
 table one morning counted representatives from France, 
 Poland, Austria, Russia, Italy, Portugal and America. 
 
 During the ten years preceding 1777 small societies 
 had been established in different parts of the kingdom 
 for the encouragement of agriculture ; the practicd 
 seems to have been to give silver medals, as in 
 the case of the Agricultural Society for the Hundred of 
 Salford, which as early as 1768 gave this description of 
 prizes for the best crop of wheat, the best cow calf, best 
 crop of barley, and for draining the greatest quantity of 
 land. These records are interesting as showing the 
 direction in which improvement was most sought at this 
 early period in the northern part of the country. In the 
 west, nothing of the kind was attempted until 1777, 
 and for the beginning then made the district is indebted 
 to Edmund Rack, a Norfolk gentleman by birth, but 
 who at the time resided in Bath. Here he founded the 
 Bath and West of England Society, not as is sometimes 
 stated upon a new plan, but in accordance with that 
 followed by similar institutions then existing in Norwich, 
 Manchester and elsewhere. 
 
SOCIETY IN 1777. 23 
 
 ^ocietg in 1777, 
 
 A more unlikely progenitor of a successful Agricul- 
 tural Society could hardly be conceived than the city 
 of Bath at the period under consideration. The butter- 
 fly-kind of existence led by the rank and fashion that 
 haunted it, left it may have been supposed no time or 
 care for serious business. A fresh novelty in dress or 
 pleasure would be much more sure of favour than a pro- 
 posal to improve the cultivation of the land or the breed 
 ■of cattle ; but Rack's success shows how erroneous was 
 this inference, which the centenary meeting placed in a 
 very vivid light. 
 
 Bath at that time was very different in appearance 
 to what it is now ; the distinction between the upper 
 and lower town was strongly marked. Houses 
 •encrusted the Abbey Church, and crowded upon the 
 old Pump House, the approach to which was by narrow 
 avenues. The Bear Inn connected Cheap street and 
 Westgate street, and its yard and stables covered the 
 ■site of Union street. Venerable-looking gabled houses 
 ■contributed to the irregularity of High street, from the 
 •centre of which the old Guildhall had just been removed. 
 The whole of Bathwick was smiling green fields, build- 
 ing not having yet commenced thereon. The Crescent, 
 •Circus, and other streets, with the Assembly Rooms, 
 still bore the pale hue which characterises Bath oolite 
 "When fresh from the quarry ; the Guildhall was in the 
 
24 SOCIETY IN 1777. 
 
 hands of the builder, and the Cross Bath was just com- 
 pleted from the designs of the younger Wood. 
 . The Pump Room was thronged in the morning by gay, 
 chatty groups, before perhaps adjourning to Spring 
 Gardens over the river, where a public breakfast took 
 place "every Monday and Thursday attended with 
 " French horns and clarionets, likewise proper music for 
 " dancing cotillions, &c. Tickets is. 6d. each ; private 
 "breakfasts without music is." The same announce- 
 ment from which we are quoting informs us that 
 " Spring Garden cakes and rolls are ready every morn- 
 "ing from early after nine," and that the distance from 
 the Pump Room was 472 yards as lately measured — 6d. 
 fare. 
 
 Another glimpse at the manners, customs and dress 
 of the day is furnished by sundry modifications issued 
 about the same time. Beau Nash's successor in the office 
 of M.C. gives this warning — " Servants, hairdressers and 
 " other improper persons who every night occupy some 
 " of the best seats on Ball Nights, and even presume to 
 " mix with the company, are warned to keep away and 
 " so spare themselves the mortification of being desired 
 '•to withdraw, a circumstance which will inevitably 
 " happen if they continue to intrude themselves where 
 " decency, propriety and decorum forbid their entrance !" 
 Subjoined is one of several dressing decrees which the 
 Master of the Ceremonies was compelled to issue to 
 bring the fair sex to a due sense of propriety in the 
 
SOCIETY IN 1777. 25 
 
 matter of costume. " Ladies who choose to dance 
 " minuets at the dress balls" are reminded that a suit of 
 " cloathes or a full-trimmed negliges, with lappets and 
 " hoops, are the only dresses proper for the occasion ; 
 " that all other fancy dresses, such as polonbse, French 
 "nightgowns, &c., however elegant, are not sufficient 
 "dresses and are highly improper to be worn with 
 " lappets." Ladies are also forbidden to wear hats of 
 any kind in the public rooms on ball or concert nights 
 or on any evening until after the ist May, " as it would 
 " be utterly impossible to preserve any propriety in dress 
 " if the rules of this assembly were to vary with every 
 "trifling alteration of fashion in London. The ladies 
 " are also requested to observe that no apron of any sort 
 "can be admitted to the Balls on Mondays." The 
 gentlemen were as prone to indulge in latitudinarian 
 views with regard to their attire as the ladies, and the 
 like specific directions were issued for their guidance. 
 " Fancy dresses, with slash sleeve or jacket, turn-down 
 " cape," &c., are forbidden, the only dress proper for a 
 minuet being " a suit of full-trimmed cloaths with their 
 " hair or wig dressed in a bag." A dress suit of super- 
 fine cloth cost £i„ and a plain ditto £\ los., according 
 to the circular of a fashionable tailor of the day. 
 
 The cloth trade still flourished in Bath, but the mem- 
 bers of the ancient craft were not, we fear, in good 
 repute if the addendum to the following advertisement 
 has any meaning. " The overseers of the parish of S. 
 2 
 
26 SOCIETY IN 1777. 
 
 " James have several smart, healthy boys and girls from 
 " 10 to 14 years of age to put out as apprentices, decently 
 "attired, and with the usual parish fees. No cloth 
 " workers need apply ! " 
 
 As we have mentioned the price of apparel, it will fur- 
 nish additional materials for comparison if we add that 
 horses fetched £\ and £i) apiece ; that wheat was selling 
 here at from 34s. to 48s. per qr. ; barley, 17s. to 21s. ; 
 oats, 14s. to i8s. ; and beans from 27s. to 303. The 
 price of bread as officially fixed at the "Assize of 
 bread" was is. for gibs. ; meat was 3d. per lb., and tea 
 ranged from 5s. to 2is. per lb. 
 
 Notwithstanding the bad condition of the roads, before 
 alluded to, the Bath " machines" performed the journey 
 to London in one day, starting at four o'clock in the 
 morning. The fare was £\ 8s. for adults and 14s. foi 
 children. It is significant of the time that the departure 
 and arrival of the machines were not guaranteed ; the 
 contract would be fulfilled "if God permit," a phrase 
 appended to all the coaching announcements ther 
 current. 
 
 Without going into further details of those "good old 
 " times," we think we have said enough to show the general 
 and local surroundings of the Bath and West of England 
 Agricultural Society at its birth, and a few wprds are 
 now due respecting 
 
THE FOUNDER. 2^ 
 
 C|)e jFounDer. 
 
 Mr. Edmund Rack was born at Attleborough in the 
 county of Norfolk. He was educated in the religion of 
 his parents, Edmund and Elizabeth Rack, who were 
 both Quakers. We are informed that his father, a 
 labouring weaver, was a man of an excellent character, 
 and that his mother was well known for her preaching, 
 and highly esteemed among her own sect. 
 
 Thus humble in his parentage, he had little oppor- 
 tunities of instruction at that early season when the 
 mind is best disposed for receiving it. The knowledge 
 of arithmetic was Mr. Rack's highest attainment, when 
 he was removed to Wymondham, as an apprentice to a 
 general shopkeeper, and though possessing talents that 
 disdained the drudgery of his occupation, he was never 
 heard to repine at the necessary labours attending it. 
 At the close of his apprenticeship he went into Essex, 
 and at Bardfield became a shopman to Miss Agnes 
 Smith, whom he married not long after his residence in 
 that place. Amidst all the inconveniences of his situ- 
 ation, he commenced author before he arrived at the 
 age of thirty. His writings indeed, at first but rarely 
 affected a more dignified place than the corner of a 
 newspaper or a magazine, yet his performances were by 
 no means contemptible, especially those which appeared 
 in the "Monthly Ledger" and "Monthly Miscellany,' 
 under the title of Eusebius. These publications were 
 
28 THE FOUNDER. 
 
 followed by a few controversial tracts, which soon 
 however sunk into ' oblivion. It was about his fortieth 
 year (1775) that he settled at Bath, where, as a n;an of 
 letters, he found himself not unpleasantly situated. He 
 had just collected into one view his best poetical piece^ 
 that had made their appearance on different occasions 
 in periodical pamphlets. These, with several additional 
 poems, he printed in one small volume about the time 
 of his arrival at Bath. His next publication was " Cas- 
 pipina's Letters," in two small pocket volumes, dated 
 Bath, February 28, 1777. 
 
 Mr. Rack had not long resided in Bath before he was 
 introduced to some respectable personages among the 
 literati. Mrs. Macaulay, who at that time lived at 
 Alfred house with the Rev. Dr. Wilson, paid him very 
 particular attention, and was known to regard him both 
 ^s a man of integrity and abilities. About the same 
 time also he became acquainted with Lady Miller. In 
 the latter end of 1777 he published a small tract entitled 
 " Mentor's Letters," the substance of which he had 
 written about four years before, for a few of his younger 
 acquaintances. He was known also as one of the writerfs 
 for the " Farmer's Magazine ;" and in that year he 
 communicated to the public his scheme for the insti- 
 tution of an Agricultural Society. At the com mencement 
 of. the year 1781 he published an octavo volume of 
 letters, essays and poems by subscription. 
 
 The last of Mr. Rack's literary engagements was a 
 
INTRODUCTION OF THE SOCIETY. 29 
 
 joint share in " The History of the County of Somerset," 
 in which his particular department was the topographical 
 parochial survey. This, notwithstanding his ill state of 
 health, he indefatigably pursued during the successive 
 years of 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785 and 1786, and except a 
 few towns and parishes, lived to finish ; but only a small 
 part of the first volume was printed before his death, 
 which took place at Bath, February 22nd, 1787, in the 
 S2nd year of his age. 
 
 31ntronuction of t^t S)OCietp. 
 
 When Mr. Rack came from the east to the west he 
 was struck with the contrast presented, to the discredit 
 of the latter, in the agricultural condition of the two 
 districts. Conceiving that the superiority of Norfolk 
 in this respect was due to the fostering care of an Agri- 
 cultural Society, he thought such an institution would 
 achieve the same result for the western counties. He 
 developed his plan in a series of letters to the local press, 
 and cogently pointed out that it was to the interest of 
 the farmer, the landowners and the nation at large that 
 the resources of the country in connection with agriculture 
 should be increased. He also showed what had been 
 done in London, Norwich, York and divers other places, 
 to further the object by giving pecuniary and honorary 
 rewards to the "diligent and ingenious who have ex- 
 " celled in the various departments of husbandry, in 
 
30 INTRODUCTION OF THE SOCIETY. 
 
 "useful manufactures, and in the most curious speci- 
 "mens of art." 
 
 The project met with considerable sympathy, because 
 following upon the letters of Rack came the annexed 
 advertisement : — 
 
 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 To the Nobility and Gentry in the Counties of Somerset, Gloucester^ 
 Wilts and Dorset in general, and the Cities of Bath and 
 Bristol in particular. 
 
 Bath ; Aug. 26, 1777. 
 
