M^ 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, 



The Hon. George Hancock, in seconding the motion 

 of the Lord Chancellor, said there was one advantage of 

 shows such as that of to-day which had not been alluded 

 to. They brought the first noblemen and gentlemen of the 

 land into friendly contact and free interchange of opinion 

 with the working farmers (Hear, hear). He himself had 

 laboured in the country in connection with fanning socie- 

 ties, and he could testify to the great benefit which resulted 

 from that intercourse. It broke down the barriers that 

 used to exist between the peer and the peasant ; and nothing 

 was better than that the nobleman and the farmer should 

 work together for the benefit of the community (applause). 

 He was happy to say that in this country and in England 

 the noblemen and the gentlemen did their duty. That 

 was a fact admitted. The farmers were also doing theirs. 

 England had attained to a great pitch of perfection, and he 

 had no doubt that in a few years Ireland would be able to 

 compete with her in everything. There was no reason why 

 she should not do so, as we had a good climate and soil ; 

 and certainly we have a good people when they are properly 

 treated (Hear, hear). Few had had more experience of 

 them than he had, in managing one of the largest estates 

 in Ireland ; and he never met anything but straightforward 

 conduct on the part of the people when they were met in 

 the same spirit (applause). With such materials, he had 

 no doubt that the country would go on prospering; and he 

 was exceedingly glad that a nobleman like his lordship had 

 taken such an active part in the management of the afl:airs 

 of the country. 



Lord Clancarty returned thanks for the kind and flat- 

 tering manner in which his name had been introduced to 

 the assembly and received by them. He expressed his 

 regret at the absence of the Lord Lieutenant, who was not 

 a mere formal president of the Royal Dublin Society, but 

 one who had always taken an active interest in its proceed- 

 ings, and had used his influence to strengthen their hands 

 and enable them more effectually to carry cut the objects 

 which they had in view. He concurred in the opinions 

 which had been expressed respecting the rapid progress 

 which had been made in every department of agriculture in 



this country. Ho regretted to say that he was not himself 

 the successful exhibitor that Dr. Waller supposed him to be. 

 He had listened attentively to the prize-list, in the hope 

 of hearing his name mentioned, but was disappointed. He 

 looked upon this, however, as an evidence of the very great 

 improvement that had taken place in the caaracter of the 

 stock exhibited at these shows ; for he had sent to the present 

 exhibition four very ftae bulls (laughter), not one of which had 

 been successful in the competition (laughter). He confessed 

 he thought this rather a singular circumstance (continued 

 laughter). These animals might not have possessed all the 

 qualities which the judges considered necessary ; but, never- 

 theless, the people in the locality from which they came were 

 strongly of opinion that each of them was entitled to a prize 

 (laughter). It was a remarkable coincidence that the best of 

 these bulls, the flower of the flock, was named Lord Palmerston 

 (roars of laughter) ; but this very superior animal had not 

 obtained the success in this great national assembly of bulls 

 which might have been expected from his breeding and his 

 reputation (laughter) ; and he would be obliged to go to the 

 country again in the hope of better success in future in another 

 assembly (great laughter). Another coincidence which might 

 be regarded as a type of the harmony that prevailed amongst 

 those engaged in agricultural pursuits was this, that in walking 

 through the agricultural hall he observed the Muscovite and 

 the Grand Turk, Ignatius Loyola and Martin Luther, Lord 

 Palmerston and Lord Derby, lying side by side in the most 

 delightful spirit of harmony, though engaged in keen and 

 active rivalry (loud laughter and applause). His lordship 

 concluded by congratulating the meeting on the fact that 

 though the calamities of war were impending over Europe, and 

 upon the eve of a dissolution of Parliament, when the consti- 

 tuencies of the country were agitated by the approaching con- 

 tests, the very men who were most actively engaged in party 

 strife on the one side and on the other were assembled on that 

 occasion, working cordially together for the promotion of agri- 

 cultural improvement, in which they felt that the prosperity of 

 Ireland was so materially involved (applause). 

 The meeting then separated. 



REVIEW. 



REVUE AGRICOLE DE L'ANGLETERRE. 



Tome Premier. 



Par M. F. Robiou de la Treiionnais. 



Paris : Libraire de Fironin Didot, Freres, Fds, et Co., Im- 

 primeurs de I'Institut, Rue Jacob. 1859. 



We recently insetted in our journal an article on « the 

 corn laws of France," and the demand made by the agricul- 

 turists of that country upon the government for a renewal of 

 protection, whether by the slidiug scale or a fixed duty. In that 

 paper we showed by facts taken from official documents, and 

 quotations from one of the greatest agricultural writers of 

 France, that the slidiug scale, whilst it existed, had no effect 

 in preventing extreme fluctuations in the price of grain ; and 

 that, on the other hand, its suspension has not occasioned any 

 excess of importation beyond the requirements of the country 

 when low prices prevail, as in the past year. The French 

 Government, therefore, is perfectly justified in following the 

 example of England, by throwing the corn trade open, with 



the reserve of a fixed duty on imports only, for the sake of re- 

 venue. At the same time we referred to the different footing 

 on which the farmers of France and England stand in regard 

 to the land system, especially the law of inheritance in the 

 former ; and that in our opinion nothing can raise the agricul- 

 tural interest of France but a complete change in that law, so 

 as to put a stop to the interminable subdivision of the soil on 

 the death of the proprietors. 



Since that article was published we have received a copy of 

 the work announced above, being an agricultural review of 

 England ostensibly, but in reality a comparative view of the 

 agricidture of that country and of France. We are glad to 

 find that the opinion we expressed is fully borne out by the 

 author, who intends to continue the work in numbers periodi- 

 cally, with the proposed design of indoctrinating his country- 

 men in the system of husbandry practised in England. No 

 man is better qualified for this task than M. de la Trchonnais, 

 who, with all his sympathies alive to the welfare of his native 

 land, having lived twenty years in England as an agriculturist, 

 lias deeply studied the systems practised in both countries. 



