THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



103 



mation of excellence between an actual winner and 

 those who follow him. A golden rule in commerce 

 is to oft'er only a good article. A few lucky hits may bo 

 occasionally made in less legitimate ways ; but it is a 

 simple truism to say that the better known a good 

 tradesman is, the better will it be not only for the 

 public, but equally for himself. How much more, or 

 how much more readily, would the farmer buy, if he 

 could depend on being honestly served ? On the con- 

 trary, people gradually habituate themselves to do 

 without many things that they cannot get good at a 

 fair price ; and so drink less wine, smoke fewer cigars, 

 and spend loss at hotels than they wore once wont to, 

 simply from their being so often taken in. We are not 

 quite sure but the use of artificial manure was 

 gradually falling again from precisely the same 

 cause. 



Altogether the Hibaldstowe experiment is a rare 

 commentary on the abuses of the prize system. 

 Whether it be proceeded with or not, wo believe it al- 

 ready to have been the means of doing a great deal ol 

 good, in putting both buyer and seller becomingly 

 alive to their own interests. The plan has already 

 been taken up, in another part of the same county, 

 under the auspices of the Sieaford Society, where a 

 similar award has been made. We only wonder how 

 long it will be before this kind of thing is found out 

 to be all a mistake. When prizes for manures will not 

 be needed. When farmers had better not be selected 

 to judge of their merits. When these public tests will 

 only be an annoyance and an expense to the great manu- 

 facturei's, to whom we ought to go at once for what we 

 want, without any inquisitorial proceedings of this kind. 

 The men of Lincolnshire have, iiowever, long been 

 famous for a lead in matters agricultural, and this step 

 will tell equally to their credit and intelligence. 



The Hibaldstowe turnip experiment was determined last 

 month, when the cups offered as prizes by Mr, Richardson 

 were presented to the successful competitor, Mr. James B. 

 Horner, of Lincoln, at the ordinary held at the Angel Inn, 

 Brigg. Originally the prizes were advertised to be of the 

 value of £5 respectively ; but Mr. Richardson — the origi- 

 nator, or, at any rate, the worker-out of this movement — 

 eolarged considerably upon his primary offer, and the result 

 is that Mr. Horner has acquired the possession of two cups, 

 the money-value of which cannot be far short of £30. Rut 

 Mr. Richardson's liberality did not stop here ; for Mr. 

 Seagrave, of Liverpool, broker to the Phospho-Penivian 

 Guano Company, was also presented on the eame occasion 

 with a silver tankard of exquisite workmanship. The cups 

 were manufactured by Messrs. Elkington and Co., of Bir- 

 mingham, designed fromau old Saxon cup, called the 

 " Lover's Cup." Cup No. 1 bears the following inscrip- 

 tion ; — 



"Hibaldstowe Challenge Cup, open to All England, 

 awarded to Mr. J. B. Horner, of Lincoln, for the best one 

 acre and a-half of common turnips grown on the farm of T. 

 M. Richardson, Esq., with Odam's Superphosphate in com- 

 petition with other artificial manures." 



The second cup— the prize for the Swedish turnips— of 

 precisely similar design, workmanship, and value to that 

 given for the common turnips, bore this inscription : — 



"Hibaldstowe Challenge Cup, open to All England, 

 awarded to Mr. J.B. Horner, of Lincoln, for the best two 

 acres of Swedish turnips grown oh the farm of Mr. T. M. 

 Richardson, with Phospho-Peruvian Guano in competition 

 with other artiflcial manures." 



The tankard, a very handsome piece of plate, has this in- 

 scription : — 



" Presented by Mr. T. M. Richardson, on the occasion of 

 the successful competition of the Phospho-Peruvian Guano 

 in the growth of Swedish turnips on his farm at Hibald- 

 stowe, to Geo. Seagrave, the broker to the Phospho-Peruvian 

 Guano Company." 



At two o'clock, the hour fixed for the ordinary, a company 

 of nearly 100, including some of the most influential agri- 

 culturists of the neighbourhood, had assembled in the dining- 

 room of the Angel Hotel. Mr. George Nelson, of Limber, 

 the chairman of the ordinary, presided. 



In the course of the evening, Mr. William Skipworth 

 said he was exceedingly glad to see so many of his brother- 

 farmers present on this occasion, which must be regarded 

 as most important to all engaged in the business of agricul- 

 ture. It was paying a well-merited compliment to Mr T. 

 M. Richardson, who had done the agricultural community of 

 the county very good service by steppingforward and enabling 

 them to test the qualifies of the principal manures before the 

 agricultural public. The manures put into competition for the 

 Hibaldstowe experiment had, he fully believed, been most 

 faithfully tested, and he was also fully of opinion that the 

 experiment would be of great and intrinsic value to farmers. 

 A good deal had been written on the subject of this experi- 

 ment, which, in his opinion, would have been as well left 

 alone. In one letter that he had seen published in a news- 

 paper, the produce of 15 or 16 tons of turnips to the acre 

 was considered to be small in tee extreme ; but it must be 

 remembered that the land on which the experiment was 

 tried was in a completely exhausted state, having been 

 cropped in succession until it had no nutritious properties left 

 it. That was as it should be. It was not wanted to test the 

 manures on land in a high state of cultivation ; for it would 

 have been no test at all. He repeated that he firm ly and 

 fully believed that everything straightforward and honest 

 had been done in the matter, and that the prizes had been 

 justly awarded. 



The Chairman proposed the health of the winner of the 

 two extraordinarily handsome cups which now stood on the 

 table before him. He (the Chairman) felt that Mr. Horner 

 had honestly and fairly gained these prizes ; but it might 

 not be out of place for him (the Chairman) to say a few 

 words by way of explanation of the origin and carrying out 

 of the Hibaldstowe experiment. This originated last Spring, 

 only two or three weeks before the time of sowing Swede 

 turnips, so that it was palpable that the inuendos that had 

 been thrown out, that time was allowed for the manufacture 

 of a special manure for the occasion, were manifestly without 

 foundation. He had heard this hint from one or two 

 quarters, but he did not believe that anything of the kind 

 had been done— by either one or other of the competitors. 

 Another thing he had heard was— and he was sorry to 

 feel that it was a duty incumbent upon him to repeat it — 

 that Mr. Richardson had, in carrying forward this experi- 

 ment, been actuated by a selfisii motive (" No, no"). But 

 he need scarcely say more than this, that every one who had 

 the slightest knowledge of Mr. 'I'om Richardson would 

 not for a moment believe that he could be actuated 

 by a selfishly interested motive. And, really, he 

 (the Chairman) thought they could have no better 



