THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



127 



Second prize of £1, to Mr. M. Biddell. 

 Commended — Mr. Wolton'a sow. 



Class XLIV.— Fat Oxen or Helpers. 

 Prize of £4, to Mr. G. D. Badham. 



Stewards of the Snow. — Mr. H. Biddell, Playford. 

 Mr. Ellia Gleed. Hoo. 

 Mr. J. H. Hedge, Ipswicb. 



THE DINNER, 



At which the members of the Society mustered in considerable 

 force, took place in the Corn Exchange. The Earl of Strad- 

 broke, Lord Lieutenant of the county, presided, supported by 

 Sir G. N. Broke, Bart., the Hon. H. F. French (from the United 

 States), the Rev. F. Steward, Mr. F. W. Schreiber, Mr. J. G- 

 Sheppard, Mr. P. Bennett, M.P., Mr. Beckford Bevan, Count 

 Esterhazy, the Rev. C. T. James (Devonshire), the Rev. R. 

 Cobbold, the Rev. F. Schreiber, the Rev. J. White, the Rev. P. 

 Stedman, Mr. J. W. Brooke, the Mayor of Ipswich, aud a party 

 of agriculturists numbering between 300 and 400. Sir E- 

 Kerrison, M.P., occupied the vice-chair. 



After the usual loyal toasts. 



Sir E. Kerrison, M.P., proposed "The Health of the 

 President, Lord Stradbroke ;" remarking, in the course of 

 other complimentary expressions, that it was to a great extent 

 through the instrumentality of his lordship that the society 

 occupied its present high position. (The toast was drunk 

 with three times three). 



The President, in returning thanks, congratulated the 

 meeting upon the fact that the association was now the largest 

 aud most influential local society in the country. He would not 

 offer any suggestion upon agricultural matters beyond the ex- 

 pression of his hope that the time was come when those who 

 occiipied small farms would endeavour to make the neatness 

 of their occupations the rule rather than the exception, as had 

 hitherto been the case. (Hear, hear.) In the stock and ma- 

 chinery which they had had an opportunity of observing dur- 

 ing the day, they had much cause for satisfaction ; and they 

 ought to be grateful to those who had put themselves to the 

 trouble and expense of exhibiting. Every year increased the 

 value of the stock, and produced some new invention in ma- 

 chinery which tended to their advantage. They had the ho- 

 nour of having among them on the present occasion distin- 

 guished men from different parts of the world. On his left 

 was the Hon. Mr. French, a vice president of the United States 

 Agricultural Society ; and a representative of one of the most 

 distinguished families of Austria was also present. The noble 

 lord, in conclusion, proposed, " Success to the Suffolk Agri- 

 cultural Society" (applause). 



Several other toasts, including " The Bishop aud Clergy of 

 the Diocese," " The Army and Navy," and " The County 

 Members," having been proposed and drunk with enthusiasm. 



The President, in highly complimentary terms, gave 

 "The Health of Sir E. Kerrison, M.P." (Three times three). 



Sir E. Kerrison, M.P.. responded, and said he had been 

 delighted with the exhibition during the day. The show of 

 horses was a much finer one ; and it was necessary that this 

 should be the case, for the exhibitions of such societies in- 

 creased in importance year by year. The exhibition had shown, 

 amongst other things, that when agriculturists had money in 

 their pockets they invariably set about the improvement of 

 their [stock and land, although it was said that they would 

 never lay out their money. The British farmers must put 

 their shoulders to the wheel, because many gentlemen from 

 foreign countries had been buyiug the very best stock in 

 various parts of England. The voluntary system in England 

 would beat a system of state shows in other countries ; but, 



at the same time, as foreigners had taken from Suffolk the 

 very best breed of horses, and from many other districts the 

 best ahorthorned stock, they must be expected to be in time 

 strong competitors with Englishmen. In reading the account 

 of the late show in France, he had been struck with the 

 fact that the judges had not only been called upon to de- 

 liberate upon the good quality and good points of the 

 animals, but they had also been expected to know by 

 fasting them whether they were good. He had read with 

 surprise that the judges had to taste eight kinds of soup, 

 eight kinds of mutton boiled, eight kinds of meat roasted, 

 &c.; and to do this they must not only be good judges, but 

 also have great gastronomical understandings and monstrous 

 good stomach?. (Laughter.) He thought he might say that 

 agriculture had been most successful during the past year; 

 For his own part, from the clip of one Cotswold sheep — a kind 

 of sheep which he recommended as well suited for the heavy 

 land of the county— he had got as much this year as he re- 

 ceived from a lamb, flesh and all, four or five years since. 

 Cattle disease had spread over various parts of the continent, 

 and it was a matter for serious consideration how English 

 farmers could supply at a reasonable price the quantity of 

 meat which was required of them at the present moment. 

 With regard to the supply of manure, Sir Edward urged that 

 it was highly important that the sewage of towns should be 

 made more available for agricultural purposes. 



The President gave the healths of the distinguished 

 foreigners who had honoured the meeting with their presence. 

 (Three times three.) 



The Hon. H. F. French said : My Lord and Gentlemen, I 

 must be hard indeed if I could not respond to such a welcome 

 as this. I am called upon to respond to the toast drunk to 

 the strangers present; but were it not for the word uttered by 

 my hon. friend, I should forget that I was a stranger in a 

 strange country. It is true that I have come three thousand 

 miles from my own home, alone, with no excuse of business, 

 aud with no object before me but to see the people of Old 

 England — and especially the agricultural people. I have the 

 honour to be a vice-president of the United States Agricul- 

 tural Society, and the president of the society in the county 

 of Rockingham, in the State of New Hampshire — a similar 

 association to the present one. I have also the honour to be 

 the bearer of a letter of introduction given me by a vote of 

 the United States Agricultural Society, at their annual meet- 

 ing at Washington, last January, introducing me to agricul- 

 tural societies abroad, and asking them to give me a cordial 

 welcome. Upon the presentation of that letter to the olficera 

 of this Society, I have received a welcome such as I have no 

 doubt you will receive if you should return the visit I have 

 made. I have received, from the time that I first set my foot 

 upon English soil, nothing but kindness at the bauds of 

 strangers. The very first gentleman I met, in coming by the 

 train from Liverpool to old Chester, took me by the hand, 

 when he knew me to be an American, and invited me to Lin- 

 colnshire ; and when I leave Suffolk county I shall proceed on 

 my way to Lincolnshire, to fulfil the invitation. A stranger, 

 gentlemen 1 I can hardly feel I ara one in any respect. I 

 have walked down to Westminster, and read there the inscrip- 

 tions in honour of your literary men— Chaucer, Milton, Shak- 

 speare, Addison, and a thousand other brilliant stars in 

 literature; and I have felt, my lord aud gentlemen, that this 

 was not only English literature but American literature too. 

 Their names are household names in America as much as they 

 are in England, and we do not forget them when we speak of 

 our literature. (Applause,) From Westminster Abbey I went 

 into Westminster Hall, and there I saw the wigs and gown i; 