 A proposition having been made for the institution of a Society 
 in this City for the encouragement of Agriculture, Planting, 
 Manufactures, Commerce and the Fine Arts, the Nobility and 
 Gentry are hereby respectfully informed that a Meeting will be 
 held at York House, on Monday, the 8th of September, at Eleven 
 o'clock in the forenoon, to take the affair under consideration. 
 And that the plans on which Societies of this kind in London, 
 Norwich, Manchester, &c., are founded, with some other necessary 
 particulars, will then and there be produced; in order that a 
 general plan may be formed for establishing a Society here on 
 a proper foundation, and a subscription opened for carrying it 
 on with a spirit becoming the dignity of so honourable an 
 institution, and its great importance to the community. 
 
 As this institution is intended for the benefit of all the above- 
 named counties, it is humbly requested that the public-spiritecf 
 gentlemen residing therein will generally honour it with their 
 countenance and protection. 
 
 About 22 gentlemen responded to this invitation, before 
 whom Mr. Rack laid his plan, and they entered so 
 cordially into it that a subscription was then and 
 
ITS SUBSEQUENT PROCEEDINGS. 31 
 
 there started to cover the unavoidable expenses. Sub- 
 sequent meetings were held under the presidency of Dr. 
 Falconer, at which a committee was appointed, the post 
 of secretary being accepted by Mr. Rack. At the end 
 of the year the secretary, in a letter couched in terms 
 of modest exultation, announced that he had received 
 the sum of £3$'^ to be distributed in premiums. 
 
 The Earl of Ilchester was the first president of the 
 Society, and among its warmest supporters were Mr. J. 
 Billingsley, of Ashwick grove, near Shepton Mallet, 
 and Mr. T. Davis, steward of the Marquis of Bath. 
 
 31ts Subsequent IProceetiings. 
 
 The first subject which engaged the attention of the 
 Society was the growing of corn on the best and 
 cheapest method with due regard to economy of seed 
 and sufficiency of yield. The system of setting wheat 
 had been commonly practised in Norfolk for some time, 
 and not only were inquiries made as to the method of 
 practising it, but Mr. Thomas Bethell, of Weston, carried 
 off the Society's prize of £10 for setting ten acres, which 
 afforded agriculturists an opportunity of determining 
 whether the practice was worthy of their adoption. 
 From an account of the Society written by the present 
 energetic secretary, Mr. J. Goodwin, we learn that its 
 leading members were so impressed with the importance 
 of practically testing all alleged improvements before 
 
32 ITS SUBSEQUENT PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 they recommended them to others, that they had not 
 only a sort of experimental farm where trials of various 
 kinds were conducted by unprejudiced and earnest men, 
 but it is an interesting fact — more especially now that 
 agricultural machinery has attained to such marvellous 
 development and excellence — that as early as March. 
 1788, the exhibition of Blancher's drill plough was 
 announced at the Society's rooms, and the assurance 
 that it had been " tried by the Agricultural Committee 
 "and found to deliver the grain with great exactness 
 " and regularity." Another noteworthy circumstance of 
 the year was the occurrence of a ploughing match, 
 which took place on Barrack's farm. Wells road, near 
 Bath, and which is considered the first competition of 
 the kind in this or any other country. 
 
 Among the other objects under investigation at the 
 same time were the rot in sheep, distemper among 
 horned cattle, and the settlement of the question of land 
 exhaustion after constant cropping. The discussion of 
 the latter subject elicited questions and suggestions 
 which foreshadowed some of the results attained at a 
 later date by a chemical analysis of soils. The disease 
 known as the "curl" in potatoes was likewise inves- 
 tigated under the Society's directions, the ravages it was 
 then committing forcing it upon attention, like the 
 potato disease with which the present generation is 
 ■familiar. We fear it cannot be said that the mystery 
 surrounding the orgin of either has been satisfactorily 
 
ITS SUBSEQUENT PROCEEDINGS. 33. 
 
 explained. The same year the Rev. W. Lamport, of 
 Honiton, received a premium of twenty guineas from 
 the Society for an essay on the "Establishment of 
 " Schools of Husbandry for Farmers' Sons." 
 
 Unlike some of the other societies, the Bath and West 
 of England offered, in its early years, no premium for the 
 improvement of live stock, the importance of which was 
 only slowly obtaining recognition, but it did not entirely 
 overlook the subject, for in 1783 its journal contained a 
 paper embodying the suggestions of Mr. Benjamin 
 Smith, a noted breeder of cattle and sheep (derived from 
 the Bakewell herd and flocks) for the improvement of 
 West of England stock. Smith recommended that the 
 Devon cattle should be crossed with animals of a 
 different breed and arriving earlier at maturity. He 
 described the Devons as being set high on the legs and 
 therefore weighing very light, though fetching more per 
 lb. than any others at Smithfield market. Ten years 
 however elapsed before Devon stock appeared in the 
 Society's premium list, the reason assigned for the delay 
 being that it belonged to a county outside the pale of 
 the Society'.s operations. The first prize ever awarded 
 by the Association for the improvement of stock was to 
 Mr. John Young for the best ram. 
 
 In 1784 the Earl of Ailesbury succeeded the Earl of 
 Ilchester in the office of president. A variety of 
 subjects engaged the attention of the Society at this 
 period, the most noteworthy being a proposal made by 
 
34 ITS SUBSEQUENT PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 Dr. Fothergill to appoint a chemical professor to the 
 Society, which we shall find renewed a few years later. 
 Then we have communications from Mr. Arthur Young 
 on various branches of farming economy ; a revival of 
 the inquiry commenced in 1778 as to the cultivation of 
 rhubarb for medicinal purposes, with elaborate reports 
 by many of the leading physicians of England and 
 Scotland — a subject that had long engaged the attenti6n 
 of the London Society ; the offer of prizes for butter, 
 cheese and general dairy management ; an inquiry into 
 the causes of gaol fever, and the best system of prison, 
 discipline ; an account of Sir T. Beevor's Suffolk breed 
 of cows ; two remarkable papers by Mr. Wimpey on the 
 laws of vegetation ; and various other matters of special 
 interest at the time. The increased attention now paid 
 to an improved class of agricultural implements also 
 deserves notice. In 1785 the Society examined and 
 expressed its approval of Winlaw's mill for separating 
 the grain from the ears of corn, in place of thrashing. 
 One great obstacle to the more general use of improved 
 implements was the disinclination of farm servants to 
 adapt themselves to the change which was beginning to 
 influence the whole system of industrial occupation in 
 England. Mr. Billingsley, writing on this subject, 
 observes : — " Vigorous attempts have been made by the 
 "Bath Society to introduce the Norfolk and other 
 " ploughs, calculated not only to expedite the work, but 
 " to render it less expensive, and their endeavours have 
 
THE MERINO SHEEP CONTROVERSY. 35 
 
 " been attended with no inconsiderable degree of success ; 
 "yet I may say that not one farmer in 500 has followed 
 "the example, though many of them daily receive 
 "ocular demonstration of the inferiority of their own 
 "ill-constructed ploughs. To what can this blindness 
 "and obstinacy be owing? The farmers are quick- 
 " sighted enough in most other matters wherein their 
 " interest is concerned. I am therefore inclined to think 
 "the fault lies more with the ploughman than the 
 " master, whose indolence induces him rather to accom- 
 " modate the plough to the man, than to exert himself in 
 " making the man accommodate himself to the plough." 
 It was in consequence of this representation that the 
 Society offered a premium to those ploughmen who 
 most readily adopted and most properly used the 
 Norfolk plough, and among the prizes awarded was one 
 to the Earl of Pembroke, for ploughing 500 acres with 
 the Norfolk plough, drawn by two horses, and another 
 to Mr. Nagg's ploughman, for "great diligence in using 
 "and promoting the use of the same implement." 
 
 C&e 9@ermo ^Deep Controtiergg. 
 
 A subject which occupied a prominent plage in the 
 efforts of the Society for the greater part of a quarter of 
 a century, was the improvement of wool, particularly in 
 connection with the Spanish breed known as the merino. 
 Its history forms not only an instructive episode in the 
 proceedings of the Association, but is especially interest- 
 
36 THE MERINO SHEEP CONTROVERSY. 
 
 ing to Bath, for in no part of the country were greater 
 exertions made to naturalise the merino. Loyalty 
 perhaps had not a little to do with the persistency with 
 which the undertaking was prosecuted. George III. 
 was the first to embark in the project, his object being' 
 to make England, in this respect at least, independent 
 of the foreigner. From 1787 his Majesty embraced 
 every favourable opportunity of procuring the merino or 
 fine-wooUed sort from the Peninsula, the rams being 
 selected for him by the Marchioness del Carapo. He 
 hoped in this way to lessen the large sums that were 
 then sent out of the country for the purchase of this 
 wool, without which fine broadcloth could not be made. 
 The several lots of sheep thus imported were distributed 
 as they arrived in this country among the noblemen and 
 others concerned in breeding sheep, the Bath and West 
 of England being among the recipients of a ram. The 
 scheme was however ridiculed, and was likely to collapse 
 from want of sympathy and co-operation on the part of 
 those whom the king wished to interest in the under- 
 taking. Annoyed at the prospect of failure, his Majesty 
 turned breeder himself, in order to demonstrate the 
 practicability of obtaining wool in England as fine as 
 the merino, and " Farmer George" had in a few years 
 the satisfaction of finding his annual sale of sheep 
 attracting general attention. 
 
 However sceptical others may have been several 
 members of the Society seconded the efforts of the king 
 
THE MERINO SHEEP CONTROVERSY. 37 
 
 with great ardour, among them being Lord Somerville, 
 Dr. Parry, of Summerhill house, Bath, also Mr. Bartley, 
 for some time secretary to the Society, and who 
 was as trenchant a writer as he was a skilful 
 breeder. Prizes were offered by the Society for the 
 finest wool of home growth, and in 1795 Dr. Parry is 
 among the successful competitors. His name appears 
 again in 1801 in conjunction with the Duke of Bedford, 
 both of whom received premiums for different samples 
 of broadcloth and kerseymere made from British wool, 
 the growth of their own improved flocks ; " in quality," 
 we are told, "it is scarcely to be perceived from the 
 "finest Spanish." The year before the king appeared 
 in a dress wholly made from cloth manufactured from 
 British wool, and his Majesty's example was followed at 
 intervals by various members of the Society, who hoped 
 by this means to encourage native industry and at the 
 same time to protect the cloth trade of the west from 
 the ruin then foreshadowed. Dr. Parry also received 
 the gold medal of the Royal Society for a pamphlet on 
 merino sheep, and the king accepted from him with 
 many compliments a piece of fine cloth woven from the 
 wool of the Summerhill flock. 
 
 In 1803 the most noteworthy fact appears to have 
 been an " important communication from Lord Somer- 
 "ville on the subject of British wool with especial refer- 
 "ence to the new flocks." The next year it is announced 
 that the pieces of broadcloth from merino wool were 
 
38 THE MERINO SHEEP CONTROVERSY. 
 
 much more numerous than on any former occasion, the 
 premiums being secured by Lord Somerville, Dr. Parry, 
 Mr. Bartley and Mr. W. H. Yates. The enthusiasm for 
 the merino continued unabated. 
 
 In 1805, Mr. Bartley had a thousand pounds of wool 
 for sale, and in 1807 the Society established in its exhi- 
 bition yard a wool mart. At the same time the mem- 
 bers patriotically resolved to appear at the next public 
 meeting in cloth made solely from British fleeces. 
 Later on the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Clarence 
 are recorded as accepting cloth from Dr. Parry of the 
 produce of his own flocks. Indeed it appeared as if 
 the advocates of the merino had won the day, in spite of 
 tlie opposition they had to encounter. 
 
