THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



403 



tion of a SheriiF of the good City of London. But we 

 do nothing: of the kind. We pass over the interesting 

 achievement of our friend making his own fortune, with 

 the indifTerence of the dandy, who " knows nothing 

 about trade." We let his liberality oflf quite as easily. 

 And as for his ability in fulfilling the duties of his 

 liigh estate, that is an honour which brings with it its 

 own recompence. No. In one of those famed hos- 

 telries, where turtle should abound, and the loving cup 

 go round, we present a testimonial to one of the 

 SherifTs of Loudon "in appreciation of his continuous 

 efforts to promote the interests of agriculture." 



This, after all, is but a fitting epilogue to the clos- 

 ing of Tiptree Hall. The actor announces his fare- 

 well performance. He has gone through his part with 

 plenty of spirit and humour. And now, when the curtain 

 has fallen, we call him again before us, to throw our bou- 

 quet at his feet, and give " hand" and a " bravo ! ' to one 

 who has afforded us so much amusement. He comes 

 led on by another amateur, who has often ere this 

 played in the same pieces with him. Although still 

 arrayed in the gorgeous attire of the ambitious cha- 

 racter he has lately been studying, we recognize only 

 the Farmer Broadcast of foi mer times. And memory 

 straightway reverts to the no hedge- rows, the thin 

 seedings, the liquid inanuring, and the many other 

 " points" of his famous lecture. We wonder whether 

 he would give us it once more if we were to ask him. 

 And just as we are all breaking out into an encore, 

 it is whispered round the room that he is going to 

 do so? 



A few weeks since there was sent to the London Ta- 

 vern, in Bishopsgate-street, " a superb piece of plate of 

 a very rich design in the Renaissance style." De- 

 signed — by Mr. Digby Wyatt — for use as well as orna- 

 ment, this was surmounted with a moderator lamp. 

 Gradually descending, we come to four figures seated 

 upon a platform, and lighted up by candle branches. 

 These turn out to be the pleasant people to whose 

 happy union we have already adverted : — Agriculture, 

 Commerce, Peace, and Plenty. Coming still further 

 down, we have a farm-yard scene, a group of imple- 

 ments, a coat of arms, and this interesting key-note : 



"Presented to John Joseph Mechi, Esq., F.S.A., 

 of Tiptree Hall, Sheriff of London and Middlesex, by 

 420 of his friends, in token of their appreciation of his 

 continuous efforts to promote the interests of Agricul- 

 ture, 1857." 



As we said before, the Sheriff of London and the 

 interests of agriculture ; or in other words, " Agri- 

 cultui-e. Manufactures, and Commerce." Never was 

 there so propitious an omen as this celebration would 

 seem to offer us. Since George the Third was a farmer 

 king. Coke of Holkham made a lord, or Prince Albert 

 fattened his first Devon, we have come under no such 

 encouraging auspices. The Sheriff of London and 

 Middlesex is honoured not as a sheriff, but as a farmer. 

 His portrait is handed down to posterity, not in the fine 

 frill and grand gold chain of City etiquette, but with the 

 knowing white hat and blue tie in which it was his 

 wont to trudge over the stubborn lands of Tiptree. 



At a very off-season of the year, somewhere between 

 eighty and a hundred of tlie subscribers attended the 

 presentation dinner. Lords Lonsdale, Harrowby, 

 Essex, and Shaftesbury wrote to regret and apologize 

 for their absence. Of the agricultural mind that did 

 present itself, there were such component parts as Mr. 

 Clutterbuck, from Hertfordshire ; Mr. Beale Browne, 

 from Gloucestershire; Messrs, Beadel and Son, of 

 Chelmsford; Mr. Cutts; Mr. Eve, of Ockendon; and 

 Mr. Chancellor, also from Essex ; the Reverend Mr. 

 James ; and another Reverend gentleman, more 

 identified with Tiptree and its doings, the Reverend Mr. 

 Wilkins, of Wix. Then, in one little party, there 

 were those two famous implement-makers, Messrs. 

 Garrett and Crosskill ; Mr. Tuxford, of the Strand ; 

 and Mr. Bullock Webster. Amongst the other seventy 

 or eighty, there was a strong detachment of reporters, 

 an under-sheriff or two, but, as a rule, a very marked 

 absence of City magnates. They were touring, or 

 shooting, or seafaring. At any rate, the honoured 

 guests of Tiptree, " the fine City folks," who of all 

 others were welcomed there, and welcomed after their 

 own fashion too, appear to have forgotten nearly all 

 about it. Despite a few amantium rixse, Mr. Mechi's 

 first love seems to be the truest to him after all. It 

 generally is so. And now, when he is going to turn his 

 back upon her, and shut the door in her face, she be- 

 haves to him better than ever. It is the old story over 

 again. 



Mr. Bateson, who presided, and with whom the tes- 

 timonial originated, farmed some years since in Here- 

 foi'dshire, where he became rather noted for the trained 

 troops of boys he employed on his land. He spoke to 

 the toast of the occasion something in this wise : — " He 

 was well aware how difficult a task it was to express iu 

 adequate terms the sentiments they all entertained for 

 his excellent friend their worthy guest. He was, on 

 the other hand, well aware that no language he could 

 use would be sufficient to do justice to the noble efforts 

 he had made to promote the cause of agriculture in 

 this country. They had, most of them at least, wit- 

 nessed from time to time, down at his farm at Tiptree 

 Hall, the wonders he effected by skill and perseverance 

 — they witnessed a large barren heath converted, by 

 capital, skill, and industry, into one of the richest and 

 most fruitful portions of England, and crops which, in 

 yield and excellence, could not be exceeded in the 

 richest parts of the kingdom. That had been partly 

 effected by the introduction of machinery, not as a 

 means to set aside human labour, but to aid its deve- 

 lopemcnt, and to divert its course in such a manner, 

 that intelligence rather than mere machinery, might 

 become the great characteristic of productive industry. 

 Many had often suggested ideas which practice never 

 carried out ; but a different course was at all times 

 pursued by their excellent and worthy guest. The 

 consequence of this was, that the benefits derived were 

 not to be found exclusively at Tiptree Heath, but 

 throughout the whole country; and that statement 

 was borne out by letters which he had received from 

 various parts of the kingdom, and of which he was 



