IW 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



natural sources real and permanent strength and ricbes will 

 be derived. In viewing the aspect of the New Forest in 

 its present state, it must be generally admitted that it 

 might be summarily dispensed with. Look only at the 

 agricultural returns which might be exacted from 60,000 

 acres annually of "now" waste land in the regulated ro- 

 tation of crops ! Let the cumbrous timber, now stand- 

 ing, be hewn down and sold off for the benefit of the coun- 

 try. Let the warden's appointment be, with the income 

 attached to it, radically abolished ; the nine keepers in each 

 bailwick, who have literally nothing to do, be dismissed 

 fi-om their useless offices ; the two rangers and the bow 

 bearer (a name without a meaning) who have so long en- 

 joyed the privilege of wood-cutting and feeding cattle *, the 

 four borderers, their steward and under-steward, woodward 

 and under-woodward be discharged; and let the fifteen 

 Tinder-foresters or groomkeepers of the fifteen walks, with 



the twelve regarders, walk about their business. This 

 would be the proper mode of conducting matters. Now 

 for the means of bringing the forest-land into cultivation. 

 Why, sell it off in lots, after it has been judiciously sur- 

 veyed, to the best bidders, as they are disposing of the waste 

 lands and encumbered estates in Ireland. If the land is 

 put up to auction and should after all fetch little, that little 

 will prove better than nothing ; and in the course of a few 

 years the complexion of this wilderness, as now existing, will 

 be so materially changed for the better, that small farms 

 will be seen rising up and scattered over the face of this 

 worthless waste, contributing to an increase of population, 

 by which means that which is barren will bring forth abun- 

 dantly, and "the valleys (which are now undrained bogs) 

 shall stand so thick with corn that they shall laugh and 

 sing." Yours obediently, D. G. 



22, Alhany-street, Regents-park, London. , 



THE PRIZE SYSTEM— AS NOW OPPOSED BY THE IMPLEMENT MAKERS. 



Nothing can be more unsatisfactory or unprofitable 

 than the present dispute between the leading Imple- 

 ment-makers and our Agricultural vSocieties. At the 

 first glance, indeed, any such misunderstanding would 

 seem almost inexplicable. If these Societies have 

 tended to do anything, it has been gradually to intro- 

 duce the best kinds of machinery throughout the coun- 

 try. If there is a class that, above all others, such 

 associations have tended to serve, one would suppose 

 it to bo the implement manufacturers. If there is any 

 feature in their proceedings which lias been especially 

 successful in its results, experience would prompt us to 

 say it has been their shows of machinery. Whether 

 these meetings have really induced to much novelty or 

 improvement we will not here stay to consider. One 

 thing, however, is certain enough : they have been the 

 means of establishing and disseminating what is proved 

 to be good, to an extent that it would be impossible to 

 have efiected by any minor agency. 



And yet ! all this has been at best but something 

 questionable, it is argued ! The system upon which 

 these exhibitions have been conducted is, after 

 all, radically wrong ! To give a prize to what 

 the judges have declared to be the best imple- 

 ment of its sort is not fair to the other makers, 

 while at the same time it is only deceiving the pub- 

 lic ! Scarcely any of these trials, it is maintained, 

 can be relied on ! The manufacturers have resorted to 

 all kinds of knowing dodges to get over the judges! 

 The consequence is, that if you want a good, useful 

 implement, it may be just as well to select one that 

 has not taken a prize, as to order one that has taken 

 twenty ! 



If we understand anything of the argument, it comes 

 to something very like this. The makers, however, have 



* " The Manufacture of Agricultural Machinery, considered 

 as a Branch of National Industry." Stanford, Charing Cross, 



at length — and very properly — put forth their views on 

 the subject in a pamphlet,* written by " A Manufac- 

 turer," and "published for the Association of Agricul- 

 tural Engineers." It is our desire to let this speak 

 very much for itself. The essay opens, then, with a 

 glance at the gradual progress and development of 

 British agriculture, coming on, of course, to that great 

 era in its history, the formation of the Royal Agricul- 

 tural Society. Let us see what, by their own showing, 

 this has done for the manufacturers : — 



" In all cases where permanent depots for the sale 

 of agricultural machines did not exist previovis to the 

 visits of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, 

 their establishment has never failed to follow in its 

 wake ; indeed, the trade of dealers, as distinguished 

 from makers of agricultural machinery, may (with one 

 or two exceptions) be said to have been called into ex- 

 istence by the country shows of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society. And among this class (who regularly attend 

 the annual meetings in great numbers) may now be 

 found some of the most competent judges of agricul- 

 tural machinery. The invaluable results following this 

 concourse of agriculturists and machinists, gathei-ed 

 from all parts of the community, are most evident ; and 

 there can be no question that agricultural shows, espe- 

 cially that of the Royal Society, have rendered most 

 essential service to the whole agricultural world. As 

 far, however, as the implement trade is concerned, 

 these exhibitions have generally, and by influences en- 

 tirely beyond the control of all parties concerned, ac- 

 quired the character of great agricultural fairs, at 

 which purchasers of machinery meet the manufac- 

 turers for the purpose of inspecting inventions and im- 

 provements, and of discussing their mutual trade 

 arrangements, rather than that of tribunals for autho- 

 ritatively fixing the relative mei'its of competing imple- 

 ments — a character which formerly distinguished them." 