 A clergyman writing from Reigate in September, 
 1810, says : — We hear of no difference now either in 
 price or quality between merino wool grown in this 
 country and that imported from Spain or Saxony. The 
 manufacturer finds the former equally suitable to his 
 purpose with the latter. The crosses upon our English 
 breeds with the merino have been to the full as success- 
 ful and profitable as was at first prophesied by our most 
 sanguine speculators. The thoroughly crossed Anglo- 
 merino wool — witness Dr. Parry's flock, the largest, per- 
 haps, of the kind in Europe — has succeeded so entirely 
 that the cloth of its manufacture has equalled, and some- 
 times proved superior to any broad cloths which England 
 could produce. 
 
THE MERINO SHEEP CONTROVERSY. 39 
 
 Notwithstanding these positive assurances and the 
 liberal bounties offered from year to year by the Society, 
 the merino never took kindly to the country. The son 
 of Dr. Parry continued to breed the stock at Summer- 
 hill, and to carry off prizes for the wool, but the fates or 
 rather the climate was against him. 
 
 During the depression which followed on the close of 
 the great war and from which the agricultural interest 
 suffered, the farmers and many of their friends looked 
 back regretfully to the period when the woollen industry 
 was the foremost of the kingdom, and as the country- 
 was prosperous then, they inferred apparently that it 
 was only necessary to revive the old trade and the 
 national prosperity would return with it. 
 
 In this spirit Dr. Parry, the younger, addressed in 
 1822 a letter to the President of the Association on the 
 growth of prize wool in this country, accompanied by 
 some fleeces and a piece of cloth. He likewise offered 
 to compete the next year with any grower of wool in 
 the kingdom and with any manufacturer of cloth from 
 foreign wool. When the time came he had to express 
 his regret and disappointment at not being able to for- 
 ward "the fine specimen of cloth" made from merino 
 wool, owing to its having been stolen. 
 
 The following year it is duly notified that " Dr. Parry 
 '' exhibited a piece of navy blue cloth, made from the 
 ^' wool of the Merino-Ryeland stock," which was much 
 admired. 
 
40 THE MERINO SHEEP CONTROVERSY. 
 
 The efforts of the Doctor to revive the staple trade of 
 the country was at this time warmly seconded by Mr. 
 G. W. Hall, who appeared at the meeting in 1827 in a 
 suit of clothes produced from wool grown upon his own 
 farm. 
 
 The following year. Mr. Hall complained bitterly of 
 the little attention paid by English farmers to the pro- 
 duction of fleeces, and declared that if the same apathy 
 were exhibited in the future, he should propose that 
 premiums be given for the best animals that produced 
 bristles instead of wool ! The trade however could not 
 be galvanised into life. The merino, steadfastly as it 
 was befriended by the Parrys and others, deteriorated 
 under the changed climatic conditions of its life ; its 
 wool lost its fine texture, and as it was not fitted for the 
 production of mutton, the Royal favourite subsided into 
 obscurity, to which doom it was helped by the increasing 
 supply of fine foreign wool. 
 
 The encouragement the breed received was none the 
 less creditable to the Society, because there is not the 
 least doubt some of the best breeders of the day con- 
 sidered the maintenance of the stock an object of 
 national importance. Nor was the experiment barren 
 of beneficial consequences in another direction, for its 
 introduction led the Society to turn its attention to the 
 improvement of stock generally and with the best 
 results. So high nevertheless was the opinion enter- 
 tained of the breed for several years that at Lord 
 
OTHER OBJECTS ENCOURAGED. 41 
 
 Somerville's sale in May, 181 1, 238 merinos sold for no 
 less than ;^9,2ro 53. 6d. 
 
 ©t|)er HDfij'ects aEncouragen. 
 
 Retracing our steps to the year 1787, we find the 
 Society manifesting interest in the growth of mangold 
 wurtzel. In the preceding year Sir Thos. Beevor, of 
 Hethel, had obtained a few seeds from Paris, and the 
 result of an experiment with them induced him to lay 
 the facts before the Society, which warmly seconded his 
 efforts, and in 1788 the first crop of mangold was grown 
 in the western counties. 
 
 At the same time the Society was busy in introducing 
 to notice improved implements, among these being 
 Winter's drill machine, Treffry's harrow and drag, C, 
 Gray's turnip transplanter, and an invention by J. C. 
 Hornblower, of Bristol, for communicating motion at a 
 distance. The cultivation of turnip-root cabbage, sug- 
 gested by Sir Thomas Beevor, was encouraged about 
 this period. The protection of turnips from the fly also 
 engaged the serious attention of the Society, and it is 
 said that the idea of rolling, as a precautionary measure, 
 was first suggested in the neighbourhood of Bath. Some 
 gipsies had encamped in a turnip field, the owner of 
 which noticed that just at the spot trampled upon by 
 the vagrants the best crop was produced. Rolling was 
 certainly a much more useful plan than the strewing of 
 the ground with elder branches then recommended, and 
 3 
 
42 OTHER OBJECTS ENCOURAGED. 
 
 which is still followed by many cottagers, or the placing 
 of putrid lobsters with mathematical regularity on the 
 land, which was one of the desperate expedients sug- 
 gested to keep off the destructive fly. 
 
 At the meeting in 1790 the title of the Society was 
 altered to " The Bath and West of England Society," 
 on account of its then well established character and the 
 widely extended residences of its subscribers. 
 
 In 179s, among the premiums awarded was one to 
 Mr. Jeanes, of Allhampton, for his " demonstrated skill 
 "in the cure of the rot in sheep," but the condition 
 annexed to the gratuity was that the recipient should 
 make " a full discovery of his medicine and mode of 
 "application," which he apparently failed to do, either 
 from a conviction on further trial that he had been too 
 hasty in his conclusions, or that, from selfish consider- 
 ations, he deemed it better to keep the secret to him- 
 self, the former hypothesis being the more probable of 
 the two. 
 
 The merits of the North Devon herd of cattle had by 
 this time so deeply impressed the Society that in the 
 introduction to this year's Journal special attention is 
 called to it by the editor (Mr. Matthews), who succeeded 
 Mr. Rack as secretary in 1787. A prize of ten guineas 
 was awarded to the Rev. Wm. Quartly for the finest 
 young bull, sire and dam of this favourite breed. Prizes 
 for fat sheep, for rams, and for rams' and ewes' fleeces 
 were also given. 
 
OTHER OBJECTS ENCOURAGED. 43 
 
 The celebrated Duke of Bedford, who became presi- 
 dent of the Society, was this year, for the first time, an 
 exhibitor. Owing to the great scarcity at this time, the 
 Society made special efforts to encourage the breeding 
 of pigs and the growth of potatoes. They also petitioned 
 Parliament in favour of a general Inclosure Act. 
 
 In 1796 the meeting was more numerously attended 
 than ever, and honoured with the company of the Mar- 
 quis of L ansdowne (the great grandfather of the present 
 holder of the title), the Earls of Stafford, Peter- 
 borough and Galloway, Lord Somerville, and some of the 
 best farmers and breeders in the kingdom. 
 
 The next year the Duke of Bedford attended, as well 
 as the Marquis of Lansdowne and the Marquis of Bath, 
 and that well-known writer on agricultural and other 
 topics, Mr. Arthur Young. Among the bounties given 
 was one of £10 los. to Mr. Exter, of Pilton, Devon, for 
 a well written essay on the comparative merits of " drill- 
 ing and broad-cast sowing." New descriptions of drills, 
 threshing and winnowing machines were also patronised, 
 and some useful information obtained on the autumn 
 cultivation of turnip and other root crops. 
 
 The following year we read, " Mr. Lazarus Cohen, of 
 " Exeter, presented a curious machine for reaping and 
 "mowing, by the use of which one man with great 
 *' facility can do the work of three." This was esteemed, 
 it is added, a very ingenious, practical invention, but 
 Jiot being completed was not entitled to any of the 
 
44 INSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 Society's premiums. Had we in this invention of 
 Cohen's the germ of our modern reaping and mowing 
 machines ? It would be interesting to know the fate of 
 this labour-saving contrivance, as forty years only have 
 elapsed since Enoch Ambler first put his machine for 
 cutting grass and grain into operation in Montgomery 
 County, New York. 
 
 In addition to its other objects, the Association began 
 in 1799 to aid improvement in the growth of the 
 choicer kind of fruit, which it continued to do for several 
 years. 
 
 Mr. J. Brown in 1800 obtained a premium for the 
 introduction of the horse hoe. 
 
 At the next gathering two names stand out conspicu- 
 ously : Mr. T. Quartly, who received a prize of six 
 guineas for introducing the double furrow-plough into a 
 new district, and ploughing 60 acres with it ; and Dr. 
 Cogan, who was awarded a premium for a new dibbling 
 machine. 
 
 The custom of giving farm labourers bounties for long 
 and faithful services had been recently introduced, and 
 among them Sarah Leonard is credited with two guineas 
 for reaping 5 acres 1 1 perches of wheat. 
 
 31n0titution of tbe IBeHforHian a^elial. 
 
 The president of the Society, Francis, Duke of Bedford, 
 an ardent promoter of agricultural improvement, died 
 on the 2nd March, 1802. On the 22nd an extraordinafij 
 
BEDFORDIAN MEDAL, 45 
 
 meeting of the Bath Society was held, under the 
 presidency of Mr. J. Billingsley, one of the Vice-Presi- 
 dents, to give expression to their deep sense of the 
 sudden loss sustained by the removal of his Grace. It 
 was resolved to recommend that a gold medallion, 
 value twenty guineas, should be annually offered as a 
 premium for the greatest improvement in any subject 
 connected with agriculture which shall be proposed by 
 a committee annually appointed for the purpose. A 
 premium of twenty-five guineas was also voted for the 
 selected design. The honour thus instituted was for 
 several years a much coveted distinction ; indeed, it 
 was regarded as the "blue ribbon" of the Society, 
 and proved a great stimulus to genius ; but considerable 
 latitude seems to have been taken in its bestowal. 
 Capt Parry received it for his Arctic discoveries, the 
 connection of which with agriculture is not easy to 
 determine ; so did Chantrey the sculptor, and the in- 
 ventor of a life-preserver throwing stick. From a gold 
 medal it became, with the drooping finances of the 
 Society, one of silver, and about 1831, after two or three 
 interregnums, it disappeared altogether from the Society's 
 premiums. It will be interesting to the ladies to know 
 that Miss Fanshaw obtained the medal in 1804 for 
 presenting the best design for the Bedfordian die, the 
 medal, we presume, being substituted for the before- 
 mentioned premium of twenty-five guineas, because it 
 is also recorded that Mr. Arthur Young obtained a 
 
46 ELECTION OF A MOHAWK CHIEF. 
 
 similar distinction for the best essay on the " Natures, 
 Properties, and Application of Manures." 
 
 The successor to the Bedford Dukedom became also 
 the next president of the Society, to which he presented 
 a marble bust of the late Duke, still preserved in the 
 Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. The new 
 Duke however retired from the presidential chair in 
 1805, though he continued for many years a subscriber 
 to the funds, and was succeeded by Mr. (afterwards Sir) 
 Benjamin Hobhouse. While on the subject of official 
 changes, it will be convenient to note that in 1805 Mr. 
 Bartley resigned the secretaryship, which he had 
 held for five years, and which was accepted by Mr. 
 Robert Ricardo. 
 
 election of a a^o&atofe Cfiief. 
 
