118 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



In whatever point of view they regarded the noble Duke — 

 whether they regarded him as one who had fought the bat- 

 tles of his country under the great Duke of Wellington, as 

 an agriculturist carrying out improvements on his own estate 

 with tha greatest care and sagacity, or as a landowner offer- 

 ing the greatest facilities to hia tenants for the profitable 

 cultivation of tbeir farms — they must all feel that he was 

 entitled to their respect and confidence. (Cheers.) Before 

 he consented to connect himself with that charity, his Grace 

 took care to acquaint himself with the rules and regulations, 

 and this rendered his sauction and support more valuable 

 and important. It was with vtry great pleasure that he 

 proposed the health of his Grace the Duke of Richmond. 

 (Cheers.) 



Mr. Mechi afterwards proposed the health of the Vice- 

 Presidents, coupling with the toast the name of Mr. Samuel 

 Brooks, of Maachester, who, he said, not content with con- 

 tributing liberally to the funds, had come all the way from 

 Manchester to support the institution by his presence that 

 evening, adding that Mr. Brooks had been engaged for some 

 time in making a drain as deep as that room. (Laughter.) 



Mr. Brooks, in returning thanks, said that the drain to 

 which Mr. Mechi referred had proved a great drain &a regarded 

 his pocket, and observed that he feared Mr. Meehi's couree as 

 an agricultural improver had, as frequently happened in such 

 cases, done far mere good to others than to himself 

 (laughter). 



Mr. A. Wood, in proposing the health of the treasurer of 

 the Institution, Colonel Hood, adverted to the fact of that 

 gentleman having been selected by the Prince Consoit to 

 BUperiuteud his farm, and congratulated the friends of the 

 Society ou its having so excellent a treasurer. 



The Chairman said he had now to propose a toast which 

 was certainly not one of the least important oa the list ; it 

 was the health of a gentleman whose career in agriculture 

 might appear to some of the farmers of England in the pre- 

 sent day to partake of the character assigned to the rocket, 

 that of going up too fast and coming down too swift — " too 

 fast," was perhaps the expression which such persons would be 

 disposed to apply to what Mr. Mechi had done as an English 

 agriculturist. But when was it ever otherwise with anyone 

 who was the pioneer of any science or art ? When did we 

 ever hear of that man being popular among persons of his own 

 class, who attempted to prove to others that what they were 

 doing might be done better? (Hear, hear). Of course he 

 would be unpopular who ventured to tell others they were 

 wrong when they thought they were right. If they listened 

 to what farmers said of each other in any district, even of 

 tolerably well cultivated land, they would find a very free 

 spirit of criticism prevailing amoug such pjrsous; but when 

 a man came forward openly, and, froca public and patriotic 

 motives, gave utterance openly to such opinions as were ex- 

 pressed by others privately, he was sure to encounter great 

 opposition. He did not stand there to praise Mr. Meehi's 

 farming or his writings, but he did stand there to praise him 

 for the bold, undaunted, and, at the same time, good-natured 

 spirit which he had constantly manifested (loud cheers). 

 He could not have gone on so long and so perseveringly as he 

 had done if he had not had a solid and permanent object at 

 heart. He had now proved that he had such an object. He 

 (the Chairman) would not uudettake to say that what he did 

 before, either practically or scientifically, proved it. He was 

 not prepared either to assert or to deny that ; but he would 

 Bay that hia inauguration of that Society showed that in all 

 he had written and all he had doue> he had in reality 

 but one great object, namely, to benefit the English far- 



mer (great cheering). He had visited Mr. Meehi's 

 farm more than once, and on each occasion had heard 



expressions of excessive admiration on the onehand and of excessive 

 reprobation on tlie other (Laughter,) Neither produced much 

 impression on his own mind (Hear, hear.) The best farms in 

 England no doubt afforded some material tor criticism, and 

 unbounded praise was almost sure to be wrong. Few farmers 

 were in a position to irait-ite Mr. Meehi's enterprise, and few 

 had the advantage which he posses-ed of calling the land which 

 they cultivated their own, the result of that being that if there 

 were no immediate return for tlie capital invested, there might 

 bs a very satisfactory one some years hence (Hear, hear.) Land 

 was such an absorbent thing, that it was almost impossible to get 

 a return all at once : a generation might pass away before it was 

 witnessed ; and the problem which tenant farmers generally had 

 to solve, under the existing stateofthings, washow to obtain the 

 greatest possible amount of profit within tlie shortest possible 

 time (Hear, hear.) He would not presume to pronounce an 

 opinion upon what Mr. Mechi had accomplished as a cultivator 

 of the soil. As an owner of light a» well as heavy land, he knew 

 that what was good for one was bad fur the other. He was con- 

 vinced that great benefit must arise from intelligent persons who 

 were not dependent ou farming, and whose means were ample, 

 devoting their minds and their pens to the study and improve- 

 ment of agriculture in its various branches (cheers.) He always 

 liked to see farmers themselves taking an interest in questions 

 involving the improvement of agriculture, for when that was 

 the case there was reason to hope that the truth would be elicited 

 and agriculture advance. He had to propose Mr. Meehi's health 

 more particularly, not as an agriculturist, but as the founder of 

 that excellent institution (cheers.) He well knew wiih what 

 energy and perseverance he had laboured for that object; and 

 he believed there was not a farmer to be found in England, who, 

 although he might often indulge in a little criticism on Mr. 

 Mechi at an ordinary, and on other occasions, would not here- 

 after, at all events, if he were not so now, be deeply thankful to 

 the man who had devoted his time and his talents, his knowledge, 

 his experience, and his money to the founding of an institution 

 for the special benefit of unfortunate individuals connected with 

 their own class (great cheering.) He had then much pleasure 

 in proposing the health of Mr. Mechi. 



The toa^it having been mo.st cordially responded to, 



Mr. Mechi said, it was always a very easy thing to him to 

 talk about agriculture, but a very difficult one to talk about him- 

 self, and therefore he hoped they would excuse him for not say- 

 ing much on the latter point. At the same time he could assure 

 them that he appreciated that acknowledgment of his services 

 very highly. Like other human beings hi was apt to feel pleased 

 when any kind thing* were said about him, and he felt especially 

 indebted to the Chairman for the manner in which he Iiad spoken 

 of him (clieers.) Men were not masters of their own destinies. 

 Many a man did at 40 or 59 what he never dreamt of doing at 

 21 or 25 ; and little did ho himself expect, when a young man, 

 that he would^ occupy the position that he had done of late years 

 in relation to agriculture. He Iiad differed, and still dilTered 

 from many Britiih farmers. He said to a man who liad a stiff 

 clay farm, " Your farm would pay better if it were drained." 

 And if the person addressed replied, " that it would not pay for 

 draining," they were at once at issue on a question of principle, 

 and he did not see how tliey were to do otherwise than differ. 

 He believed that a hundred years hence the farmers of that 

 period, looking back on their predecessors of the present day, 

 would exclaim, " What an old-fashioned set of fellows those 

 were ! Why, we are doing a thousand things which they seem 

 never to have thought of." It was not a hundred years ago 

 since the man who introduced the drill was called a foo! ; and 

 he really believed that there would be many things done fifty 

 years hence foi which any one who did them now would be ex- 

 posed to ridicule. For example, all farmers were now in the 

 habit of turning their cattle out to fatten in the cold and wet. 

 That was the case during the whole of iho last winter, while the 

 people were paying, as they were still, a high price for their 

 beef and mutton. The great want of farmers ai regarded cattle 

 was that they should fatten without eating much, and for that 



