7S 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



fcball or shall not come ; and who, moreover, have 

 constantly recurring evidence of how often such a 

 visitation does happen. It was impossible to take up 

 a London or local paper within this week or two, with- 

 out reading of the fearful losses and injury occasioned 

 by the recent hail-storms in different parts of the 

 country. In many instances every kind of crop was 

 destroyed, and to be uninsured was simply to be ruined. 

 At least in some cases it was so ; and the humiliating 

 subscription-list the only means by which the sufferer 

 could in any way expect to weather the storm. 



It must be distinctly understood that we have no desire 

 to pufl'off any particular office or project. Within the 

 week we have certainly put ourselves into communication 

 with the more important hail-insurance Societies, and 

 have intelliKcnco from the London Farmers', the Nor- 

 wich, audtlic Midland Counties at Lincoln. A line to 

 the Hertford Office has to this time produced no reply. 

 These are the three leading Institutions of the kind, 

 and they all confirm the flying reports wliich had 

 already reached us. There has been nothing so 

 severe since the great storm of 'forty-three ; and 

 although occurring at different times, and taking va- 

 rious circuits, there arc few districts but that have 

 felt something of its force. In many places the in- 

 jury has been altogether unparalleled. Take, for 

 example, the following communication to the Norwich 

 Office : " Storm, 12th June.— The Surveyor of the Ge- 

 neral Hailstorm Society stated that in the neighbour- 

 hood of Stratford-on-Avon there were upwards of a 

 thousand acres of wheat which would not produce a 

 thousand coombs (500 qrs.), but that the beans and 

 peas had suffered the most; many fields were so utterly 

 destroyed that the pigs were turned in, to feed off the 

 hulms; one field of peas niuch injured on the I2th, 

 suffered from a second hailstorm on the 16th; one 

 farmer uninsured has sustained a damage of ^£800 

 to £1000; another about £G00." 



Then, again, near Biggleswade : " The storm has da- 

 maged the crops about here, to the amount of some thou- 

 sands." And another official report from thcNorthsays : 

 "Storm, 4th June.— A person walking from Helms- 

 ley to Thiisk in the open moor during the storm ; the 

 hailstones were larger than walnuts, and battered in his 

 hat and much bruised him personally. Several farmers 

 told him that they never remembered such a storm, 

 and the damage to the growing crops in this part of 

 Yorkshire was very great." 



The reports to the Midland Counties office also speak 

 to the damage done in Yorkshire during the first week 

 in June ; more especially in the vicinity of Malton, 



Knaresborough, Otley, and Wakefield. Nearer town, 

 Berkshire, Gloucester, Huntingdon, and Warwick have 

 been the scenes of much similar disaster ; while the 

 following graphic description is from Cambridge :— 

 " The storm of to-day (12th), for we had two, and both 

 had large Quantities of hail and ice, which appeared 

 quite as destructive as the one on the memorable 9th 

 August, 1843. The second raged from two to half- 

 past three ; the thunder, lightning, and hail were awful 

 and grand, and, with the deluge of rain, put a stop to 

 all business, although it was market-day. We already 

 hear of great losses to the crops." 



Let us picture the farmer driven out of Cambridge 

 market at so critical a period as the middle of June. 

 Let us see him starting, when the storm has quite sub- 

 sided, for home again. And, supposing him not to be 

 insured, let us try and imagine what he thinks, as he hur- 

 ries on his horse at far beyond his usual steady jog-trot 

 pace. Will it have reached him I Or, rather, can it have 

 missed him ? He dare hardly take the turn that leads 

 to his own place, or stand up in his gig and look for 

 the grand fiflcen-acre piece that ho was so proud of, this 

 morning. The very boy that opens the gate seems to 

 have more to tell than he will ask for. There arc many 

 trying occasions for us all — the merchant when his 

 great venture is not telegraphed to her time — the 

 turfite as he sees his horse drop back into the crowd — 

 the prisoner when the jury come into court again. 

 But even theirs is a lifetime hardly fraught with more 

 anxiety than that of the farmer driven out of Cambridge 

 market by a summer storm. Can any one of them be 

 a greater speculator, or in any way more to blame ? 

 One may play with his fortune, and the other with his 

 life. The uninsured farmer risks almost as much^ 

 he stands the hazard of the die, moreover, day by 

 day, with the one chance only of heavy loss. For 

 a few pounds he is safe, or in a few minutes he is 

 ruined. 



A word more to the incautious. It is not merely 

 one storm — one crash — and we ai'e free. It has escaped 

 us this time, and may not happen again for years. On 

 the contrary, it will be seen that two very severe falls 

 of hail were experienced in the same place within a 

 few days of each other, the one completing the wreck 

 the other had begun. In a climate like ours it is simply 

 foolhardiness to calculate on such chances of coming or 

 not coming. In short, as much injury may arise from 

 hail as from fire, and the farmer who does not insure 

 himself against either must expect but little sympathy 

 when his turn comes. How will others think of him 

 who had no thought for himself? 



THE HORSE SHOW AT ALENCON, FRANCE. 



The month of May seems to be the month of gather- 

 ings on both sides of the Channel. In England, Exe- 

 ter Hall is characterized by its religious and philan- 

 thropic meetings. In France, agriculture holds its 

 assize with all the pomp and splendour which official 

 encouragement and national taste can bestow. 



Accustomed as we are to tUe unrivalled magnificoncc 

 of our own shows in point of number and excellence of 

 entries, and the high renown of our rival competitors, 

 the chief attraction for an Englishman in our neigh- 

 bour's exhibitions, is the interesting siudy of symptoms 

 of progress, which occasionally greet the eye. On the 

 whole, with some rare exceptions, the generality of the 

 animals exhibited are few in number and inferior in 

 quality, although there are now to be seen in every 



district of France several beautiful specimens of Eng- 

 lish pure breeds, that show no marks of degeneracy 

 under the influence of the mild and kindly climate of 

 France. 



During the month of May, and almost simulta- 

 neously all over France, there are held what are called 

 regional or district agricultural exhibitions, under the 

 control of the Government inspectors of agriculture. 

 The first of these shows took place at Versailles, in 

 1850, and it being the only one for the whole of France, 

 was styled general. It was very succe-sful, and en- 

 couraged the French Government to extend similar ex- 

 hibitions to various parts of the empire. 



In 1851 there were three — one at Aurillac, theother at 

 Toulouse, and the other at St. Lo. They were called 