 The meeting of the Society in 1804 was rendered 
 memorable by the presence of a distinguished chief of 
 the Mohawk nation, with a name as long as it is un- 
 pronounceable. On his introduction he was described as 
 "ardent in the pursuit of agricultural improvements 
 "and desirous of adopting the best system of this 
 "kingdom in his far-distant home." The enlightened 
 barbarian was elected an honorary member of the 
 Society, and his speech in returning thanks for the 
 compliment is described as felicitous and practical^ 
 Every facility was afforded him by the Society to 
 
PROGRESS OF THE SOCIETY. 47 
 
 become acquainted with bucolic matters, but whether 
 the privilege he enjoyed here bore the fruit desired in 
 his "far-distant home" is not recorded. This much 
 however should be stated to his honour that during the 
 British- American war of i8 12, he stood, it is said, loyally 
 by the English, and with his tribe rendered essential 
 service to the Colonial authorities. 
 
 Pro0;i:es0 of tht ©ocietg. 
 
 The operations of the Society each year included a 
 ploughing match in the summer, a meeting in November 
 for general business, and the usual gathering in the 
 middle of December, when the exhibition of stock and 
 implements took place at the Society's yard in James's 
 street, coupled with the reading of papers and the reports 
 of the judges, &c., at Hetling House. The proceedings 
 occupied three days, and included a public dinner. 
 
 Resuming our notice of the special objects encouraged 
 by the Society, we find in 1802 that a premium of five 
 guineas was given to Mr. B. Gray, jun., of Henstridge, 
 for ploughing in a new district the greatest quantity of 
 land with a pair of horses abreast, without a driver. A 
 year or two later Mr. L. Tugwell, of Bath, was adjudged 
 a piece of plate value ten guineas for exhibiting various 
 valuable implements of agriculture, and for great general 
 merit in the construction and exhibition of useful articles 
 in various departments of mechanics for several years. 
 
48 PROGRESS OF THE SOCIETY. 
 
 A butcher of Bath also received a premium for adopting 
 the Italian method of killing cattle. 
 
 Of more importance was a proposal made by Sir John 
 Coxe Hippisley to establish a chemical laboratory at 
 the Society's house. Sir John presented a plan for the 
 same, which was approved and 130 guineas were im- 
 mediately subscribed, and on carrying the same into 
 effect Dr. Parry generously offered to present his 
 chemical apparatus to the Society, whose example in 
 this respect was followed by Dr. Archer, a resident 
 medical and chemical professor, and who likewise 
 undertook the office of lecturer gratis. The object will 
 be (it is explained) to deliver courses of popular lectures 
 on the principles and application of chemistry to agri- 
 culture and rural affairs, and to analyse soils and other 
 substances useful in those most essential of arts. In 
 1806, Mr. Billingsley received the Bedfordian gold medal 
 for an essay on the cultivation of waste land ; and the 
 next year an ingenious machine for discharging water 
 on fruit trees was awarded a bounty of ;^3 3s. A 
 proposition was also made by the Society's editor, Mr. 
 Matthews, to connect an agricultural college with the 
 Society — similar to that established at a subsequent 
 period at Cirencester, but the suggestion led to no 
 practical result. 
 
 Two years later the Prince of Wales (afterwards 
 George IV.) became patron of the Society as Duke of 
 Corjnwall, and following his example the lords lieu- 
 
PROGRESS OF THE SOCIETY. 49 
 
 tenant of the western counties became vice-presidents. 
 In the meantime Lord Somerville had been endeavouring 
 to impress upon the Society and the minds of agri- 
 culturists generally " the imperious necessity of rendering 
 " the country independent of foreign aid by raising those 
 "great sinews of our naval strength, hemp and flax, 
 ^'within the limits of the Empire." In 18 13 the 
 Bedfordian gold medal was awarded to the Rev. J. 
 Willis, of Sopley, Hampshire, for an essay on the 
 commutation of tithes ; Messrs. Todd and James, of 
 Bristol, exhibited a machine capable of detaching eight 
 quarters of wheat per day by the power of one horse, . 
 which it was thought probable would supersede thrashing 
 machines. 
 
 A resolution adopted this year directed that all cattle 
 exhibited at the Society's meeting should be judged 
 alive. By this means it was thought that much greater 
 interest and consequently competition would be excited 
 and great trouble saved to the judges. Dr. Wilkinson, 
 a name intimately associated with many public under- 
 takings in Bath, was the next year elected chemical 
 professor in the place of Dr. Boyd, of whom it is said 
 that he had left the kingdom. 
 
 Bedfordian medals were awarded to Dr. Cogan, as 
 a testimony of high respect, and to Mr. King, statuary 
 ■of Walcot, for a model of Mr. J. Billingsley, who died 
 the previous year, after having been for 32 years a 
 vice-president of the Society. At this time the Society 
 
so THE MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE, PRESIDENT. 
 
 was making strenuous efforts to promote the cultivation 
 of Fiorin grass. One year Sir J. Coxe Hippisley was 
 awarded a premium of 20 guineas for its successful cul- 
 tivation, Mr. W. Dickinson, M.P., and the Rev. W. B. 
 Barter likewise obtained the like premiums for the cul- i 
 ture of the same product at other times. In 18 14 a 
 premium of five guineas was awarded to the inventor 
 of a windmill of ingenious construction. 
 
 C6e 8©atquis of JLangDotone, l^resiDent. 
 
 Sir B. Hobhouse having filled the oflfice of President 
 ibr twelve years, resigned in 18 17, and the Marquis of 
 Lansdowne was appointed to the post, which he held 
 for the long period of thirty years. Sir Benjamin had 
 been a munificent supporter of the Society ; on his 
 inauguration the hon. baronet gave a donation of 
 100 guineas to the funds, and annually a subscrip- 
 tion of 20 guineas as a prize for the encourage- 
 ment of some object of utility. A bust of the late 
 president was ordered, and the same was executed by 
 Chantrey, who received the Bedfordian medal as a 
 compliment to his artistic skill. This bust, like that of 
 the Duke of Bedford, is preserved at the Literary Insti- 
 tution. The Marquis of Lansdowne on accepting the 
 office oi president also presented a hundred guineas to 
 the Society ; year after year. he was a regular attendant 
 at the meeting, contributing liberally to its funds, offer- 
 ing special prizes, and participating in its discussions* 
 
CONCURRENT OPERATIONS. 5 1 
 
 Almost the last occasion when the noble Marquis was 
 present he joined in a debate on the potato disease, 
 which had recently manifested itself with such virulence 
 as to destroy the crops. He doubted the various causes 
 assigned for its origin, and as a large potato grower 
 himself he recommended early planting and a liberal 
 use of lime to the soil as the best preventitive. Probably 
 even at this la4:e period we have not advanced very far 
 beyond the opinion here expressed, either as to the 
 origin of the disease or the most effectual method of 
 guarding against it and minimising its effects. About 
 the same time the Marquis offered ;£^ioo as premiums 
 for improved deep draining, £$o for work done by the 
 sub-soil plough and £$o for the best of any other mode. 
 To the great regret of all Lord Lansdowne retired in 
 consequence of his great age and infirmities in the year 
 1846. His lordship was then elected patron to the 
 Society in succession to the Queen, who became 
 patroness in 1839 ^^'^ continued the Royal donation of 
 $0 guineas annually given by George IV. and William 
 IV. The Royal bounty ceased however simultaneously 
 with her Majesty's withdrawal from the Society. 
 
 Concurtent ©perattons. 
 
 In 1 8 17 the premiums for live stock were considerably 
 increased, three prizes of £15, one of ;^20 and another of 
 £^0 being offered in the bull and steer classes. Prizes 
 
52 CONCURRENT OPERATIONS. 
 
 were likewise given for horses employed in husbandry 
 and one for stallions. The following year Dr. Wilkijfct 
 son's eminent services received substantial recognition, 
 in the present of a piece of plate, value 20 guineas, and 
 Sir T. Tyrwhit obtained the Bedfordian medal for 
 experiments made by him in the most lofty parts of 
 Dartmoor in the cultivation of flax. The next yeat 
 the study of geology was encouraged, and a cabinet 
 purchased for the exhibition of specimens. Mr. J. H. 
 Hunt, of Compton, is recorded as receiving a gratuity of 
 £S for introducing on a large scale the cultivation of 
 hops in Somerset. In 1820 books were opened to 
 receive subscriptions from ladies for the encouragement 
 in the western counties of poultry breeding and bee 
 keeping, which we fear the fair did not respond to with 
 alacrity, as we hear no more of the project. A reverend 
 divine (Phelps) was, in the course of the following year, 
 awarded a bounty of £$ for an improved cider press, 
 and a rear-admiral (BuUen) obtained the Bedfordian 
 medal on the next occasion for an improvement in the 
 ball cock. Mr. Stothert exhibited two balancing drag 
 shoes for wagons, which possessed great " merit" and 
 obtained the thanks of the Society. In 1823 the inde- 
 fatigable Dr. Wilkinson read a paper on the best means 
 of preventing inundations in Bath, and the Society 
 awarded him a silver medal (Bedford) for his labours. 
 
 The scheme for grafting the study of geology on to 
 the operations of the Society was found to be imprao- 
 
CONCURRENT OPERATIONS. 53 
 
 ticable, and in 1825 its fossil collections were ordered to 
 be transferred to the Literary Institution. During this 
 decade considerable attention was given by the Society 
 to the fertilising properties of salt, with which many 
 experiments were made and the results recorded. The 
 manufacture of straw plait was also encouraged, and 
 samples from time to time exhibited. In 1827 Sir 
 Richard Hoare and other gentlemen contributed papers 
 on planting, and Mr. Osborne on drainage. An 
 animated discussion also took place on the subject of 
 the Corn Laws. 
 
 The next year rewards offered by his Majesty, by the 
 Duke of Somerset, and Sir B. Hobhouse, for the improve- 
 ment of waste lands were bestowed, as well as others for 
 the best cultivated farms, for new varieties and kinds of 
 vegetable and fruit produce, and inventions in mechanics, 
 chemistry and other useful arts. Among the recipients 
 were Mr, W. Hill, of Combe Hay, for an essay on 
 "Orchard Plantation," £$, and "Agricola" ten guineas 
 for a treatise on the " Growth of Wheat." 
 
 The Journal of the Society (vol. xv.) was in 1829 pub- 
 lished after an interval of 13 years. Two years subse- 
 quently the death of Sir B. Hobhouse is recorded, after 
 a connection with the Society extending back to 179S, 
 and that of Charles Phillott, who from its institution in 
 1777 was one of its vice-presidents. 
 
54 IMPROVEMENT OF THE LABOURER. 
 
 3fmprot)ement of tfje lLafiourcr, 
 
 The lamentable condition of ,the agricultural labourer 
 could not fail to receive the consideration of the Society. 
 During the first thirty years of the present century the 
 state of poor Hodge declined from bad to worse. 
 Wretchedly housed, badly paid and badly fed, he was 
 driven by desperation to become a rick-burner or a 
 poacher, or else a burden upon the rates. At the time 
 to which we have now brought the annals of the Society 
 pauperism appears to have been his normal condition, 
 and it is not surprising that the Society was zealous in 
 its efforts to provide a remedy for this dangerous state 
 of things. 
 
 As far back as 1790 a prize was awarded to Mr. T. 
 Davis, of Longleat, for plans of cottages, and in an 
 explanatory letter he says, " Men of feeling will endea- 
 "vour to improve the labourers' cottages from principle; 
 " those without feeling, if such men there are, will find it 
 " to their interest to do it." 
 
