8' 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



minJing those wlio wlto assemljleil at tlie dinner of the 

 aJvantage of tlieir being members of tliat society, inasmuch 

 as wlien an epiJemic had broken out in llleir neighbuuihooJ 

 tbey might by applying to the committee in Hanovcr-S(|uare 

 obtain the assistance of the veterinary professor for tlie 

 expense of his journey, A few years ago he liimself 

 received the greatest benefit from tliat assistance in a case 

 of pleurc-pneumonia among his cattle. He had also received 

 similar benefit with regard to rot among sheep. Having 

 generally from five hundred to a thousand sheep on his 

 farm, it might well be imagined that he must have suffered 

 a gocd deal during this wet season; but on inquiring the 

 other day whether there were any lame sheep in the flock, 

 he was told that there was not one. This was the result of his 

 having followed the directions of Professor Simouds, first 

 applying lunar caustic, following that up with tincture of 

 myrrh, and avoiding all liot applications. (Hear, hear). A 

 hot application might do good for a moment ; but it must 

 generally be repeated, and the result was that it caused 

 inflammation and prevented a cure. He would recommend 

 others to adopt the same treatment that he had done. 

 He had not been able to attend any of the discussion 

 meetings during the present year, having unfortunately 

 always been engaged in " another place" at the lime when 

 they occurred. He would therefore take that opportunity 

 of suggesting that altliough protection bad now been done 

 away with, it might be well to consider whether there could 

 not be a better mode of taking the corn aveiages. He was 

 also of opinion that the important subjects of weights and 

 measures ought not to "be overlooked by farmers ; and to 

 this he would add, that he thought it was impossible to 

 impress too deeply upon the agriculturists of the kingdom 

 generally the absolute necessity of having proper analyst s 

 of artificial food and manures. (Hear, hear j. He would 

 now, in conclusion, propose a toast which he was sure 

 would be received with the greatest cordiality, viz., the 

 health of their chairman, (Loud cheers). 



The toast having been drunk with enthusiasm, the Chair- 

 man briefly returned thanks. 



Mr. H. Teethewy said he had been requested to pro- 

 pose " The Eoyal Agricultural Society of England, the 

 Highland Society of Scotland, and the Royal Agricultural 

 Society of Ireland ;" to which he would venture to add 

 " The Bath and West of England Agricultural Society," 

 the operations of which were very beneficial to agriculture 

 (Hear. hear). As a club they were under deep obligations 

 to these societies, which had the same object in view that 

 they had, namely, the improvement of agriculture. They 

 lived in an age of progress and invention, and agriculture 

 must not stand still. It had not stood still. Great as had 

 been the advance of the arts and sciences during the last 

 thirty years, the progress of agriculture had not been less 

 remarkable; and no one who was at all familiar with the 

 subject could doubt that from tlie great results already at- 

 tained agriculture was largely indebted to the societies he 

 had named (Cheers.) These societies were all engaged in 

 the same work ; they were all auxiliaries in the field of agricul- 

 tural improvement. They devoted their time and their 

 funds to the improvement of cattle and of implements, ob- 

 jects of very great importance, and who would say that 

 their efforts had not been eminently successful ? They had 

 only to look at the breeds of cattle, and the implements of 

 the present day, and to compare them with the cattle and 

 implements of twenty-five years ago, to see how much 

 agriculturists were indebted to these institutions. He would 



now propose tlic lo.ist, only adding that he was happy to 

 see an influential member of the Bath and West of Eng- 

 land Society wiis present that evening; he referred to Mr. 

 Eobcrt Smith (Cheers.) 



]Mr. ErsHJiR Hobbs, in replying on behalf of the Eoyal 

 Agricultural Society, said he regretted that that duty had 

 not been undertaken by the noble lord (Lord Berners) ; but 

 as a humble individual, who had been at no inconsiderable 

 pains to assist the progress of agriculture, he felt proud . 

 of that recognition of the claims of the society which he 

 had the honour to represent. lie was confident that the 

 practical farmers of this country would, whether they be- 

 longed to that club or not, always respond heartily to a toast 

 wliich was virtually " Prosperity to the Agriculture of the 

 United Kingdom" (Hear, hear.) He agreed with Mr. 

 Trelhewy, that to those great societies which were included 

 in the toast, agriculture was greatly indebted for the pro- 

 gress it had made during the last quarter of a century. 

 As regarded the Royal Agricultural Society, he could assure 

 those who listened to him that in the Council, however 

 much the members might difter as to the best mode of 

 proceeding, they had all, whether they were landowners, 

 occupiers of the soil, mechanical engineers, or men of 

 science, but one great object in view, namely, the advance- 

 ment of the agriculture of the country. No doubt there 

 had been a feeling at times that improvements liad not been 

 carried out as rapidly as it was desirable they should be. 

 Still the object of all had always been to advance the great 

 cause of agricultural improvement; and he was sure that 

 when suitable persons had been selected to represent the 

 farmers of England, whom he did not wish to see pre- 

 ponderating, but only exercising their proper influence in 

 the Council, the result would be that there would be a great 

 increase in the number of members, and that the Farmers' 

 Club, the Eoyal .Agricultural Society, the Highland Society 

 of Scotland, the Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland, and 

 other societies of a kindred character, would go hand-in- 

 hand in promoting the progress of agricultural science. He 

 would observe that he anticipated for the Eoyal Agricultural 

 Society a splendid meeting at Leeds next year. Every- 

 thing had been done that the Council could do to enlarge 

 the prizes, and to aflford abundant accommodation for stock. 

 There were one or two things which would, he thought, 

 especially tend to make the Leeds Exhibition a successful 

 one. In the first place, with regard to implements, the 

 society liad arranged that tlie trial of the steam cultivators 

 should precede the exhibition, in order that, if possible, 

 agriculturists might be enabled to learn which would be 

 the best cultivators for them to purchase and to use. They 

 might not succeed in pleasing all parties concerned, but he 

 could assure them it was the earnest desire of the imple- 

 ment committee that steam cultivators should at all events 

 have fair play (Hear, hear.) Another important feature 

 would be the offering of a prize of 100 sovereigns for the 

 best thorough-bred stallion for getting hunters and strong 

 useful horses. Hitherto the Society's horse show had not 

 been of that high character which might be looked for in 

 the case of a great national society, one or two provincial 

 shows having in that respect been equal or superior to their 

 own, but he anticipated that nextyear the show would include 

 an excellent display of Clevelands, thorough-breds, and Suf- 

 folks, and would as a horse show prove the greatest attraction 

 that had ever been witnessed in the British Isles. In con- 

 clusion, he would say, and he was sure Lord Berners would 

 bear him out in so doing, that if any of the farmers of 

 England wished to represent their views to the Coancil on 



