THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



65 



gentleman's rcadiacbs on all occasions to do everything in liis 

 power to meet the requirements of the Club, no one would 

 be more delighted than he (Mr. Uibbs) would be if they 

 could obtain some building commensurate with the import- 

 ance of the show (Cheers.) 



Mr. JoN.\s Webb proposed the health of Mr. Tower, the 

 father of the Club — a toast which met with a fitting response 

 from the company. 



Mr. Tower said he was one of the few surviving mem- 

 bers who formed the society at the beginuing of the present 

 century, and he had been a constant member from that 

 period down to the present time. He had been a member 

 under circumstances far different from the present. The 

 Club began under the auspices of some of the most illus- 

 trious men that the country could boast of at that period ; 

 but it was the misfortune of the Club to wane when agricul- 

 ture became depressed ; and after John, Duke of Bedford, 

 had bestowed upon it a noble patronage for several years, 

 he unfortunately shared in the .impression which then pre- 

 vailed, that it had done all that it could do in providing the 

 production of fat stock for the supply of the London 

 market. But there were a happy few who, first under 

 Sir John Sinclair, and aftei wards under Sir John 

 Sebright, maintained that the Club was still necessary, who 

 thought that agriculture was as yet only in its infancj', 

 and that they ought not to abandon the Club, but to perse- 

 vere. Happily he was one of the few who took that view, 

 and he thanked God that be had been pleased to prolong 

 his life to that day, to be, as it were, a liviug reccrd of the 

 noble conduct of those who had departed. The Club was 

 at one time above £1,000 in debt, a considerable part of 

 which was paid off by the Duke of Bedford ; and by a record 

 with which Mr. Gibbs had kindly furnished them within 

 the last twelvemonth, he was reminded of the fact that he 

 himself dined, not in that room, but in a much smaller 

 room in that bouse, with Sir John Sebright and a very few 

 others, who were regarded at the time as the last remains 

 of the Club sticking to the last plank of the ship (cheers). 

 Ultimately, however, the Club was taken up by their ex- 



cellent friend Earl Spencer, who became tlie President. 

 From that moment it began to flourish. With such a Pre- 

 sident, indeed, it could hardly do otherwise than flourish. 

 Under Earl Spencer, and under the noble Duke in the 

 chair, the number of members continued gradually to in- 

 crease, and he had come to that room when he was unable 

 to get a seat at the dinner table, and had in consequence 

 been obliged to sound a retreat. Not only had the Club 

 itself succeeded, but it had called into existence a number 

 of similar societies scattered over all parts of Great Britain 

 — societies which, like the parent one, had not only led to 

 the production of the finest stuck, l>ut had also called forth 

 a wonderful expansion of the mechanical powers for the 

 development of agriculture, steam itself having at last been 

 added to the list of inventions ; and thus had the proceed- 

 ings of the Society proved beneficial to the aj^riculture, not 

 only of this country, but of the world (cheers). 



Mr. H. Wilson proposed— "The Butchers." He con- 

 gratulated the company on the remarkable address they 

 had just heard from one of the founders of the Society— a 

 gentleman of four-score years of age — observing that it was 

 in entire accordance with the advice which had been given 

 to farmers by the noble Duke in the chair. He (Mr. Wil- 

 son) considered " the Butcher" to represent at their meet- 

 ing that important personage " the Consumer," and he was 

 sure they were all glad to see such gentlemen. For his 

 (Mr. Wilson's) own part he was especially so, as he had a 

 pen of pigs in the Show which "the Judges" had unac- 

 countably passed over, but that he would take this oppor- 

 tunity of recommending to the best attention of " the 

 Butchers" (Laugliter). 



Mr. Scarlett returned thanks. 



Mr. Westbkook Baker gave "The Agricultural 

 Labourer," and the company separated at an early hour. 



The speeches were interspersed with the performance of 

 songs, glees, and duets, the musical arrangements being 

 under the direction of Mr. Genge, who was ably assisted 

 by Miss Eyles, Miss J. Wells, Mr. Holmes, and Mr. Rans- 

 ford. 



THE METROPOLITAN GREAT CHRISTMAS CATTLE MARKET. 



Monday, December 13.— The holding of the great 

 Christmas cattle market is an event invariably regarded 

 in the light of no ordinary importance, and the result 

 of the great day ou the present occasion has fully 

 answered the most sanguine expectations, not only of 

 the public, but likewise of the ownei's of the stock, the 

 former having had an opportunity of witnessing a won- 

 derfully fine collection of animals, and the latter have 

 realized prices which, on the whole, may be considered 

 remunerative. At an early hour in the morning the 

 stock was arranged for sale witliout inconvenience, and 

 visitors began to arrive from nearly every part of the 

 United Kingdom, as well as from the continent, and 

 ■who expressed their admiration at the beasts and sheep 

 offered for sale. The progress of breeding and feeding 

 in these islands may well stand high in the estimation 

 of foreigners, when it i.s considered with what compara- 

 tive ease our enormous consumption is met by the 

 agricultural body. The question generally asked by 

 them to-day has been, " How are these things so well 

 managed in England?" It would be out of place here 

 to enter minutely into that question • hence we content 

 ourselves with observing that the wants of the consumers 

 are provided for by a judicious outlay of capital, and 

 the aid of the most scientific principles of breeding and 

 feeding. But when we compare the present great show 

 with many previous years, what an important chauoe 

 do we observe in the bullock supply ! In years gone 

 by, we have been accustomed to witness the greater 

 portion of the show composed of pure Devons, Here- 

 ords, Scots, and Shorthorns; but on the present 



occasion, the supply of the latter breed was considerably 

 in excess of all former periods, both as regards number, 

 weight, and condition. Again, amongst the Scots fed 

 in Norfolk and Scotland, we observed unmistakable 

 signs of crossing with the Shorthorns, and in several 

 other breeds the Shorthorned blood was fully apparent. 

 But it may be said that many of the Scots were of a 

 pure colour. Doubtless they were, and this very 

 circumstance may have induced many experienced 

 pt-Tsons to repudiate the idea of crosses ; in point of fact, 

 the purity of the original colour may be regarded in 

 the light of an important secret in the production of 

 Scots of great weight. Now it is well known that Scots, 

 as a breed, are ajine race of stock— smallness of bone 

 and moderate weights being their leading characteris- 

 tics ; but this morning we handled more than 300 of 

 them which averaged 220 stones each ! We have no- 

 thing whatever to urge against the quality of these ani- 

 mals — wh'ch, in every respect, were in the finest pos- 

 sible condition — but this may be regarded as a strong 

 proof of crossing with larger stock. We make these 

 remarks without disparagement to the Devons or Here- 

 fords; our task being to note down changes as they 

 occur ; and this change leads us to the inference that 

 the time appears to have arrived when it is found 

 necessary to produce a more bulky description of 

 bullock to keep pace with increasing consumption. 

 Hitherto the efforts in this respect have been highly 

 successful; but it occurs that, eventually, the present 

 system will have the effect of producing a wide margin 

 of difference between the value of Scots weighing from 



