64 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



a step which was required by the enormous and increasing 

 numler of cattle that were bhown, the immense increase in the 

 impleu.ents, and the vast numbers of people that now attei.ded 

 the show. He did not take up any of their time iu enforcing the 

 necessity for this, as no one could have gone into the ehow- 

 yard thai, day, and especially into the depurtmeiit for imple- 

 ments, without tiudiuf; it almodt impossible to proceed from 

 one place to another, or to inspect the stock or the machinery 

 in a satisfactory raauner. Tr.cre was a contract with Mr. 

 Bouluois which would last for three years ; but he trusted 

 that the committee would be able to deal widi the question in 

 a satisfactory manner, and that something would be done that 

 would be worthy of the great show which was exhibited to 

 London and the country at large (cheers). It now became his 

 duty to propose as a toast " The unsuccessful caudulates." 

 He trusted that such persons would not be diaappoiuted. 

 They had before them the example of a man who, never having 

 been successful before, had on that occasion obtained the 

 highest premium in his class; and he trusted that the motto 

 of British farmers woiild always be "Persevere," Thanking 

 them on behalf of the vice-presidents and trnsttes, he no* pro- 

 posed "The unsuccessful candidates, coupled with the name of 

 Mr. Fisher Ilobbs." 



The toast having been drunk, 



Mr. W. F. IIoBBS said, although he had attended the an- 

 nual dinners of the Smithfield Club for nearly a quarter of a 

 century he had never before been placed in the position of 

 being called upon to return thanks for the unsucrrssful candi- 

 dates. For that honour he had to thank his friend on the left, 

 the Hon. Secretary, who, with his usual diligence, had reported 

 him as one of those who were uusuccessful (laughter), and, 

 standing iu that position, he could only say that he would take 

 the advice given by the noble duke, and persevere. He had 

 certainly exhibited animals this j ear which did not come up to 

 the mark. They were indeed well-bred animals, but their 

 feeding was not such as to justify him in expecting a gold 

 medal. He hoped that in future years he should stand in a 

 more honourable position (Hear, hear). The selection of 

 judges in that society was a roost responsible duty, and he 

 believed that for many years past the stewards had fulfilled 

 thai duty iu the best manner. He was perfectly satisfied with 

 the decision of the judges ou this occasion, and he thought 

 every ctlier exhibitor ought to be so too. The stewards of 

 the club had selected as judges men of great experience, of 

 uprightness, and of sound judgment, and he had great pleasure 

 in proposing the health of the judges. 



Mr. Watts, in returning thanks, said : they were all well 

 award of the delicate ground those had to tread upon wlio 

 acted in the capacity of judges, especially iu da\ s when so 

 many exhibitors were apt to mjke up their minds ft hat prizes 

 their animals ought to receive before they got into the com- 

 pany of their rivals. He assured them that there was not an 

 animal that was passed over by the judges hurriedly, and he 

 trusted that their decision gave satisfaction to all present. 



Mr. MiLWARD, in proposing the health of the Stewards 

 of the Club, had not, like Mr. Barnett, to apologize for the 

 absence of many of those to whom the toast related. Having 

 been a steward himself ponie years ago, he could testify that 

 those who tilled that office had something to do; and what 

 had juet fallen from one of the uusuccessful candidates tended 

 to show that they fulfilled their most responsible duty of se- 

 lecting judges in a proper manner. He now proposed the 

 toast of " The Stewards,", coupling with it the name of Mr. 

 Sanday. 



Mr. Sanday, as one of the retiring stewards, said, the duty 

 had devolved upon him of returning thanks. He could assure 

 them that during the time that he had held office the stewards 

 bad performed ihcir duties to the best of their ability, au>t, he 

 might add, with pleasure to themselves. He thought the mem- 

 bers of the Club might fairly cngratulate each other on ihe 

 present Show. Were it not for their very excellent secretary, 

 the cflice of steward would be much more arduous than it wa^. 

 To that gentleman they were all very much indebteil, and he 

 believed his services wee generally appreciated (cheers) 



Mr. ToRR proposed — "The Health of the Honorary Secre- 

 tary, Mr. Gibbs," and, after bearing testimony to the admira- 

 ble manner in which that gentleman performed his official 

 duties, said he «as sure the committee which had just been 

 appointed to look out for a more auitable place for the show 

 would receive the most useful a-isistsnce from the Secretary. 



