336 



'HE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



Sidney added :—'' That statement of profits of ^700 

 a year from a ITO-acre farm certainly had created 

 asensation. No doubt Mr. Mechi believed it, but he 

 (Mr. Sidney) felt bound to tell the Society that, at 

 a very numerous meeting of the Central Farmers' 

 Club, on the previous Monday, including- the first and 

 most advanced farmers in the kingdom, the statement 

 was received with perfect incredulity ; and an offer to 

 investigate the accounts, by three eminent farmers, one 

 being- Mr. Little, the land-agent, of Chippenham, had 

 been refused by Mr. Mechi." It could not even be 

 kept out ot the Club's monthly discussion on "the 

 Over-preservation of Game ;" for in his speech here 

 Mr. Hudson, of Castleacre, said : — " I do not know 

 whether our friend, Alderman Mechi, keeps a large 



liead of game at Tiptree ; I know him to be a keen 

 sportsman. At any rate, his game has not done much 

 damage to his cropj for it is in print that he has made 

 £600 a year profit as landlord and tenant upon his 

 little farm of 170 acres at Tiptree. Now, gentlemen, 

 I believe you would all be satisfied if you could make 

 20s. an acre profit these times, with wheat at 42s. a 

 quarter. This would leave above 50s. an acre for 

 Landlord Meclii. Verily, I think Landlord Mechi 

 gets the lion's share ! I should like to take a leaf out 

 of the worthy alderman's book ; for I have a small 

 farm in Norfolk, let to a good tenant at about 30s. an 

 acre, worth 50 per cent, more than Tiptree." The 

 discussion on the Game question must be left to speak 

 for itself. 



LONDON, OR CENTRAL FARMERS' CLUB. 

 OVER-PRESERVATION OF GAME. 



The second monthly meeting of the Session took 

 place at the Club House, New Bridge-street, on Mon- 

 day evening, March 5. Mr. L. A. Coussmaker, of 

 Wentwood, Farnham, presided ; and amongst other 

 members present were Mr. Hudson, of Castleacre, Mr. 

 FisberHobbs, Mr. Owen Wallis, Sir James Duke, Mr. 

 T. Owen, Mr. B. P. Shearer, Mr. J. J. Mechi, Mr. G. 

 H. Ramsay, Mr. R. Bond, Mr. S. Skelton, Mr. T. Con- 

 greve, Mr. J. B. Spearing, Mr. Bullock Webster, Mr. 

 J. Cressingham, Mr. James Thomas, Mr. W. Cheffins, 

 Mr. J. G. King, Mr. E. Purser, Mr. E. Little, Mr. J. 

 A. Williams, Mr. G. VVilsher, Mr. J . Parkinson, Mr. 

 R. Goldhawk, Mr. H. Shotter, Mr. H. Corbet, Mr. 

 T. B. Chapman, Mr. E. \\. Waite, Mr. P. F. Pell, Mr. 

 S. Sidney, Mr. G. P. Tuxford, Mr. W. Eve, Mr. J. 

 Dumbrell, Mr. J. A. Nockolds, Mr. J. H. Sawell, Mr. 

 R. W. Keep, Mr. E. B. Acton, Mr, Copeland, Mr. J. 

 Wood (Croydon), Mr. Carr, Mr. Fidler, Mr. Matheson, 

 Mr. Rix. &c., &c. 



The subject for discuss'iou, to be introduced by the 

 Secretary of the Club, Mr. H. Corbet, was "The 

 Over-preservation of Game." 



The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, observed 

 thai the subject about to be discussed was a rather 

 delicate one. There were no doubt some gentlemen 

 present who felt very strongly upon it, but who, at the 

 same time, were good sportsmen, and had no objection 

 to see a fair amount of game on their farms. That could 

 not be the case without a certain degree of protection. 

 It was the abuse of game-preserving that was objection- 

 able, and they must always be careful not to argue from 

 the abuse of anything against its use. He was con- 

 fident, however, that the question would be treated in a 

 proper manner by the gentleman who had undertaken 

 to introduce it. 



Mr, Henry Corbet then rose and said: — When 

 the Committee placed this subject on their card, I 

 do not imagine that they had any desire to coun- 

 tenance an attack on the national sports of the country. 

 At any rate I have no intention to make one. On the 

 contrary, I believe that any attempt to do away with 

 our rural sports and pastimes would be a grievous error, 

 and that none would oppose such a movement more 

 than the farmers themselves. It is the practice of these 

 pursuits that goes to cement the union between the 

 landlord and his tenant, that teaches the one to regard 

 the other with a feeling something beyond the mere 

 consi'hr 'U-^-T of pounds, shillings, and pence, and that 

 nourishes between them a stronger sympathy, and a 



healthy tone of good fellowship. You must all have 

 witnessed the welcome with which the master of hounds 

 greets the yeoman as he comes up to the cover side — a 

 recognition that many a much finer gentleman looks in 

 vain for. You well know, too, when the more humble 

 harriers meet in the grass-grounds, what a lunch the 

 missis, of her own doing, is sure to have ready at that 

 happy nick of time, when the squire having killed his 

 first hare, curiously enough begins drawing close round 

 the home buildings for a second. And.you can pic- 

 ture faithfully enough how, when the Major and his 

 brother from Cambridge are seen beating the stubbles, 

 the young one tides up on his pony to know whether 

 they will come on to the house, or have it sent out to 

 them? Need I say how much that significant "it" 

 means ? Wiiat genuine hospitality is involved in " it"? 

 Or, that master Tommv gallops back with a brace of 

 birds slung each side of him, and a leveret in his hand, 

 to tell mamma " they are coming to see her." I should 

 be sorry to record such scenes as these as but the me- 

 mentoes of a by-gone age. Or, that I had to draw only 

 on my imagination for that we all hope so often still to 

 realize. You will remember, again, one of the yet most 

 popular toasts at your agricultural dinners, how, when 

 you have cheered ' ' the chairman' ' — and "the society" — 

 and "the county members" — snd " the town members" 

 — and "the town council" — and "the dean and the 

 clergy"— and ' ' the railways" — and ' ' the turnpike trusts" 

 — and " the canal companies," and the hundred and one 

 similar ceremonies which seem inseparable from such an 

 occasion, you cheer and re-cheer more than ever for 

 "foxhunting." How the glad tally-hoes and the 

 triumphant who-whoops come from your very hearts ; 

 and how when the Master, who has been sitting very 

 quiet so far, gets up and says in a few straightforward 

 sentences " he wishes to show sport, but that he cannot 

 do so without the farmers back him, as they have done, 

 and as he hopes they still" — how here the orator is in- 

 terrupted with an overflowing simultaneous outburst of 

 applause, that quite spoils the point of his speech, but 

 that, I fancy, satisfies him well enough, nevertheless. 

 A very startling antithesis here presents itself. Suppose 

 that, at some of these gatherings, amongst the toasts 

 bearing upon the pleasures of a country life some one 

 should give " The noble and truly British sport of 

 battue-shooting." How he would dwell on the way in 

 which it brought the English gentleman to the Halls of 

 his Fathers : how it endeared him to his neighbours and 

 his tenantry ; and how it caused him to be beloved and 



