4S0 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



ner ; but if, on the other hand, it was desirable that the 

 affairs of the Society should be conducted on the prin- 

 ciples on which it was founded, and that the agricultural 

 intellt'ct of the age should be represented upon it, then 

 he contended it was the business of the Council, who 

 were no doubt all-powerful in framing the house-list, to 

 turn o?er a new leaf and take new men. An additional 

 proof of the necessity for a change was to be found in the 

 report which had that day been read to ths meeting. He 

 referred to the election of a new secretary, and also to the 

 appointment of an editor for the Society's Journal. With 

 regard to the secretaryship, there were candidates for 

 that office who had distinguished themselves by their ac- 

 quaintance with and application to agricultural pursuits, 

 and were well-known to, and enjoyed the confidence of, 

 every intelligent farmer in the kingdom. What was the 

 course which had been taken by the Council ? Why, 

 acting upon t!ie exclusive system to which they had be- 

 come so unfortunately wedded, and which must make 

 the Society so much more genteel and less effective, they 

 had elected a gentleman, the son of an ex-ctunty M.P., 

 highly respectable no doubt, but entirely unacquainted 

 with agriculture; about which, probably, he had never 

 thought until he was put in nomination for the office of 

 secretary (cheers and laughter). Now, when the Board 

 of Agriculture elected a secretary, they adopted a very 

 different course : they chose for that post Mr. Arthur 

 Young, who was the iirst agriculturist of the time. 

 This, then, was one thing which had excited a good deal 

 of conversation and unpleasant criticism throughout the 

 country, and to which the farmers took very decided 

 objection (Hear, hear). Next, there was the appoint- 

 ment of editor of the Society's Journal, an appointment 

 more remarkable and even more discreditable than that 

 of the Secretary, if the Society was intended to be car- 

 ried on for the promotion of agriculture (Hear, heai). 

 That the gf ntleman selected was a highly-educated man, 

 and a perfect gentleman, he readily admitted ; but, con- 

 sidering that there were amongst the other candidates 

 several men v/ho had devoted themselves for years to 

 the subject of agriculture and agricultural information, 

 who had learned by experience both how to write and 

 how to edit on agriculture, which were two utterly dif- 

 ferent things — as dift'erent indeed as painting and statuary 

 — and who bad in fact the confidence of the agricultural 

 community, who were on intimate terms wiih all the 

 best farmers in England, it was with surprise that people 

 saw the Council electing a gentleman totally unknown to 

 the agricultural world — a gentleman of middle acre, with- 

 out experience, without literary reputation, although 

 doubtless connected with intluentiol faiiailics — who 

 commenced his editorial apprenticeship for the tirst 

 time when he entered ujion his duties as editor of the 

 Journal (Hear, hear). Again, he would say that this 

 was not the way to enlist public confidence in the Coun- 

 cil. On the contrary, it invested it with the character 

 of an amateur society — a comfortable club of fashionable 

 amateurs and nothing more, whose only duty appeared 

 to be to hold one show in the year and publish one 

 journal, which was at the same time the most expensive 

 and least read book extant (laughter). The design of the 

 eminent men who were founders of the Society was that 

 the Council should represent the science and practice of 

 the agriculture of the kingdom (Hear, hear). He was 

 quite prepared to hear imputations cast upon him on 

 the presents occasion, because it was known that he 

 had been a candidate for the post of Editor of the So- 

 ciety's Journal; but he possessed this advantage, that 

 bis oppo.sition and his criticism were not new and 

 S'ldden, a vast number of the suggestions which he made 

 at Chelmsford, Salisbury, and in Hanover-square, had one 

 by one been adopted by the Council, although they still 

 obstinately resisted the infusion of the middle' class 

 Into their body, Whether the .=entimpntfl he had timt 



day uttered fairly reflected those which were enter- 

 tained by agriculturists throughout the country, would 

 be known before many days had elapsed, when the re- 

 ports of these proceedings had been circulated amongst 

 them. In concluding his observations, lie would once 

 more repeat that the course the Council had pursued was 

 not that which had been contemplated by Earl Spencer, 

 Mr. Handley, and their coadjutors, -when they united 

 to form this Society, for the promotion and encourage- 

 ment of the science and practice of agriculture in Eng- 

 land (cheers). 



Major MuNN was anxious to address a few observa- 

 tions to the meeting, in consequence of the remarks 

 which had just been made by Mr. Sidney. He (Major 

 Munn) hid been connected with the Society from its 

 commencement, and although he had not of late years 

 attended its meetings very regularly, he was a life- 

 member, and had watched its progress, and the manner 

 in which it had acted for the benefit of all classes of 

 agriculturists, whether occupiers or owners, with an 

 ever-growing interest. Mr. Sidney had told them that 

 in what he said, he was echoing the opinion of the far- 

 mers of the kingdom ; and although he (Major Munn) 

 could not, perhaps, be included amongst them, yet 

 having for many year.? cultivated 700 acres of his own 

 land, which he had only just recently let to some excel- 

 lent tenants, he too might be allowed to speak with 

 some little authority upon the subject. He did not ex- 

 actly gather from the observations of Mr. Sidney what 

 was the real spirit in which the present movement origi- 

 nated ; but he denied that that gentleman had fairly 

 stated the sentiments of gentlemen connected with the 

 county of Kent, or of some other counties with which 

 he was acquainted. That morning, before leaving home, 

 a paper was placed in his hands, purporting to have 

 emanated from the manufacturers of agricultural machi- 

 nery, am! previous to that he had observed in the agri- 

 cultural journals various references to the Council of 

 the Society, which was represented to have fallen away 

 from its original design and purposes. He found the 

 manufacturers also saying that this year it was not their 

 intention to exhibit their implements at the Society's 

 Show, and writing to their agents, begging tl'.em to hold 

 back their certificates until they had received a further 

 communication from them. To his utter astonishment 

 too, he observed that in a public analysis of the 

 members of the Council, it was stated that the farmers 

 were represented by only 25 per cent. Well, he was 

 thankful for that proportion, and gladly expressed his 

 gratitude to the gentlemen who had taken an active 

 part in the Council, even though they might have com- 

 mitted some litle faults (Hear, hear). He was satisfied 

 that they had carried on the Society honestly and faith- 

 fully (Hear, hear). Wh^t made hiai feel the more 

 strongly on this point was, that he had seen a charge 

 brought against one of the officers of the institution, 

 and a highly honourable man ; he alluded to Mr. 

 Amos, their engineer. The judgment of that gentleman 

 had been called in question. Now, he had not the 

 honour of knowing Mr. Amos even by sight ; but he 

 might mention, in illustration of that gentleman's inte- 

 grity and high sense of honour, that he, having had oc- 

 casion to require his opinion upon a particular imple- 

 ment, Mr. Amos wrote him back to say, that before he 

 pronounced that opinion he must know whether the 

 article was intended for exhibition at any of the shows 

 in which he was concerned, in which case he should 

 decline the duty (cheers). AH these things satisfied his 

 mind that an undercurrent of feeling was in operation. It 

 waa very much to be deprecated; he did hope that ere 

 long it would disappear, and that the Council and l\Iem- 

 bers of the Society would work together with all the 

 harmony that was necessary for success. 



Col. iiiGGTNs said that the substance of Mr, Sidney's 



