176 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE FARMERS' CLUB. 



The annual meeting was recently held in the new Club 

 Rooms, being the first occasion on which they had been open 

 for the use of the Club. These, both as to site and accom- 

 modation, are admirably adapted for the purpose. They 

 form part of the New Town Hall Buildings, and the entrance 

 to them is directly opposite the door at the north end of the 

 Corn-market on the other side of the passage which runs 

 across the upper end of the building. The first room is de- 

 voted to the use of the members for business meetings, <Scc., 

 and may be described as a Farmers' Exchange. The inner 

 room is appropriated to the Library, and is adapted for the i 

 meetings of the Club. Both rooms, which are on the ground 

 floor, and look into the Groat-market, are most handsomely 

 and substantially furnished ; in rooms above are lavatories 

 and other conveniences ; the whole wears an air of comfort, 

 and, separated as these rooms are from the Corn-market only 

 by the width of a passage, they are calculated to afford most 

 valuable facilities and accommodation to farmers and others 

 attending the market wlio may be members of the Club, and 

 will doubtless lead to a great augmentation of its numbers. 

 At the annual meeting, with which the rooms were opened. 

 Sir Matthew White Ridley, Bart., President of the Club, 

 presided, and after a few brief words of congratulation, j 

 opened the proceedings by calling upon the secretary, Mr. 

 William Glover, to read the report, which embodied the 

 terms and reasons for obtaining this accommodation. 



The business of the annual meeting having been disposed 

 of, the members adjourned to the Long Room of the Crown 

 and Thistle Inn, where a large company of gentlemen, 

 members and friends of the society, sat down to dinner. 

 Sir Matthew White Ridley Bart., occupied the chair, and 

 the Hon. Henry George Liddell, M.P.,the vice-chair. 



The Ch.mrman, in giving " Success to the Newcastle 

 Farmers' Club, and prosperity to the new arrangements," 

 said to some little extent this toast divided itself into two 

 heads, the one partly retrospective, the other partlj^ pros- 

 pective. To deal with the former in the first instance : on 

 looking back to the years that had passed over this society, 

 since its first institution, twelve years ago, they saw it liad 

 done a good deal in the way of promoting inquiry and 

 creating an interest in agricultural subjects. It was known 

 perhaps to many members here present, many of whom 

 had taken an active part and evinced a steady interest in 

 the society, that the number of discussions held in their 

 late rooms— it was known perhaps to some, though perhaps 

 not to all — had amounted to no fewer than one hundred, on 

 practical subjects. At most of those he was present. Some 

 of them were confined to members, others arose out of 

 lectures given by scientific men engaged for the purpose, 

 and some of them were of a very able and interesting cha- 

 racter. It was with a considerable amount of regret that 

 he said they had not been able continuously to maintivin 

 those discussions for the last two years. Still, he felt obliged 

 to remind them that they began with every zeal and 

 earnestness, and, in his opinion, they had taxed the 

 energies of their then small number of members rather loo 

 severely, inasmuch as they proposed, in the first instance, 

 to hold those discussions monthly. Now, he believed there 

 was no Farmers' Club existing in England which had suc- 

 ceeded in maintaining a discussion every month throughout 



the year. There might be some ; but they were decidedly 

 the exception. In addition to the discussions which they 

 had held, they had also done much towards collecting a very 

 excellent agricultural library, and the use of the books had 

 not been confined to the rooms, but the members had the 

 privilege of taking them out. He was glad to say that a 

 great many of these books had been extensively used, and 

 had been in the hands of very ri^any of the farming com- 

 munity. The time, however, seemed to have come when it 

 was necessary to put the farmers' c'.ub, as regarded the 

 public, in a better position in point of locality and con- 

 venience; and it was thought they might, with advantage to 

 the club, and with the probability of increasing its members 

 and of extending its sphere of utility, so place it in the 

 town as to combine with the library imd reading-room the 

 advantages of a room for business, which should be avail- 

 able to the public on introduction by members of the club. 

 They had succeeded, by the consideration and kindness of 

 the Corporation, to whom he must say they felt themselves 

 indebted, and especially to the committee who Lad charge 

 of the erection of those buildings in which they held their 

 anniversary to-day, and also to Mr. Wilson, who had acted 

 for them in a creat many matters in connection with this 

 club, for the considerate manner in which they had treated the 

 club. He trusted the Corporation would find they had got 

 in the club a good, solid, solvent tenant. He could not help 

 thinking that the accommodation which they now held forth 

 to the public, namely, an outer business room, and an inner 

 library, museum, and reading room for the club, would bo 

 a considerable addition to the conveniences already 

 aiforded by the New Town- Hall Buildings; and they 

 were anxious that it should be made as public as possible in 

 the belief that many would be glad to avail themselves of 

 the opportunity of joining the club without delay. They 

 had, he thought, now placed themselves more immediately 

 under the public eye, Theyhad conducted their resouices,and 

 managed them with considerable economy. He regretted 

 to say that of late years they had been obliged to husband 

 their resources very considerably, but at the same time they 

 had paid their way ; and upon the transactions of the past 

 year they had a small balance to carry forward. Now, in 

 alluding to the Farmers' Club simply as a union, a visiting 

 place, and a place of call, or to some extent a place of busi- 

 ness for members connected with agriculture, whether as 

 landlord, tenant, or he might add labourer, it would be of 

 great Jidvantage to them to be able to transact their neces- 

 sary business close to the corn-market, and without the 

 disturbance and inconvenience necessarily arising from 

 having to make their appointments at a distance from the 

 market. He could not conceive any institution or associ- 

 ated body more desrrving of support than the one which had 

 held its anniversary that day ; for they must bear in mind 

 the great necessity that now existed for every attention 

 being paid to the skilful culture of the soil, and the necessity 

 of science and exertion going hand-in-hand in the practice of 

 agriculture. And surely an association like this, which 

 dealt simply, exclusively, and totally apart from all political 

 considerations, with those matters which tended to the practi- 

 cal improvement of the powers of the soil, which was to pro- 

 vide food for the inhabitants of this coiuitry, an association 



