150 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



Wynn had paid him. He must include the gentlemen in 

 this neighbourhood and district, the gentlemen who liad so 

 nobly come forward with subscriptions when it was neces- 

 sary to obtain a large fund to enable the Society to hold a 

 great meeting. The local committee must also be included, 

 and also the honorary secretary, who had made such per- 

 fect arrangements for the comfort of the visitors, and he 

 begged to thank those gentlemen connected with the rail- 

 ways for the liberalitj' with which they have made prepara- 

 tions for the accommodation of the public. As to the agri- 

 culture of the neighbourhood, he fthe Mayor) would claim 

 credit to the Cheshire farmer. It was a trite saying that 

 he who made two blades of grass to grow in the place of 

 one, was a benefactor to mankind, and the Cheshire farmer, 

 by the free use of bone manure on farms that at one time 

 fed only twenty head of stock, now fed forty (Hear, hear). 

 During the last week, they had seen trials of steam plough- 

 ing. Those trials had not been decisive, but he hoped the 

 makers would go on, and improve their machinery. When 

 a boy, he had been obliged to pay a £5 note to travel to 

 Westminster School in twenty hours, but since he had had 

 the honour of being connected with the Royal Agricultural 

 Society, he had travelled to London in 4 hours and 50 mi- 

 nutes, for one guinea. He, therefore, called on the makers 

 of steam implements not to rest satisfied until they had 

 brought out a machine which would do the work in one-fifth 

 the time and at one-fifch the cost. 



Earl PoM'is proposed " Agriculture, Manufactures, and 

 Commerce." It was to their manufactures they were 

 indebted for their richness, while it was to the other 

 branches of the community they were indebted for the con- 

 sumption of their commodities. Long might the union 

 between agriculture, manufactures, and commerce continue, 

 like the three Graces of old, who were united by one com- 

 mon bond of amity and love (cheers). 



Sir E. Kerrison proposed the health of the Labourers 

 of England, a toast which was never received in any part 

 of the kingdom but with the greatest applause. They had 

 seen the animals in the show to-day, but they should not 

 forget that it was mainlj' to the labourers they were in- 

 debted to the care with which they had been tended. He 

 would ask them to whom were they indebted for the means 

 by which the stock had been brought to them by the rail- 

 ways ? why it was the labourer of England, and if there 

 were any means of repaying them, it would be by elevating 

 their social condition. They wanted to advance him in his 

 social condition, and if he remained in their neighbourhood, 

 and agriculture advanced in improvement, then the labourer 

 should keep pace with that improvement. There was ano- 

 ther subject to which he wished to allude, and if the}' 

 wished to impro\ e the labourers, they should so far improve 

 their dwellings, that when they came home to a comforta- 

 ble house they shouLl have r.o desire to leave it. " The 

 labourers of England." 



M. de Trehonnais said, the toast I have to propose is 

 " The Railways." If our age wanted au appropriate emblem 

 to stamp its peculiar chamcter iu the annah of history — if a 

 great fact was wanted — who, amoug the liviug generations oj 

 mankind, would for a moment hesitate to proclaim with grate- 

 ful and exulting acclamations, the word "railways," a mighty 

 engine of peace, civilization, and progress. Like liviug arte- 

 ries, they propel through the laud life, judgment, and ac- 

 tivity. They equalize the remunerations of our labour and 

 industry by bringing the best markets to the door of our barns 

 and the gates of our paddocks. With the swiftness of light- 



ning, the resistless might of steam, they scatter abroad light, 

 knowledge, and morality. They bring near distaut men and 

 things ; they throw the broad lif;ht of comparisons into hidden 

 corners, and deep-rooted prejudices which, beneath their be- 

 nign influence, melt like the wintry snow before the beams of 

 the spring sun ; and raising our speculations to a more solemn 

 and more exalted sphere, are they not the mighty instruments 

 of God's providence, in promoting grace and good-will among 

 men by fostering general acquaintances and connections be- 

 tween comraunicaties, and bringing within the ready reach 

 of our wants and comforts all the treasures and luxuriea w hich 

 nature, the work of his almighty hand, has so bountifully 

 scattered in endless profusion and variety all over the world ? 

 If as members of the great human family, we are bound to re- 

 vere this toast with an enthusiasm commensurate with its 

 merits, are we not more so, as agriculturists, as Englishmen 

 or foreigners, and especially as members of the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society ? Without the existence of radways, could 

 the truly magnificent spectacle we now contemplate under the 

 ancient walls of this city, have been displayed to our delighted 

 admiration ? Could the vast concourse of people which hava 

 flocked from this densely-populated neighbourhood, from your 

 blue Celtic hills, and even from foreign lands, have gathered 

 together within the frail enclosiire which contains such valu- 

 able riches ? And, lastly, let us contemplate with a moment's 

 thought, the great influence this spectacle cannot fail to exert 

 over the agricultural population of this district— an influence 

 which, without the existence of rad ways, would have been con- 

 fined and narrowed into a limited circle (loud cheers). 



Mr. TiTHERiNGTON, 83 Chairman of the Birkenhead Com- 

 pany, acknowledged the toast, and expressed a hope that the 

 railway companies would take lessons from the Royal Agricul- 

 tural Society in the united manner in which its e£forta were 

 carried out. 



Mr. John Fowler, juu., proposed the " Stew^ards and 

 Judges of the Show." Iu his opinion, the duties of the judges, 

 at the present show, had been performed in a very satisfactory 

 manner. 



Mr. Brandreth Gibbs responded to the toast, and traced 

 the operations of the Society year by year, showing that the 

 Society was in a very promising condition. 



In answer to a call from the Chairman, Mr. Siiackel, as 

 one of the Judges, stated his opinion that the improvements 

 in machinery were very great, and he hoped before long to see 

 steam power used in plougliiiig. He and others had been for 

 the past few days examining implements for agricultural pur- 

 poses, and it was for them to say which was the best means of 

 cultivating the land, and it would be for them to decide which 

 was the best mode of farming, but he must think steam power 

 would be a great boon to the farmer. Before leaving home, 

 he had mowed 20 acres of oats, which by this time had bee.i 

 harvested ; and, instead of paying 5s. an acre, it did not cost 

 him more than Is. Gd. to Is. 8d. Jlr. Shackel concluded by 

 bearing testimony to the desirability of giving comfortable 

 cottages to farm labourers, seeing that they would, as it were, 

 have an interest in tlie farm, and do their work all the better. 



Lord Delameric proposed " The Health of the Duke o( 

 Marlborough, the President-elect." A domestic affliction had 

 prevented his Grace from attending, but it was to be hoped 

 he would carry out the oflice as well as it had been carried out 

 during the past year. 



The Chairman said it had sli]>ped his memory to thank 

 the chcese-raakers, but he would thank them now most heartily 

 for the cordial manner in which they had received the Rojal 

 Agricultural Society during the present meeting. 



