101 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



The amount of the prizes in money alone was £1,106 

 for this department. 



The pigs were nearly all English, and equal to any- 

 thing we have seen in England. Out of 243 entries, 

 there were 229 belonging to English breeds, or crosses 

 with boars of English extraction ; in fact, there were 

 only ten animals of pure French breeds. 



Together with the pigs there were 13 entries of goats 

 and 70 of rabbits, for all which most liberal and nu- 

 merous prizes were offered 



The poultry numbered 685 entries, but presented no 

 feature of sufBcient interest to be worth noticing, except 

 several very ingenious contrivances for the rearing of 

 chickens, of which we may speak on another occasion. 



The machine department was as varied in the descrip- 

 tions of implements exhibited as it was judiciously 

 arranged to enable the visitors to form their judgment. 

 In England each maker groups all his machines together, 

 so as to give his exhibition more the character of a 

 selling stand than a mere exhibition of his goods for com- 

 petitive purposes. This plan is, no doubt, more advan- 

 tageous to exhibitors ; but very distressing to the visitor, 

 who has no means of comparing machines of one kind 

 or purpose with another when in juxtaposition. In 

 Paris, all machines of one kind were grouped together, ir- 

 respective of the exhibitors' names, so as to enable visitors 

 to compare and form their judgment. Among the many 

 implements exhibited we were pleased to remark so 

 large a proportion bearing the stamp of our best manu- 

 facturers, especially from their excellent workmanship 

 forming so favourable a contrast with the clumsy imita- 

 tions exhibited by native makers. Monsieur Ganneron, 

 the well-known agricultural implement merchant of 56, 

 Quai de Billy, Paris, had a very complete exhibition of 

 implements, the majority of which came direct from 

 the Orwell Works, at Ipswich ; and a splendid lot of 

 machines it was, consisting of steam-engines of various 

 power, combined thrashing-machines, as well as 

 ploughs, and all kinds of barn implements. The 

 Messrs. Howard, Barrett and Exall, Smith and Ashby, 

 Crosskill, Garrett and Sons, had also sent excellent 

 specimens from their manufactories. 



One of the most important features of this show, 

 and one holding a prominent position in the pro- 

 gramme, was the international competition of mowing 

 machines. The trials took place on the Imperial farm 

 of Vincennes, and created an intense interest among 

 French agriculturists, who at this important period of 

 the year are suffering most severely from the want of 

 harvest hands, especially haymakers. Monday and 

 Tuesday, the 18 th and 19 th instant, were exclusively 

 devoted to the operations of the jury, during which very 

 few people were admitted. What took place on these 

 trials we of course do not know ; but on the Wednesday, 

 when the public were admitted on the grounds, and 

 when practical farmers were enabled to witness the per- 

 formances of the competing machines, the most una- 

 nimous astonishment was depicted on every coun- 

 tenance, spoken from every tongue, and freely 

 commented upon by every one present, when it 

 was known that a flimsy, inefficient one-horse ma- 

 chine had been thought worthy of the first prize, and 

 the medal of honour ; while the business-like, compact 

 and efficient mower exhibited by Messrs. Burgess and 

 Key had bean awarded only the second prize. We do 

 not remember ever having witnessed so general and 

 spontaneous a reversal of an award by any practical 

 agricultural assembly, and so earnest a condemnation 

 of a judgment which nobody could understand, and 

 which many would not even believe to be possible. Judg- 



ing merely from what we witnessed ourselves, we can 

 fully bear out the general testimony of the vast multi- 

 tude of practical men. The facility and ease with which 

 Allen's mowing machine accompli'hed in half less time 

 than its toy-like competitor the task allotted to its 

 performance, the perfection of the work done, the close- 

 ness and evenness of the cutting, and the steadiness of 

 the machine, were the theme of general admiration ; 

 and Mr. Burgess, who was present, can well console 

 himself for his defeat, with the flattering encomiums 

 passed upon his valuable implement, and the perfect 

 ovation bestowed upon it, by a large assemblage of 

 practical men far more competent to form a judgment of 

 what mowing ought to be, than the learned and distin- 

 guished Parisian gentlemen who composed the jury — the 

 forensic talents of a Dupin, the military skill of general 

 AUard, and the other eminent scientific and literary 

 attainments of ihe other judges, notwithstanding. 



At all events, let it be recorded that a French jury 

 has thought proper to reverse the verdict of the Warwick 

 judges; and that in the eyes of an official French jury 

 Wood's machine is in every respect superior to Allen's. 

 Let it not be understood that we wish in any degree 

 to disparage the merits of Wood's machine : all we want 

 to convey is, that, in our opinion, which is based upon 

 personal observation, and further corroborated by the 

 unanimous assent of every one on the trial ground at 

 Vincennes, it certainly failed to justify the unaccounta- 

 ble verdict of the French judges. This much was, 

 however, acknowledged by all, that all English imple- 

 ments used for haymaking were highly superior to any- 

 thing that French skill could bring into competition. 

 In that interesting and highly important race for 

 mastery, it was evident from the beginning; that the 

 French machines were of a most undeniable inferiority 

 as compared with the English. 



We have no space left for comments upon the Pro- 

 duce Department of this Exhibition. We regret it, be- 

 cause this was one of the most interesting parts of the 

 whole exhibition, both from the variety of the articles 

 exhibited, and for the skill and judgment with which 

 they were arranged and managed. Indeed this encomium 

 is not confined to one department ; the whole exhibits 

 a display of taste, judgment, prudence, and skill to a 

 degree that leaves any similar exhibition in England in 

 a comparative inferiority, the idea of which could not be 

 conveyed in words however skilfully expressed. Every 

 thing bore a character of that easy-going work, smooth. 

 agency, and perfect handling which it would be impos- 

 sible to surpass, and a most arduous task to equal. 



It was also a hopeful sign to witness the numbers of 

 visitors ; for, although the payment for admission was 

 a franc, a most serious obstacle with the French, no less 

 than 103,000 persons paid for admission during the 

 first four days, and the Exhibition being prolonged 

 up to next Monday, and Tuesday being a free day, there 

 is no doubt but this solemnity has excited a much greater 

 interest among the French public than the universal one 

 of 1856. This is undoubtedly a pregnant sign of a 

 healthy revival of agricultural progress, fully borne out 

 by the great advance everywhere manifested, and the 

 growing interest felt by the landed proprietors in agri- 

 cultural pursuits, and the personal management of their 

 own estates. Debarred from the allurements of official 

 position and political influence, the French aristocracy 

 have gradually relinquished the excitement of public 

 life, and directed their pent-up energies towards agri- 

 culture — the Al/na Mater of civilization, happiness, and 

 prosperity. 



Paris, June 16. 



