THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



103 



ROYAL AGRICULTURAL 



A Weeki.v Council was held on Wednesday, the 

 23rd of June. Present: Sir John V. B. Johnstone, 

 Bart., M. P., Vice-President, in the Chair ; Mr. Beale 

 Browne (High Sheriff of the county of Gloucester) ; Mr. 

 Davey, M.P. ; MM. E. and L. Dumont (from Belgium), 

 Mr. Fisher Hobbs, Mr. Mundy, Mr. liotton, Mr- 

 Burch Western, and Mr. Wilson (of St jwlangtoft). 



Prize Essay.— Mr. Thompson, Chairman of the 

 Journal Committee, reported the following adjudica- 

 tion : — 



To Robert Vallentine, of Burcott Lodge, Leigh- 

 ton Buzzard, the prize ot £20 for his Essay on the 

 Comparative Advantages of Large and Small Farms, 

 whether adapted for Dairy, Arable, or Grazing pur- 

 poses. 



Bird Island Guano. — Professor Voelcker, the con- 

 sulting chemist of the Society, transmitted the follow- 

 ing analysis of guano which a few weeks ago had been 

 offered for sale, by public auction in London, at the rate 

 of £5 per ton, but which appeared to him an entirely 

 artifical compound, made up of more than half its bulk 

 of plaster of Paris, or gypsum, and containing less than 

 one-half per cent, of ammonia : — 



Copy of an Analysis of a Sample of so-called Bird's Island 

 Guano, sent by Mr. Ernest, Loiidou : — 



Moisture 978 



Water of combination and a little organic matter* 14 78 



Bi-phosphate of lime (soluble phosphate) 2 66 



Insoluble phosphates (boue-eartb) 1043 



Sulphate of lime 58-02 



Alkaline salts and magnesia 298 



Insoluble siliceous matter (sand) 1'35 



100-00 



*Containing nitrogen -85 



Equal to ammonia '. . "42 



May, 1858. Augustus Voelcker. 



Drainage.— The Council having taken into further 

 consideration the series of questions on drainage received, 

 through the Board of Trade and the Foreign Office, 

 from the French Government, referred them to tl e final 

 decision of the Monthly Council on the 7th of July. 



Messrs. Purdon, of Dublin, presented to the Society 

 the first volume of their Irish Herd Book. 

 The Council adjourned to Wednesday, the 30th June. 



A Weekly Council was held on Wednesday, the 

 30th of June ; present : Colonel Challoner, Trustee (in 

 the chair) ; Lord Bridport ; Hon. William George 

 Cavendish, M.P. ; Mr. Raymond Barker ; Mr. Corbet ; 

 Mr. Baskerville Glegg ; Mr. Langston, M.P. ; Pro- 

 fessor Simonds; Mr. Vyner ; and Mr. Burch Weston. 



Sewage. — The following letter was read : — 



" J. Hudson, Esq., &c. 



" Dear Sir, — As I have an important engagement, 

 which will prevent my attending the meetinu; of the Cotin- 

 cil to-morrow, will you ask the President or Chairman of the 

 day to allow these few lines to be read, as I am anxious that 

 no time should be lost in calling the attention of the Coun- 

 cil to a very valuable report wliich has lately been published 



SOCIETY OF ENGLAND, 



on the question which is now occupying so much of the 

 public attention, viz., 'the best mode of dealing with the 

 sewage of London and other great towns." A cnpv of this 

 report has lately been presented to the Society by Mr. Way, 

 our late Consulting Chemist, who is one of the Commis- 

 sioners appointed last year to inquire into this question ; and 

 I have no hesitation in recommending their above-mentioned 

 report to the Royal Agricultural Society, as one deserving 

 of the utmost attention and support. It combines, with an 

 efficient mode of removing the nuisance, all the other ad- 

 vantages contemplated in connection with the scheme, viz , 

 the embankment of the river so as to obtain an ornamental 

 and most important thoroughfare along its banks, and also 

 the preservation of some portion of the fertilizing matter 

 for agricultural purposes. The estimate of the cost is also 

 much below that of some other plans which have been pro- 

 posed. I beg to suggest that an application should be made 

 to the Commissioners to furnish the Society with a copy of 

 their report for each Member of Council. 



" I am, dear sir, yours faithfully, 



" H. S. Thompson, 

 " Chairman of .Tournal Committee. 

 " June 29; 1858." 



Guano Rates. — Mr. Frere, of Roydon Hall, Nor- 

 folk, called the attention of the Council to the following 

 statement which had appeared in the public papers : — 



" A Correspondent informs us that the Peruvian Govern- 

 ment charge £1 12s. per ton more to British Farmers 

 than to those in the United States, the freight being 

 the same. Is this true? If so, there ought to be a 

 remedy someivliere.'''' 



Mr. Bolton presented a copy of his " Principles of 

 Animal Nutrition," and the Rev. William Townsend, 

 Rector of Aghadda, near Cloyne, of his papers on 

 " Gorse as Food for Cows and Horses." 



Railway Conveyance. — The Directors of the 

 Chester and Birkenhead Railway Company expressed, 

 through their General Manager, Mr. Mason, their desire 

 to render every facility to the Society's exhibitions at 

 the Chester Meeting, in the free conveyance of live stock, 

 and reduced rates of charge for implements. 



Lecture. — Professor Simonds delivered the con- 

 cluding part of his lecture on the " Composition of the 

 Blood, and its Conditidns under Disease, in Domes- 

 ticated Animals." On the motion of Mr. Baskerville 

 Glegg, secondad by Mr. Burch Western, the thanks of 

 the Council were passed unanimously to Professor 

 Simonds, for the interesting and most instructive lecture 

 he had then delivered. Adjourned to July 7. 



A Monthly Council was held on Wednesday, the 

 7th of July .- present, Lord Berners, President, in the 

 Chair, Earl of Powis, Lord Walsingham, Lord Portman, 

 Hon, Colonel Hood, Hon. ^^ illiam George Cavendish, 

 M.P., Sir Charles Morgan, Bart., Sir John V. B. 

 Johnstone, Bart., M.P., Sir Philip Grey Egerton, 

 Bart., M. P., Sir Archibald Keppel Macdonald, Bart., 

 Mr. Amos, Mr. Raymond Barker, Mr. Hodgson Bar- 

 row, M.P., Mr. Bramston, M.P., Colonel Challoner, 

 Mr. Druce, Mr. Brandreth Gibbs, Mr. Hamond, Mr. 

 Fisher Hobbs. Mr. Wren Hoskyns, Mr. Humberstort 



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