 In 1824 Sir J. C. Hippisley laid before the Society a 
 sketch of cottages, combining " all the useful ingredients 
 " of economy and comfort," the cost of which was £2$ 
 for a single cottage, and £4^ for a double cottage, at 
 which figures modern improvers will doubtless give the 
 sceptical shrug. The hon* baronet in pointing out the 
 necessity for looking after the housing of the peasantry, 
 declared that such was the miserable condition of many 
 
IMPROVEMENT OF THE LABOURER. 55 
 
 of the cottages that it was a common practice for women 
 in child-bed to bring their bedding to the lower floor. 
 These palliatives, mild as they were, made little impres- 
 sion on the degradation of the cottagers. A great deal 
 more was effected by means of the field garden or allot- 
 ment system which came into operation, and which the 
 Society strenuously fostered. The then bishop of the 
 diocese was a great advocate of the plan, and put it to 
 a practical test, his lordship being a prime mover in the 
 establishment of the East Somerset Labourers' Friend 
 Society, which gave prizes for garden produce and skil- 
 ful tillage. The West of England Society rendered 
 this organisation assistance in various ways, and its 
 annual meetings were held simultaneously with those of 
 the older association, which made their identification 
 more complete. The late Captain Scobell, R.N., was a 
 staunch promoter and practiser of the allotment sys- 
 tem, and frequently brought the subject under the notice 
 of the members. 
 
 In 1832 the Society, it is recorded, "caused to be 
 ■"printed and widely circulated the very interesting 
 " observations furnished by Capt. Scobell on the subject 
 "of ' Field Gardens,' a subject which at the present time 
 •"deserves the attention of every individual who is 
 •"interested in the welfare of these suffering classes, of 
 " the owners and occupiers of land, and the nation at 
 "large." The gallant Captain found an able seconder 
 an Mr. C. W. Hall, who farmed about 700 acres of his 
 
S6 IMPROVEMENT OF THE LABOURER. 
 
 own land at Westbury-on-Tiym. Like his father before 
 him, he followed out the allotment plan, and pointed 
 out during one of the discussions with much force that 
 the greatest benefit of the system arose from giving the 
 labourer a sense of security — a hold on the soil, and a 
 station in the civilised class of society, thus generating a 
 strong tie to the higher classes, and a disposition to pro- 
 tect rather than attack property. 
 
 In 1830 the Bedford silver medal was granted to Mr. 
 John Beak, of Southstoke, for having materially improved 
 the condition of his labourers during the previous ten 
 years by means of small allotments of land for their own 
 cultivation. A gold medal was also offered by the 
 Society to the renting farmer in any of the western 
 counties who has contributed most, by the use of the 
 like means, to the welfare of those dependent upon him, 
 and thereby rendered them independent of any parochial 
 relief. Mr. Hall declared that none of the labourers on 
 his estate ever had a shilling from the parish. The gold 
 medal was not claimed ; but the hearty support given 
 by the Society to the allotment movement was productive > 
 of great good, and adds another to its many claims on 
 the public gratitude. 
 
 Nearly the last special prize given by the Society 
 before its resuscitation was one of £$ in 1848, to Mr. C. 
 E. Davis, for plans and estimates for the construction of 
 labourers' cottages. So anxious indeed was the Associ- 
 ation to improve the condition of the peasantry that it 
 
AN ENTERPRISING MEMBER. 57 
 
 was not above encouraging that useful branch of female 
 labour, knitting. Thus at an earlier date than the year 
 above given it is stated that Miss Spencer, mistress of 
 the Charity School, Malmesbury, was awarded five 
 guineas for instructing young females to knit, with a 
 bounty of £4. for distribution among her pupils. Mrs. 
 Thompson, of Cock-road school, also received a gratuity 
 of five guineas for the like labours, and her pupils a 
 present of £1. 
 
 3tT enterprising 9@em6er. 
 
 Mr. Hall, whose name has occurred more than once in 
 our narrative, seems to have been a clever man with a 
 clear head and a warm heart. For several years he was 
 the most prominent speaker at the annual gatherings, and 
 a competitor in various departments. 
 
 In 1829 he submitted a motion for the meetings of 
 the Society to be held alternately in Bath and Bristol, in 
 consequence of the larger measure of aid it received in 
 the latter city. 
 
 Dr. Parry gave a qualified support to the resolution, 
 and asked whether it was right that the Society should 
 appear in the form of a mendicant to those who for 
 above half-a-century had benefited by its existence and 
 exertions. The subject was ordered to stand over, and 
 on the next occasion the proposition was rejected, owing 
 to the praiseworthy liberality of the Corporation of Bath 
 4 
 
S8 AN ENTERPRISING MEMBER. 
 
 and the Parliamentary representatives of the city, and the 
 additions made to the list of members. 
 
 Mr. Hall stood by the Society though defeated in his 
 object. He soon after submitted the model of an 
 improved method of building labourers' cottages, with 
 a plan for economising heat and fuel by means of a 
 fireplace constructed on principles different from those 
 in use. 
 
 Next he exhibited a contrivance for tying up cattle, 
 and then announced a great chemical discovery made 
 by Mr. Daniells, formerly a partner with Mr. Wilkins, 
 clothier, of Twerton. This consisted of a new artificial 
 manure, the principal ingredients of which were carboy 
 and ammonia, and its stimulating effect upon certain 
 crops was pronounced to be astonishing. 
 
 Several members tested the compound and reported 
 against it. Mr. Hall still adhered to its fertilising pro- 
 perties and stated that he had tried 500 bushels of it 
 with the best results. What became of the discovery 
 we know not, but we hear next that its doughty advo- 
 cate had caused by death a vacancy in the Society. We 
 suspect that Mr. Hall would have liked the Bedfordian 
 medal as a recognition of his labours, and that the 
 thanks he received for his ingenious contrivances were a 
 little disappointing, though the fact does not seem to 
 have affected his cordial support of the Society. 
 
DECLINING DAYS. 59 
 
 Declining; Dags. 
 
 Notwithstanding that the operations of the Association 
 were conducted year after year in accordance with the 
 plan originally devised, signs of decay began to manifest 
 themselves as far back as 1820, and the interest felt in 
 it in the western counties went on from that period 
 decreasing. Various causes combined to bring about 
 the result. So great had been the improvements made 
 in agriculture that many entertained the opinion that 
 the objects which such societies sought to promote at 
 their formation had been accomplished. Then there was 
 the unpopularity of the farmers, who were held respon- 
 sible for the scarcity and dearness of provisions, and who 
 therefore were the last persons to be encouraged. Lastly, 
 there was the competition at a later period of other 
 societies, such as those held at Bruton and Frome. 
 
 Under the operation of these adverse forces the Bath 
 and West of England Society shrank in dimensions. We 
 have seen by what means it was invigorated in 1831-2 ; 
 the expenditure was also curtailed by the discontinuance 
 of premiums given for sheep shearing, and still later the 
 secretary, Capt. Leigh Lye, voluntarily surrendered one 
 half his salary. The house and yard in James's street 
 were given up, and the exhibitions of the Society then 
 took place in the cattle yard, Walcot street. The 
 November meeting held regularly since the establish- 
 ment of the Society was also abolished. 
 
60 DECLINING DAYS. 
 
 In 1840 ;^300 of stock was sold out to clear off debt, 
 which sunk the invested capital to ;^700, and eight years 
 later, in order further to reduce expenditure, it was 
 resolved to relinquish Hetling House, which was done, 
 and the books and other property of the Society were 
 transferred to the Literary and Scientific Institution. 
 During this era of declining fortune the Society struggled 
 manfully to fulfil its mission. Invention was stimulated, 
 agriculture improved. > 
 
 In 1834 Mr. W. H. Higman, saddler, of Cheap streefa 
 received a silver medal for an improved bit, and the 
 Rev. W. Merrick, of Bath, sent the model of an improved 
 window frame, the object of which was to enable servants 
 to clean windows with safety to themselves. 
 
 Next year a member of the Society, through Capt- 
 Scobell, offered a premium of ;£^io to the person who 
 should materially improve cart, wagon, or plough 
 harness. 
 
 In 1836 Mr. W. Miles, M.P., communicated important 
 information relative to the fattening of cattle with 
 potatoes, peas and meal. 
 
 The next year the death of Sir Richard Colt Hbare is 
 chronicled, with the announcement that he became a 
 member in 1794, and a Vice-President in 1802. Then 
 our old friend Dr. Wilkinson submitted a fire escape, 
 the simplicity of which excited the admiration of the 
 meeting, and Mr. Thomas Fuller introduced to the notice 
 of the meeting a new plan for wooden block paving. 
 
DECLINING DAYS. 6l 
 
 In 1 841 an interesting discussion, raised by Dr. Parry, 
 took place on the relative merits of small and large 
 farming. Leaping over a couple of years, and we find 
 the Marquis of Lansdovvne announcing that a farmer in 
 Ireland had raised more than 100 tons of flax on three 
 acres of land, by following the rules of a society similar 
 to the Bath and West of England Association. The 
 noble President's two prizes of ;^5o each for improved 
 deep draining were both awarded to Mr, Hulbert, ot 
 Ford Farm, near Bradford-on-Avon. 
 
 In 1845 Daniel Tavener received a gratuity of £^ 
 for raising a new variety of potato from seed. Lord 
 Portman succeeded Lord Lansdowne as President in 
 1847. The following year Capt. Leigh Lye resigned the 
 oiifice of treasurer and secretary, which he had held for 30 
 years, and received two silver salvers and a purse of 
 sovereigns in recognition of his long and valuable services. 
 Mr. H. St. John Maule was appointed in his stead. 
 
 In 1849 Colonel Finney offered a prize of ;£'io for the 
 best essay on the " Dibbling of Mangold Wurtzel," which 
 was carried off the year ensuing by Mr, Thos. Woolley, 
 of Wilmington, near Bath. 
 
 The last show of the old society took place in 1852 
 in what was then known as Lansley's Riding School, 
 Monmouth street ; it was a very meagre affair and was 
 followed by a dinner at the Greyhound Hotel, which has 
 ceased to be. 
 
62 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 
 
 C6e (J5reat JRetitoal. 
 
 While the Society was in this moribund state, or a mere 
 shadow of its former self, it was endowed with a new life 
 in the shape of a new constitution, which happily has 
 given it a strength and influence far beyond what the 
 wildest dreams of its early projectors could have ima- 
 gined for it. For this salutary change it was indebted to 
 Mr. T. D. Acland, a name no less honourably associated . 
 with the Oxford Local Examination movement, which 
 has conferred as much benefit on education as the 
 resuscitated Society has upon agriculture. 
 
 Mr. Acland in 1850 became a member of the associ- 
 ation for the avowed purpose of propounding his schenie, 
 which he did in a letter addressed to Sir Wm., then Mr. 
 Miles, M.P. In this letter he expressed a desire that 
 some steps should be taken to perpetuate and diffuse 
 more widely in the western counties the benefit, which 
 the Royal Agricultural Society confers on England at 
 large, and of which a remarkable illustration had recently 
 been furnished by its meeting at Exeter, in July, 1850. 
 " In order," said Mr. Acland, " to reap the full benefit of 
 " the Exeter meeting, I think we require the combined 
 "action of a society holding its meetings in successive 
 "years at different places in the West, possessed of a 
 "sufficient income to give prizes for implements as well 
 "as for stock, and to distribute to its members printed 
 "transactions, containing digested reports of careful 
 
THE GREAT REVIVAL. 63 
 
 " experiments ; in short to carry into every corner between 
 " Dundry Hill and Dunkerry Beacon, and farther west, 
 "too, I hope, if we can all pull together, the results 
 "attained by practice with science." 
 
