THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



73 



from time to timp, he must declare that he could not make 

 out the aunual receipts and expenditure. What he wanted 

 was an account of the annual income and expenditure, with 

 the number of members from year to year. 



Col. CiiALLONisR said, the book before him, and to 

 which he ha i just referred, was not got up for the occasion, 

 but had existed from tl-.e eiirUest period ia the society's career, 

 and within five minutes he could point out the most trivial 

 item in the accounts of any one year. 



Mr. Moore was afraid thut his remarks had produced a 

 wrouj; impression. What he meaut to say was that the 

 accounts published did not appear to him to furnish a fair 

 criterion of the actual progress of the society from year to 

 year. 



Col. CiiALLONER observed that there were arrears in 

 every society, and that it was absolutely necessary to make 

 out the accounts \ip to a certain day. He concluded by ob- 

 servinjc that as regarded the proposed alteration in the mode 

 of conducting the society's ope; ations, that was a question 

 the decision of which must be left to the members as a body. 



Air. AsTBUKif, as one of tlie auditors, felt it his duty to 

 testify to the admirable manner iu which the accounts of the 

 Society were kept, and to the readiness with which they had 

 been furnished with every possible information by Mr. Hudson. 

 Mr. Barrow, M.P., wished to correct au opinion that the 

 Council were seif-elected, and were elected for life Under the 

 constitution of the Society, the Council wereelected by the mem- 

 bers generally. The Council naturally looked around among 

 themselves, in the first instance, to ascertain who had been most 

 useful, by attending the meetings and iu other ways; a state- 

 ment of the attendances was laid before the election took place : 

 tliis was a guirJe as to the future. They were always prepared to 

 listen to suggestioni as to the election of a new member ; and 

 he had repeatedly heard it remarked that oue gentleman 

 should not be chosen because his county was fully represented, 

 and that another should be chosen for the opposite reason. 

 He was anxious that the mambers of the Society should have 

 the election of the Council entirely in their own power, and 

 that the right to nominate a new member should not be a 

 mere shadow (Hear, hear). At the lait election of the Council 

 there were four and-tweuty members who might have been re- 

 elected ; and six of them were passed by, although they were 

 men of high standing, simply because their attendance had not 

 been satisfactory. With respect to the observations 

 made as to the desirability of centralizing the meet- 

 ings of the society, he must confess he was not particu- 

 larly partial to the principle of cen'ralization (Hear, hear); 

 and he must say that he thought the travelling of the 

 society from place to place had been beneficial to 

 agriculturists generally. It was remarked that the large 

 attendance at the shows was the result of excite- 

 ment. He accepted that representation ; and he said 

 that if the country meetings led to excitement, there was rea- 

 son to believe that that excitement produced good effects in 

 the district (Hear, hear). An addition to the number of mem- 

 bers iu the particular locality was one consequence of holding 

 a country meeting (Hear, hear). He was as desirous as those 

 who had introduced the subject were, that the society should 

 improve and progress, and the Council were happy to hear 

 suggestions from gentlemen whom they had not had the plea- 

 sure of meeting at the Council Board. 



Mr. Sidney wished to make two practical suggestions. Pro- 

 fessor Way, it appeared, had resigned his office ; and with all 

 the respect which he entertained for that gentleman's scientific 

 talents, he must say he was exceedingly glad that he had done 

 so. It was absolutely necessary that if that society had a 

 chemist, he should do something for his money. Pro- 

 fessor Voelcker had been lecturing for the Bath and West 

 of England Society in various towns; and in his case this had 

 proved very usefid. His lectures were ou practical subjects ; 

 and owing to the manner in which these were brought home 

 to the minds of those who heard them, the attendance of farm- 

 ers had been very large, and the result very satisfactory. What 

 he had to suggest ou that subject was, that in filling the va- 

 cancy which had arisen the greatest care should be taken to 

 select the most suitable person, and that arrangements should 

 be made for securing a larger attendance of members. 



