THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



181 



quisite. The transition of the sheep from turnips to 

 mangolds will require careful watching, or much scour- 

 ing will take place. Dry food in plenty must be given. 

 Ewes will commence lambing in this month, for which 

 every preparation should be immediately made. Cattle 

 in fold-yards ought now to have an increased ration of 

 cake ; sheep also require an increased allowance, some- 

 what in proportion to their increased growth. All 

 stock, as the days lengthen, will consume a larger por- 

 tion of food : let this be borne in mind in giving them 

 their daily allowance. 



DURHAM COUNTY AGRICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



An intimation having been received by Mr. Mewburn, 

 ehicl'-bailill' of Darlington, tliat the Durham County Agri- 

 cultural Society had decided at their annual meeting, a 

 few days ago, to hold the ensuing show at Darlington, pro- 

 viding £50 were raised to meet the expenses, a meeting 

 was called by circular for the purpose of taking the matter 

 into consideration. The only ojiposition tlie proposal met 

 with was from Mr. Jos. Dent, of Neasliam, who, himself 

 being a practical farmer, expressed his belief that farmers 

 in the immediate neighbourhood would be more directly 

 benefited by a local show. He had grave doubts, indeed, 

 whether tenant-farmers got any benefit whatever by sub- 

 scribing to the county show ; for he had no hesitation in 

 saying that from defective rules — he could ascribe it to 

 nothing else — the subscription-money, which by those 

 gentlemen who subscribed was meant solely to give an im- 

 petus to or help in the improvement of agriculture, went 

 to no other purpose than to eniicli a few individuals, who 

 made a complete trade of exhibiting at all the shows where 

 great prizes were offered throughout the country. A 

 tenant-farmer liad no chance witli them. There was no 

 encouragement held out to him whereby he might be in- 

 duced, at gi'eat expense and trouble, to travel twenty, thirty, 

 or more miles with his stock, however superior that stock 

 might be as compared with his immediate neighbour's, or 

 however much tliat superiority had resulted from his own 

 watchful care and breeding skill. The great bulk of the 

 prizes went into the pockets of Col. Towneley, Lady 

 Pigott, Capt. Gunter, Mr. Fawkes, Mr. Booth, Mr. Ambler, 

 and a few other celebrated breeders, who absorbed from 

 ^10,000 to £40,000 of the subscriptions. If you went to 

 the Eoyal Society's meeting, there you would be sure to 

 meet with one or other or all of them. If you went to the 

 Great Yorkshire, the same ; indeed, they exhibited at every 

 show where great prizes were to be won. If a tenant- 

 farmer should be bold enough to seek the services of one 

 of their bulls, he received the answer, " We don't serve 

 cows with our bulls "; and if he profiered to buy a calf, it 

 was either bespoke, or the party was not inclined to 

 sell. Not a single iota of benefit, therefore, in 

 a direct way was got by the tenant farmers, where they 

 were allowed to compete, under present circumstances. 

 According to old rules, prize bulls were compelled to serve 

 in the immediate district where the prizes were won; anu 

 exhibitors who refused to be bound to those rules rendered 

 themselves ineligible to compete. 



It was ultimately decided to accept the oft'er of the Dur- 

 ham County Agricultural Society ; and a local committee 

 having been appointed, with H. Pease, Esq., M.P., at the 

 head, was directed to recommend to the Society to make 

 such alterations in their rules as would meet the require- 

 ments of tenant-farmers. 



The income of the Society for the past year has been 

 ^78.5; the expenditure £001, leaving ^184 in the trea- 

 surer's hand. Seven of the retiring members of the Coun- 

 cil have been re-elected, Mr. TJoicey, of Taufield, was 

 chosen in the stead of Mr. T. Wearmouth, who declined 

 to stand. 



ESSEX AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. — The fiist 

 meeting of the new Committee of this Society was held 

 at the Shire Hall, Chelmsford, for revising the schedule of 

 prizes and fbiing a day for holding the exhibition of the 



present year. The President, Sir Thomas Barrett Lennard, 

 Bart., was in the chair, and there were present T. W. 