 Mr. Acland's proposal was cordially supported by Mr. 
 Miles and other gentlemen, including Lord Portman, 
 who used words which read now as prophetic. He said 
 if they could make such a change in their mode of 
 operations as to induce the great implement makers to 
 come down annually amongst them, he felt persuaded 
 that the youngest of its members would live to rejoice 
 that they had been enabled to take part in setting afloat 
 the proposed enlarged action of the Society. 
 
 A committee of seven members was appointed to 
 consider and report upon the subject. Setting earnestly 
 to work, the committee passed resolutions approving of 
 Mr. Acland's recommendations, and suggested that they 
 should be carried out through the medium of the existing 
 Society. 
 
 Taunton was pointed out as a convenient place for 
 holding the first exhibition under the new regime; it 
 was considered desirable that a council should be formed, 
 consisting partly of the existing committee of superin- 
 tendence of the Bath and West of England Society, and 
 partly of other gentlemen residing in the different 
 western counties ; and conjointly with Mr. H. St. John 
 Maule, the secretary of the Society, Mr. (now Sir) T, 
 Dyke Acland, and Mr. (now Sir) S. H. Northcote were 
 
64 THE GREAT REVIVAL. 
 
 requested to act as honorary secretaries till the Society 
 was thoroughly reconstructed. 
 
 Meetings were held at Bridgwater, Taunton and else- 
 where in 185 1 with the view of ascertaining the feeling of 
 the agriculturists in the western counties; resolutions 
 favourable to Mn Acland's scheme were adopted ; and 
 at a meeting of the Devon Agricultural Society it was 
 unanimously resolved that a migratory exhibition would 
 be a great advantage to that Society and to the agriculture 
 of Devon. Such being the case, a negotiation was opened 
 between the provisional committee of the Bath and West 
 of England Society and the committee of the Devon 
 Agricultural Society to bring about a fusion of the two 
 bodies, with a view to a combined and energetic course of 
 action. The result was that the Devon Society became 
 merged into the Bath and West of England Society ; 
 and the acts of the provisional committee having been 
 sanctioned and adopted at an adjourned meeting at Bath,, 
 on the nth of February, the Bath and West of England 
 Society commenced its new and extended career of use- 
 fulness. Mr. H. St. John Maule retained his position as 
 secretary to the Society under the new system, and he 
 still continues the post as an honorary appointment, the 
 actual duties of Secretary and Editor being discharged 
 by Mr. Josiah Goodwin. 
 
MIGRATORY MEETINGS. 65 
 
 Migrator? a^eetings. 
 
 The first meeting under the new constitution was held 
 at Taunton in 1852, Lord Portman being the president. 
 The entries of stock numbered 238, and of implements 
 upwards of 400 — a success far beyond what was 
 anticipated. The first volume of the new series of the 
 Society's journal was also issued under the editorship of 
 Mr. T. D. Acland. The next year Plymouth was the 
 trysting place, with Sir T. D. Acland as president, when 
 there were 488 head of live stock shown and about 450 
 implements. From the poultry show held under the 
 direction and at the pecuniary risk of Mr. Jonathan 
 Gray the Society derived the substantial benefit of 
 ;^282 1 6s. 
 
 In 1854 the annual meeting was held at Bath ; presi- 
 dent. Sir W. Miles, M.P., the ground being on the site 
 of the present Lyncombe and Widcombe cemetery. 
 Total number of live stock exhibited 587, implements 
 741. As the proceeds of the Bath exhibition of poultry, 
 Mr. Jonathan Gray had the satisfaction of presenting 
 ;^458 as a donation to the Society's funds. In conjunc- 
 tion with the meeting a fancy fair was held for the relief 
 of the wives and families of those of our soldiers who 
 were in the Crimea, at which ^500 was taken, and a like 
 sum was also collected at the entrance of the poultry 
 show. The streets were lavishly decorated, and among 
 
66 MIGRATORY MEETINGS. 
 
 the events recorded were a dinner at the Assembly 
 Rooms at which 500 sat down ; and a ball, also held at 
 the Rooms, which was well attended. The admission on 
 Wednesday numbered 1,464 ; on Thursday 8,775 ; and 
 Friday 12,000 (the latter including 7,000 children). 
 
 In 1855 the annual meeting was at Tiverton ; president, 
 the Earl Fortescue. The entries of live stock 558, and 
 of implements 1,107. 
 
 The next (1856) was at Yeovil; president, Mr. C. A. 
 Moody, M.P. Of live stock there were 519 head ; the 
 implements were 1,038 in number. 
 
 In 1857 Newton Abbot was the place selected ; presi- 
 dent, Lord Courtenay (now Earl of Devon). The number 
 of live stock exhibited was 682 ; of implements, 1,106. 
 
 Cardiff received the Society in 1858, Lord Courtenay 
 being president for the second time. Of live stock there 
 were 686 entries ; implements, &c., 960. This was the 
 last occasion at which prizes for agricultural implements 
 were awarded, and ever since their discontinuance the 
 implement department has increased in importance and 
 extent. 
 
 In 1859 the annual meeting was at Barnstaple ; presi- 
 dent, Mr. J. Sillifant, of Coome. Number of live stock 
 exhibited, 599; implements, 1,127. -A- new feature at 
 this meeting was the Arts Department, which owes its 
 existence to a suggestion of Mr, T. Dyke Acland, and 
 by whom the details were worked out. His Royal High- 
 ness the Prince Consort was an exhibitor of stock, and 
 
MIGRATORY MEETINGS. 6^ 
 
 enrolled his name as an annual subscribing member of 
 the Society. 
 
 The annual meeting in i860 was at Dorchester; pre- 
 sident, Earl Rivers. The number of cattle shown was 
 599, and of implements 1,453, including 29 machines in 
 motion. 
 
 In 1861 the annual meeting was at Truro ; president, 
 Mr. J, W. Buller, M.P. Number of live stock exhibited, 
 499; of implements, 1,121. 
 
 The annual meeting in 1862 was at Wells ; president, 
 Mr. T. Dyke Acland, D.C.L. Number of live stock exhi- 
 bited, 419 ; of implements, 1,182. 
 
 At Exeter, which was visited in the following year, 
 open judging was first adopted. The Marquis of Bath was 
 president. The stock and implements exhibited num- 
 bered respectively 419 and 1,813. 
 
 The next meeting, held at Bristol, was still more suc- 
 cessful. The entries for stock were 545, and of imple- 
 ments, 2,985. Earl Fortescue was president. A fact of 
 some interest was the conferring on the Prince of Wales 
 the distinction of patron of the Society. 
 
 At Hereford, in 1865, Lord Taunton was president, 
 when there weie 525 entries of live stock and 1,500 of 
 implements. 
 
 The Society met at Salisbury in 1866 and 1867, in 
 consequence of the prevalence of the cattle plague in the 
 former year preventing the exhibition of stock. Lord 
 Portsmouth and Mr. Tremayne held the presidency. 
 
68 MIGRATORY MEETINGS. 
 
 The plague in 1867 caused the exclusion of horned 
 cattle, but with this drawback the total entries of stock 
 were 287, and of implements 1,850. 
 
 Sir J. T. B. Duckworth, Bart, was president in 1868, 
 when the place of meeting was Falmouth. Stock 
 entered, 292 ; implements, 1,240. At the general meeting 
 it was resolved to amalgamate the Society with the 
 Southern Counties Association, which enabled the 
 combined organisations to embrace the whole area of 
 England from a line drawn through London. 
 
 In 1869 the Society assembled at Southampton, with 
 Earl Carnarvon as president. There were 581 entries of 
 stock and about 3,000 of implements. 
 
 Taunton was again chosen as the meeting place for 
 1870, Sir Stafford Northcote being president. The 
 progress made in the interval between the two visits 
 will be seen by the following figures : — There were 175 
 exhibitors of implements and machinery, and 3,250 
 articles were classified and described in the catalogues. 
 The entries of live stock were 520. On the first 
 occasion there were only 49 exhibitors of implements, 
 and 486 articles were catalogued, while the stock was 238. 
 
 In 1 87 1, at Guildford, the Earl of Cork president, the 
 entries of stock were 536, and 3,512 of implements. 
 
 Dorchester was visited in 1872, the Duke of Marl- 
 borough^eing president. The stock entered reached 
 673, ancMpie implements 2,443. 
 
 PlydSuth received the Society in 1873, and the Earl of 
 
GENERAL PROGRESS. 69 
 
 Mount Edgecumbe was president. The entries of stock 
 were 721 in number, and of implements 1,953. 
 
 The meeting next year at Bristol ( 1 874), with Sir Massey 
 Lopes as president, was the most successful on record. 
 The entries of stock numbered 740, and of implements 
 4,100. The total number of admissions to the Show was 
 no less than 1 10,000. 
 
 At Croydon, in 1875, Mr. R. Benyon, M.P., was presi- 
 dent. There were 806 entries of stock, 80 of machinery 
 in motion, and, of implements 3,040. The funded capital 
 of the Society which in 1863 stood at £2,068, was reported 
 to have grown to ;£^ 10,000. 
 
 In 1876 the Society accepted a second invitation from 
 Hereford, when the Earl of Ducie was president. There 
 were 723 entries of stock, and nearly three miles of shed- 
 ding were occupied by the implements, 3,200 in number. 
 The total number of admissiorts was 49',66o. 
 
 The Centenary Meeting held in Bath in 1877 was pre- 
 sided over by the Marquis of Lansdowne. The stock 
 entries were 816, and implements 4,200, which included 
 106 special departments of machinery in motion. The 
 total number of admissions was 74,475, and the receipts 
 amounted to £s>^37- 
 
 General Progres0. 
 
 The foregoing statistics may, perhaps, only attract 
 those who are interested in the career of the Bath and 
 
70 GENERAL PROGRESS. 
 
 West of England Society. For the gratification of a 
 wider range of readers it may be desirable to add a few 
 facts illustrative of the general progress of agriculture 
 during the past century. Thus Mr. Caird is of opinion 
 that the average produce of wheat per acre in twenty-six 
 of the thirty-two counties of England visited by him, is 
 26f bushels, or 14 per cent, higher than it was estimated 
 in the same counties by Arthur Young. And were the 
 country at large as well cultivated as particular farms, 
 the present average, it is computed, would be increased 
 by at least eight bushels per acre. A great impetus to 
 the improvement recorded was the consolidation of 
 small farms into larger holdings, and the letting of them 
 to tenants who possessed most energy and substance. 
 The passing of more than 3,000 Enclosure Bills in the 
 reign of George III., as against a gross total of 244. 
 previous enactments, shows how briskly the cultivation 
 of new land proceeded. 
 
 The rapid increase in the population has no doubt 
 largely promoted agricultural progress, but as the area 
 of the country could not be increased, land has in con- 
 sequence risen in value. So much is this the case that 
 whereas the average price of wheat for the five years 
 preceding 1872 was ;£'2 15s. per quarter, or £2 7s. 6i. 
 less than the five years preceding 1815, the rent of land 
 is much higher now than it was then. Thorough drain- 
 ing and deep ploughing introduced during the last forty 
 years have greatly increased the productiveness of the 
 
GENERAL PROGRESS. 7 1 
 
 soil, and been the parent of many other salutary changes. 
 Ground bones began to be used as a manure for turnips 
 early in the present century in the eastern counties, and 
 thence spread rapidly over England. In 1841 guano 
 was imported into Great Britain, and about the same 
 time superphosphate of lime began to be used. 
 
 Though the persistent attempts made by the late 
 William Cobbett to introduce maize or Indian corn as 
 one of our regular crops ended in failure, other experi- 
 ments of a kindred character, have proved successful, 
 and to these we owe the introduction of Italian rye- 
 grass, winter beans, white Belgian carrot, sugar beet, 
 and alsike clover, which are now successfully cultivated. 
 