Mr. Gibbs should feel ashamed of appesring before theM 

 year after year if he did not recollect that the health of 

 executive ofhcers was proposed « ith a twc-fold object : first, 

 that of exprtssiig approval of any services which might 

 have been rendered ; and, secondly, that of affording them 

 an opportunity of bringii g before the members any subject 

 which migbt appear interesting. It was, no doubt, with this view 

 that the health of the judges and that of the stewards 

 were proposed, and he supposed the same remark applied to his 

 own case. He should, therefore, avail himself of that oppor- 

 tunity of making two or three observations. In former years 

 theae had usually bten of a general character, and had 

 related mainly to the objects and position of the Club. Obser- 

 vations of that character had been made on that occasion by 

 his Grace, and therefore he should content himself with al- 

 luding to one or two of the subjects which had most 

 recently engaged the attention of the committee. He 

 did not presume to think that he could throw any new 

 light on these subjects, so far as the cfticers were concerned ; 

 but as the majority of those present were not in the position 

 of officers, one or two words might not be considered out of 

 place (Hear, hear). Thty were aware of the great increase 

 which had taken place iu the show, from time to time, and 

 that at the meeting held on the previous day it was, in conse- 

 quence of that increase, detetermined that there should be 

 three additional judges. This addition would, he believed, 

 afford great facilities for getting through the task of making 

 the awards •, and it would be satisfactory to the judges, inaa- 

 much as they would have more time to examine the animals. 

 It would also tend to lighten the labours of the stewards in 

 selecting judges, because it would be easier to find gentlemen 

 who would undertake the duties when thej- were more distri- 

 buted. Some new rules had been made, having reference to 

 the ages of pigs. That might appear an unimportant subject, 

 but he assured them that hitherto it had been one of the 

 most difficult matters with which the stewards had to deal 

 (Hear, hear). Often had they been kept prisoners, he 

 might say, for several days, in consequence of having to 

 investigate difficult cases. It had now been determined, how- 

 ever, that in all cases in which dentition indicated that the 

 animals were over-age, they should be disqualified. It was 

 satisfactory to know that through the laborious investigations 

 of his friend. Professor Simonda, dentition Lad now been re- 

 duced to such a perfect science that there could ,be very little 

 difficulty iu arriving at correct conclusions. He (Mr. Gibbs) 

 knew perfectly well that some years ago the pig exhibition 

 was far less satisfactory than it was at present. Formerly one 

 might have fancied that some of the exhibitors had taken a 

 lesson out of Capt. Marryat'a " Midshipman Easy," where a 

 negro was represented as acting as if he thought the chief 

 thing he ought to pay attention to was the filing of his teeth 

 (Laughter). He did not mean that this was the case with re- 

 gard to the black breeds alone: he feared that what he said 

 was true of both black and white. The next subject which 

 he had to mention was one which all would acknowledge to 

 be of the greatest importance ; he referred to the appoint- 

 ment of a committee to look for a more suitable building for 

 the holding of the shows. No one who had traced tiie his- 

 tory of the Smithfield Club from its origin, or who bad been 

 acquainted with it even for the last few years, could doubt 

 that the most important step that the Club ever took was 

 the removal from (ioswcli-street to the present premises, and 

 he believed that any future removal which might take place 

 would have a most important effect citherforgnodorevil. He 

 would not on that occasion go through the dill'erent argu- 

 ments that might be used, or compare the merits of different 

 sites which might be offered. It might be a.sked why, then, 

 he alluded to the subject at all.^ He had an object in 

 doing so. He believed that " in the multitude of counsel- 

 lors there is wiedom," and he would therefore ask each of 

 them to give his mind, when he returned home, to the con- 

 sideration of tlie subject, and if any suggestions should 

 occur to any of them, he should be very glad if they would 

 communicate them to him, in order that he might lay them 

 before the committee (Hear, hear.) Whatever might be 

 the result, he could only say that, whilst he fully acknow- 

 ledged the great benefits they had derived from the removal 

 to liaker-street, whilst he fully appreciated the vast improve- 

 ments which Mr. Boulnois had from time to time made in 

 the present show-yard, and whilst he also admitted that 