Mr. Bullock Wkusikr, referring to the Chester Meet- 

 ing, said he understood that Mr. Holt, the proprietor of Kadley's 

 Hotel, was prepared to erect the building at his own expense. 



provided he received sufficient encouragement from the Council. 

 He would be glad to know whether the Council intended to 

 hold out any special inducement to the inventors of steam- 

 cultivators to send their inventions to the Chester Meeting? 

 Many persons, he understood, were inclined to send them, but 

 not entirely at their own expense. 



The Rev. Mr. Linton thought it very advantageous to hold 

 meetings in the country. An opportunity was thus afforded to 

 them of observing what implements were used in other districts 

 besides their own ; and he for one, had seldom gone away 

 from a country meeting without having learnt something 

 which he had afterwards found very useful to him in his own 

 county — Huntingdonshire. The Journal had, he thought, 

 been the meaus of diffusing an immense amount of agricul- 

 tural knowledge throughout the kingdom. For example, ia 

 the very last Journal there was one of the most useful papers 

 he had ever read in his liie: he referred to the paper which 

 described a very simple and economical mode of constructing 

 roads on clay-farms, the author of which was Mr. Bailey 

 Denton. 



Lord Feversham then moved a vote of thanks to the 

 Chairman. He did not see how any association of that kind, 

 having practical objects iu view, and aiming at practical 

 results, could rest on its oars; and he was happy to say there 

 was reason to believe that most of the members of the 

 Council were in favour of progressive improvement (Hear, 

 hear). He had himself proposed in the Council that the 

 Show meetings should ia future be held in the metropolis. 

 He did not know whether or not Mr. Moore wished to have 

 country meetings as well as London meetings. 



Mr. Moore said he would have three or four counties 

 thrown into one, aid have attiliat=d eocieties iu different parts 

 of the country. 



Lord Feversham thought the Council would do well to 

 consider whether it might not be an improvement to hold 

 the meetings in Loiidon instead of in the country. Everj'- 

 thiug he heard with respect to the railways, with respect to 

 the want of accommodation in towns, and with raspect to the 

 inconveuieiice sustained l)y exhibitors in consequence of having 

 to send their stock to distant parts of the kingdom, convinced 

 him that thia view was cjrrect. He was opposed to the 

 amalgamation of the society with the Smithfield Club. He 

 would keep both societies distinct, but would have a large 

 building er.cted for the meetings of both societies — one iu 

 the summer and the other in the winter. His lordship con- 

 cluded by expressing his dissent from the opinion that the 

 judges should be required to give reasons for their decisions, 

 observing that such an arrangement would lead to great prac- 

 tical inconvenience, while it could produce no useful result. 



Mr. HoRBS, in seconding the motion, said be was pleased 

 to find that the members of the society were beginning to 

 take an interest in its proceedings, because he felt satisfied 

 that uuless the Council knew what a strong feeling prevailed 

 among the members, the meaiures which were so desirable 

 for the success of the society would never be carried out. 

 He trusted that during their noble President's year of office 

 necessary reforms would be effected. 



The motion having been carried by acclamation. 



The CiiAiRM.vN, in replying, said he rejoiced at the ob- 

 servations which were made at the commencement of the 

 meeting, because they had elicited the remarks of Col. Chal- 

 louer, who was a member of the Fioauce Committee. He 

 was one of those who thought that there could not be too 

 much publicity as regarded the accounts, aud that the entire 

 management of the society could not be too thoroughly ven- 

 tilated ( Hear, hear). It was on that principle that he had 

 always acted in relation to his own farming operations, being 

 convinced that it was the best mode of eliciting the truth ami 

 promoting improvement. He could not agree with his noble 

 friend, Lord Feversham, that it was desirable entirely to do 

 away with t'le migratory proceedings of the society, because 

 in couiitiea which had been most bchiudhaud in agriculture, 

 he had seen not merely excitement for a time, but very great 

 permanent improvements as the result of the country meet- 

 ings. He admitted, liOA ever, that the holding of a meeting 

 occasionally in Loudon would be advantageous to agriculture, 

 and he should be glad, so far, if his nobis friend's suggestiou 

 could be carried out. 

 The meeting then separated. 