 Bramstou, Esq., M. P.; Lieut.-Col. Ruggles Brise; D. 

 Mcintosh, Esq. ; Rev. John Cox ; G. D, Badham, Esq. ; J. 

 Oxley Parker, Esq.; W. Fisher Hobbs, Esq.: Thos. 

 Mashiter, Esq. ; Messrs. John Clayden, W. Hart, James 

 Cliristy, E. Catcbpool, W. Sworder, J. G. Fenn, F. 

 Whitlock, P. Portws}, and C. Sturgeon. I\lr. W. Fisher 

 Hobbs moved that a sum not exceeding £ilOO be appropri- 

 ated for piizes during the present year. Mr. Peto Portwey 

 seconded the motion, which was carried imanimously. 

 The following prizes were open to all England : — £2,0 for 

 the best Cart Stallion, £'ii> for the best Thoroughbred 

 Stallion, i'15 for the best Bull, and £10 for the best Ram. 

 The day of exhibition, to be held at Romford, was fixed 

 for Tuesday, the ^.Oth June. 



STAINDROP FARMERS' CLUB. 



The annual meeting of the Staiudrop Farmers' Club was 

 recently held, when the finances were reported to be 

 highly satisfactory, and the general state of affairs most 

 encom'aging. Many of the most infiuential farmers of the 

 district are members, and principally through their influ- 

 ence and eftbrts, an enlightened tone has been given to 

 agriculture and its numerous associations. Numbers of 

 valuable papers, bearing on all manner of subjects, but 

 principally on what concerns agriculture, have been 

 periodically read at the Club meetings, and many good re- 

 sults have followed. 



The dinner was purveyed on this occasion by Mr. Simp- 

 son, of the Queen's Head, Staindrop, and was attended by 

 Mr. T. F. Scarth, steward to his Grace the Duke of Cleve- 

 land, 'and numerous other gentlemen, principally com- 

 posed of his Grace's tenants. The proceedings were of a 

 really interesting character, and well calculated to pro- 

 mote the object for which those clubs are formed — the im- 

 provement of fai'ming. 



NORTHAMPTONSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SO- 

 CIETY. — \ special meeting of the members of this Society 

 has been held at Northampton, to take into consideration a 

 proposition from Mr. Owen Waliis, that for the future the 

 annual show should be held in July instead of September, as 

 at present. Lord Spencer took the chair, in the absence of 

 the President, the Honourable Frederick Villiers, from 

 whom a letter was read, stating he could not be present it 

 the meeting were held in July, and that he should resign 

 if it were so determined. Mr. Owen Wallis, in deference to 

 this, consequently moved that the alteration he proposed 

 should not take effect until 18C2; and his motion, seconded 

 by Mr. J. Beazeley, jun., was carried, in the face of two 

 amendments, by a majority of nearly two to one. The show 

 will this year be at Northampton ; and we can only regret 

 that the county town has not been allowed to inaugurate a 

 change for the better. In the last week of June or the 

 beginning of July there was the promise of a really grand 

 day. 



THE FARMER'S ALMANAC AND CALENDAR for 



1861, being the year after Bissextile, or Leap Year. By 



CuTHEERT Wllliam Johnson, Esq., F.R.S., and William 



Sn.'^.w, Esq. Continued annually. 

 London: James Ridgway l^- Co., Piccadilly. Edinhurgh i 

 A. and C. Blade, and Bell, and Bfadfute. Dublin : M'Glashan. 



An Almanac is an indispensable book of reference to a 

 farmer or gardener ; and, when combined with agricultm-al 

 and horticultural information of the very first order, as in 

 the case of the " Fiirmer's" on the subjects most in- 

 teresting to the cultivators of the soil, it cannot fail of 

 being acceptable to them. The Index will show that it 

 is a compendium of knowledge culled from authentic 

 sources, and capable of practical application. 



RUFFS GUIDE TO THE TURF, FOR I8G1 (Sparling 

 Review Oflace, 216, Strand).— The recent offer of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society, of ^100 for the best thorough-bred 