 As an illustration of the more enlarged views which 
 govern farm management we may quote the following 
 from a paper by Mr. Darley on the Farming of Dorset. 
 A quarter of a century ago the Dorset men (he says) had 
 well nigh exhausted their enterprise in breaking up 
 heath wastes and sheep downs but had not then adopted 
 the steam plough wherewith to cultivate them. They 
 applied artificial manures almost on as large a scale 
 then as now, but were only just then learning the all- 
 important lesson that the best and most profitable 
 method of manuring land and raising its fertility is to 
 place oil cake and corn into the mouths of sheep and 
 horned cattle. The sheep flocks have not largely 
 increased in quantity but most materially improved in 
 quality. The herds of horned stock have advanced 50 
 
72 IMPROVEMENT OF STOCK. 
 
 per cent, at least both in quantity and quality, for where 
 twenty years ago on very many tillage farms straw was 
 a nuisance to be burnt or rotted in ricks, or wheat 
 spread on the surface of young clover, young cattle are 
 now-a-days very generally purchased to consume it with 
 oil cake in winter, which has added very considerably 
 to the riches of the dung heap, and the virtues of farm 
 yard manure applied to the field. The same principles 
 of alternate husbandry and the interspersion of straw 
 crops with root produce and green crops were equally 
 respected formerly as at the present period, but the now 
 prevalent custom of planting the stubble, after being 
 cleaned in autumn, with vetches or trifolium, or some 
 other green crop to be consumed in spring has been 
 largely productive in increasing food for stock, which, 
 when expended in the right way, with bountiful supplies 
 of auxiliary feeding stuffs, is calculated to be a more 
 consummate enricher to land than any system that can 
 possibly be devised. 
 
 3lmprotiement of ^tocft. 
 
 Our more important breeds of live stock underwent an 
 extraordinary change through the genius of Bakewell, 
 who perfected a new race of sheep, the well-known 
 Leicesters, as well as improved the long-horned cattle, 
 then the prevailing breed in the Midland counties of 
 England. These, long since eclipsed, have now been 
 
IMPROVEMENT OF STOCK. 73 
 
 entirely superseded by the shorthorn or Durham 
 breed. In 1872 the results of 44 sales of 1,922 head of 
 this stock gave a general average of £$8 9s. 8d. each; 
 46 sales, embracing 1,929 animals, in 1873, yielded an 
 average of £^8 i6s. 4d.; forty, belonging to the Duke of 
 Devonshire at Holker, realised nearly ;^384 a piece, 
 while twenty-seven from Mr. Cheney's herd averaged 
 not less than ;^4i9 each. At the New York Mills sale in 
 1873, eleven Duchess cows and heifers yielded an 
 average of ,^4,522 14s. 2d. each ; Lord Bective gave 
 d&7,ooo for one cow, and Lord Skelmersdale £6,120 for 
 another. The whole of these high-priced animals 
 belonged to the same shorthorn blood, and traced their 
 descent from the herd propagated with so much care by 
 Mr. Thomas Bates, who died in 1849. Another proof of 
 the keen competition in the improving of stock in the 
 Colonies as well as at home is furnished by the fact that 
 a cargo, including forty shorthorn bulls and heifers, with 
 choice specimens of the Cotswold sheep and Berkshire 
 pigs, taken out by Mr, G. Cochrane, of Hillhurst, 
 Canada, cost him, it is said, ;£■! 5,000. The result of 
 these labours of Transatlantic breeders is seen in the 
 purchase, as above shown, of stock for this country, and 
 American beef and mutton have also become new 
 articles of commerce. The fattening of animals at 
 home and abroad is now conducted on more scientific 
 principles, and with the best results both to the farmer 
 and the consumer. It is true both have been punished 
 5 
 
74 MECHANICAL AIDS. 
 
 by the murrain which was introduced by, it is supposed, 
 foreign cattle in 1841, and has prevailed ever since in 
 greater or less degree, being particularly virulent in 
 1 87 1 and 1872. Pleuro-pneumonia followed soon after, 
 and in 1856 came the rinderpest, which, originating 
 among the vast herds of the Russian steppes, travelled 
 westward over Europe, and nothing but the stringent 
 provisions of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 
 keep the country free from this ever impending 
 epidemic. 
 
 ^ec&anfcal 9iDs. 
 
 But the labour of agriculture has been as already 
 hinted greatly alleviated, and its cost curtailed by the 
 means of improved implements and machines. The 
 demand for these has increased so enormously that the 
 manufacture of them is now a most important and 
 rapidly-increasing branch of national industry. Small's 
 swing plough and Meikle's thrashing machine were 
 brought into general use towards the close of the last 
 century. The steam engine, as an auxiliary qf thrashing 
 was first demonstrated in East Lothian by Mr. Aitchison, 
 of Drumore, in 1803. Steam power has also been 
 applied to the cultivation of the soil, and with the 
 improvement latterly effected in the machinery is likely 
 to be generally adopted. Reaping machines are in 
 common use in all well cultivated districts, and 
 
MACHINERY AT THE CENTENNIAL SHOW. 75 
 
 among the latest novelties is a contrivance for binding 
 as well as cutting the corn, which has long been con- 
 sidered a desideratum. So in haymaking these labour- 
 saving inventions play an equally prominent part 
 With a mower, tedder and rake a man and pair of 
 horses can do the work of ten scythemen, and another 
 man and horse can toss, turn, and draw into windrows as 
 much grass as could be overtaken in the same time by 
 fifteen people. Then there are improved ploughs, 
 scarifiers, grubbers, harrows, field rollers, land pressers, 
 sowing implements, manure distributors, &c., of the 
 making of which and^ the like of which there is no end. 
 But one and all tend to improve and economise 
 husbandry, and it is in the employment of these aids 
 that the farmer must seek for resources to enable him to 
 compete with the increasing cost of land and labour. 
 
 s@aci)inerp at tlje Centennial ^&oto. 
 
 Mr. J. Darby, describing in the last report of the Bath 
 and West of England Society the implements and 
 agricultural machinery at the Centennial Show, says 
 the display was truly magnificent. The almost inter- 
 minable lines of shedding contained underneath them so 
 many interesting devices of mechanical genius and 
 labour-saving appliances, that the footsteps of visitors 
 were inclined to linger longer in investigating their 
 striking features. There was, in very truth, an embarras 
 
y6 MACHINERY AT THE 
 
 de richesses in the entire department, and statistics will 
 show that it was on a scale of magnitude never previ- 
 ously approached. At Hereford, in 1876, there were 
 79 separate compartments of special shedding for 
 machinery in motion, and at Bristol there were only 59, 
 while at Bath these were extended to 106. The increase 
 in the total number of exhibitors was also in equal pro- 
 portion, for at Hereford they numbered about 200, but 
 at Bath they were upwards of 3CX). The growth of the 
 Implement Department at our great Agricultural Shows 
 can only be attributed to two causes — namely, the 
 increasing dependence of modern farming on labour-sav- 
 ing machinery, and the studious endeavours of our 
 mechanics and agricultural engineers to keep alive the 
 spirit of invention, and bring to perfection every device 
 calculated to relieve husbandmen of toil. Only by 
 reviewing their services in the past can we become duly 
 sensible of the magnitude of the work in which they are 
 engaged, and of what may be expected of them in the 
 future. They scheme, try experiments, and ponder over 
 many a wearisome task in secret, encountering numerous 
 disappointments and failures ; but a noble object gives 
 them patience and fortitude, and makes them regardless 
 of toil. This is to accomplish something truly service- 
 able in their day and generation, worthy of being held 
 in remembrance by posterity, and of securing fame and 
 the gratitude of millions. Our engineers in the past 
 half-century have, indeed, run a brilliant career, and the 
 
CENTENNIAL SHOW. TJ 
 
 transformations effected by them in almost every depart- 
 ment of agricultural labour are truly marvellous. The 
 bare record of what they have accomplished would fill 
 many pages ; but a humbler task is mine, although one 
 of scarcely less interest — namely, to point out what they 
 are doing now, and the directions their enterprise is pur- 
 suing in rendering aid to the British farmer, as proved 
 by their exhibits at this Centennial Show. 
 
 The exhibition of steam-engines was just as striking 
 as ever, and most of the leading firms who manufacture 
 them displayed their choicest specimens. There were 
 engines for steam cultivation by Messrs. J. Fowler and 
 Co., J. and F. Howard, Barford and Perkins, Aveling 
 and Porter, W. Tasker and Sons, &c. ; and others Cor 
 threshing and general purposes by Messrs. Clayton and 
 Shuttleworlh, Ruston and Proctor, Hornsby and Son, 
 Brown and May, Roby and Co., Garrett and Son, Tux- 
 ford and Sons, E. R. and F. Turner, the Reading Iron 
 Works, and many others. Three or four engines at this 
 Shew were entirely new, while others had improved 
 features recently embodied. Thus Messrs. Marshall, 
 Sons and Co. exhibited an 8-horse power portable 
 engine, fitted with their new automatic expansion 
 governor to act direct on the side-valve, and regulate 
 the aefmission of steam in proportion to the require- 
 ments of the engine, thus dispensing altogether with the 
 thrcttle-valve. Messrs. P. and H. P. Gibbons, Wantage, 
 showed three new stesm-engines of different sizes, 
 
78 MACHINERY AT THE 
 
 formed after quite an original and novel type. Mr. 
 William Box, Uffington, another Berks engineer, had a 
 traction-engine of 8-horse power, mounted on springs, 
 which moved about very freely in the Showyard. In 
 the features it embodied, the power is communicated to 
 driving-wheels by outside connepting-rods from crank- 
 discs on either end of a counter-shaft placed underneath 
 the boiler. The entire gearing is neatly cased-in, away 
 from the travelling-wheels. Messrs. Tuxford and Sons 
 exhibited an 8-horse power portable engine, to show the 
 extent to which they can economise fuel by their new 
 expansive valve-pressure. This particular engine has 
 been constructed to consume only 4 cwt of coal per day 
 when in full working. Mr. F. W. Turner, St Albans, 
 exhibited four steam-engines, which were entered as new 
 implements. Turner's Semi-portable 2i-horse power 
 has all the working parts of steel, and the crank, rods, 
 and other parts are all enclosed. Turner's Single- 
 cylinder and Double-cylinder Reversing Engines, the 
 first 2|-horse, the other s-horse power, are capable of 
 being run at great velocity. Turner's " Silent " Expan- 
 sive Engine, 6-horse power, has two steam-jacketed 
 cylinders ; one piston is balanced by the other, and the 
 exhibitor claims that it will work expansively to any 
 extent required. Messrs. Ransome, Sims and Head 
 exhibited their new 6-Horse Power Locomotive Engine, 
 designed and constructed from entirely new patterns, 
 and capable of effecting steam-cultivation, threshing, 
 
CENTENNIAL SHOW. 79 
 
 and every other kind of work required on a farm, includ- 
 ing drawing about the machinery. An improved feature 
 embodied is in the steerage, which is conducted from 
 the foot-plate, and all the appliances for starting and 
 reversing the engine and putting on the brake are placed 
 close together. 
 
 The Patent Steam-blast Tube-cleaner, of Messrs. 
 Brown and May's design, is probably one of the most 
 striking improved features with which the ordinary 
 steam-engine has recently been invested. Mr. E. J. 
 Hindley, of Bourton, Dorset, has adapted his well- 
 known 3-Horse Power Vertical Steam-Engine for hoist- 
 ing purposes, and the hoisting apparatus was exhibited 
 in motion. 
 
 Messrs. Brown and May also exhibited a new hoist in 
 connection with one of their 4-horse portable engines, 
 which is designed especially for builders, contractors and 
 others, enabling them to hoist building material and 
 drive a saw-bench or mortar-mill at one and the same 
 time. With an 8-horse engine, working at 25 lbs. pres- 
 sure, it is stated the hoist will raise 10 cwt. to the height 
 of 60 feet in 45 seconds, and at 35 lbs. it will lift 30 
 cwt. 60 feet high in as many seconds. The brake is so 
 effective that it will hold 2 tons in suspension at any 
 height without fear of its running down. It will also 
 be found very useful for drawing timber together up to 
 the saw-mill in a forest clearing, and thus saving the 
 expense of horses, the utility of which must be obvious 
 
80 MACHINERY AT THE CENTENNIAL SHOW. 
 
 to every one. These hoists may be attached to all 
 engines from 4-horse power upwards, and can be used 
 for driving saw-benches, mortar-mills, &c., in the ordi* 
 nary way at the same time it is hoisting up. Messrs. 
 Hayward, Tyler and Co. showed the action of a new 
 implement in this department, namely. Cope and Max- 
 well's Patent Self-Governing Pumping-Engine, which is 
 considered especially applicable to sewage. Mr. Alfred 
 Collins, of Stalbridge, Dorset, displayed the principle of 
 working of an entirely new cheese-making and warming 
 apparatus, by which the heat may be regulated to any 
 degree of temperature, and communicated, if required, 
 to the cheese-room above the dairy. Hall's new Patent 
 Stone-Breaker on wheels, with screening apparatus, is 
 another recent addition to our machinery which never 
 previously had been exhibited. Several Stacking- 
 Machines were shown in this department, and amongst 
 them that of Messrs. Reeves and Son, Westbury, which 
 is an old favourite with many farmers, on account of its 
 deep sides allowing the implement to be used in windy 
 weather; but the improved principle of raising and 
 lowering the trough has been recently applied, and, as 
 this seems an excellent feature, it is perhaps worthy of 
 special mention. 
 
SUMMARY OF ADVANTAGES. 8 1 
 
 ^ummarp of aotiantages. 
 
 The late Mr. Pusey a few years since thus summarised 
 the advantages derived from the improved agricultural 
 implements then in vogue. Looking (he said) through 
 the successive stages of management, and seeing that 
 the owner of a stock farm is enabled in the preparation 
 of his land by using lighter ploughs to cast oflf one 
 horse in tliree, and by adopting other simple tools to 
 dispense altogether with a great part of his ploughing ; 
 that in the culture of crops by the various drills horse 
 labour can be partly reduced, the seed otherwise wanted 
 partly saved, or the use of manures greatly economised, 
 while the horse hoe replaces the hoe at one half the 
 expense ; that in harvest the American reapers can 
 effect thirty men's work, whilst the Scotch cart re- 
 places the old English waggon with exactly half the 
 number of horses ; that in preparing corn for man's food 
 the steam thrashing machine saves two-thirds of our 
 former expense, and in preparing food for stock, the 
 turnip cutter at an outlay of is. adds 8s. a head in one 
 winter to the value of sheep ; lastly, that in the indis- 
 pensable but costly operation of draining the materials 
 have been reduced from 80s. to 15 s. — to one fifth namely 
 of their former cost — it seems to be proved that the 
 efforts of agricultural mechanists have been so far 
 successful as in all these main branches of farming 
 labour taken together to effect a saving on outgoing of 
 little less than one half. 
 
82 FUTURE PROSPECTS. 
 
 jFuture prospects. 
 
 Great as have been the strides made by farming in 
 the past, through the agency of the means we have 
 enumerated, its onward march is likely to be accelerated 
 rather than retarded in the future. The more education 
 is diffused and its curriculum extended or better adapted 
 to meet the requirements of the day, the larger measure 
 of intelligenee shall we have brought to bear on agri- 
 cultural pursuits, and with it a more general development 
 of what is called scientific farming. There is no reason 
 why we should not have county schools especially 
 devoted to the education of yeomen's sons, who may 
 then start in life equipped with that technical knowledge 
 which is considered so essential for the artisans of our 
 towns. Indeed every farmer should be something of a 
 chemist, able himself to test in the laboratory the 
 constituents of soil and the ingredients of the artificial 
 manures upon which he is so largely dependent, without 
 having recourse to a chemist or to some society of which 
 he may be a member. With this knowledge he would 
 be safeguarded from error on the one hand and from 
 being imposed upon on the other, and the enlargement 
 of mind it would secure would enable him the more 
 promptly to appreciate and apply any mechanical in- 
 ventions calculated to improve or expedite the work of 
 the farm. 
 
 It is indeed to this higher mental culture of the 
 
CONCLUSION. 83 
 
 agriculturist that we must look quite as much as to 
 machinery to enable him to hold his own in the great 
 struggle for existence. When this standard of intelli- 
 gence has been attained, not as an exception but the 
 rule, one-sided agreements between landlords and 
 tenants, and the sore questions to which the over pre- 
 servation of game give birth, will not be long without 
 a solution. Knowledge will be found to be a power 
 to whose reasoning and expostulations wealth will not 
 be able to turn a deaf ear ; and combined with the 
 experience which the practical agriculturist obtains, it 
 will facilitate likewise the solution of that tantalising 
 problem the disposal of the sewage of our towns, in 
 which will be found the cheapest and most efficacious 
 regenerator of exhausted soils and a source of never 
 failing fertility. With this auxiliary at ready command, 
 and proper storage for water to counteract the effects of 
 seasons of drought, in addition to those mechanical aids 
 which private enterprise are constantly placing at his 
 disposal, the agriculturist of the future will be able to 
 hold his own despite any fluctuations in the labour 
 market or the rivalry of foreign competition. 
 
 Conclu0ion. 
 
 In reading the operations of the Bath and West of 
 England Society as detailed in the preceding pages, every- 
 one will, we think, be struck with the multitude of things 
 it has encouraged during its career. Some of these 
 
84 CONCLUSION. 
 
 may evoke a smile on account of their triviality appa- 
 rently, but it shows that the Society was animated by a 
 liberal spirit, that it preferred taking a hopeful view of 
 every suggested improvement and new invention rather 
 than that genius should be neglected or merit go unre- 
 warded. The objects it has promoted are by no means 
 exhausted by the list we have given ; they are simply 
 quoted as illustrations of the numerous departments in 
 which the influence of the Society was felt. The inge- 
 nious throughout the West of England regarded the 
 Association as a friend, ever ready to extend the help- 
 ing hand to all productions calculated to be useful, 
 whether in agriculture, commerce, or mechanics, men- 
 tally or socially ; and when we remember that it attained, 
 under its original constitution, its greatest success at the 
 period when England was shut out from the Continent^ 
 and the necessity for fostering home industries of every 
 description was a matter of supreme importance, we 
 shall probably be the more inclined to look with a 
 kindly eye upon an institution that was sustained by so 
 much patriotic ardour during a momentous crisis of the 
 nation's history. Neither should we overlook the great 
 advantage derived from year to year by the reading of 
 papers on agricultural and other topics, and the discus- 
 sions, often animated, which ensued thereon, as well as 
 by the publication of the Society's Journal, which gave 
 cohesion and influence to the Association and identified 
 it with the literature of the age. In this way it became 
 
CONCLUSION. ' 85 
 
 an educational centre, from which much valuable infor- 
 mation was diffused, prejudices were removed, experi- 
 ments suggested, and the results reported and reviewed. 
 Indeed, the more one knows what the Society has accom- 
 plished, both directly and indirectly, for the benefit 
 of the community, the deeper must be the feeling of 
 gratitude to the great and good men who founded it, 
 and their successors who conducted its affairs generation 
 after generation ; the greater also will be the satisfaction 
 that it is still increasing in prosperity as it is in useful- 
 ness, an opinion which a visit to its show ground will 
 abundantly confirm. Therein we see, as it were, the 
 harvest which has been reaped, and is being reaped 
 annually, from the little seed sown by Edmund Rack and 
 his associates a century ago, and as we survey the past 
 and present position of the Society we cannot do better 
 than couch our good wishes for it in the future under the 
 time-honoured motto — 
 
 GOD SPEED THE PLOUGH! 
 
William Lewis, "The Bath Herald" Office, 12, North Gate, Bath. 
 
SOME RECENT BOOKS 
 
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 WILLIAM LEWIS, 
 "THE HERALD" OFFICE, 12, NORTH GATE, BATH. 
 
 THE BATH HERALD. Published every Saturday. 
 Price One Penny. Circulation 8,500 copies. The Bath 
 Herald was established in 1792 as a fashionable and literary 
 newspaper by "William Meyler, who, wrote the late John 
 Britton in his "History and Antiquities of the Bath Abbey," 
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 newspapers on record." It is almost unique among provincial 
 newspapers for the number and character of its original articles. 
 The Ba/k Herald, with which is now incorporated the Bath 
 Express, estabhshed in 1855, is a popular family newspaper and 
 has an unrivalled circulation in the city of Bath — where it 
 is essentially the local newspaper. The Country Edition is 
 published at Chippenham under the title of the " North Wilts 
 GuARDlAN,"and circulates with the .ff^-a/i:^ throughout Somerset, 
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 The "Bath Hekald" is published every Saturday at the 
 Printing Office, North Gate, Bath. 
 
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 'THE POST OFFICE BATH DIRECTORY. 
 
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XEOSNl BOOfCS (Continued). 
 
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 country loiind Bath. is. 
 
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 OF B/\.TH, for those whose stay in the city is limited. 
 In picture wrapper, 63. 
 
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 Gush up from depths unknown ; hut at their source 
 In the deep caves of Earth a Spirit dwells. 
 Who, like Bethesda's Angel, to the Water 
 Gives a healing virtue. 
 
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 Demy 8vo., 176 pp., green cloth extra, gilt edges, Ss. 
 
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 see the City in the shortest space of time possible. With a Plan 
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 BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND SOCIETY 
 AND SOUTHERN COUNTIES ASSOCIATION. 
 The contract for the publication of the Catalogue of these 
 important Societies has been taken by William Lewis, through 
 whom only Advertisements can be inserted. 
 
 ANCIENT LANDMARKS OF BATH. By 
 Chas. E. Davis, F.S.^i., City Architect. With two 
 curious Maps of the City in 1610 and 1771. A small remainder 
 of this work, which will not be re-printed, is. 
 
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 MAP OF THE COUNTRY TWENTY MILES 
 ROUND BATH. is. 
 
NORTH WILTS & SOMERSET GUARDIAN. 
 
 I wish no other HeraM, 
 No other speaker of my living actions. 
 To keep milie honour from corruption. 
 Bat sucif an honest chronicler. 
 
 Shaketpeart. 
 
 THE BATH HERALD is one of the few existing 
 County Newspapers published during the last 
 century copies of which were shown in the recent 
 Caxton Exhibition. It was established in 1792 as a 
 fashionable and literary Newspaper by William 
 Meyler, " who," says the late John Britton, in his 
 History and Antiquities of the Bath Abbey " progressively 
 rendered it one of the most distinguished literary News- 
 papers on record." It is almost unique in provincial 
 journalism for the number and character of its 
 Original Articles. The Bath Eiepress and lAterajry 
 Observer, established in 1855, is now incorporated 
 with The Herald. 
 
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 published in the City of Bath or any of the Neigh- 
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 Published ev&ry Saturday, price One Penny, at the 
 Offices, 12, liorth Gate, Bath, arid at the Branch Office, 
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