Report on the Live Stock exhibited at Bedford. 597 



agriculture. Their example liad a very beneficial influence upon the farming 

 of Great Britain. At the Woburn sheep-shearings, royal princes, noblemen, 

 and others, met and discussed with farmers the best modes of rearing and 

 feeding stock, as well as other agricultural topics. 



" Francis, Duke of Bedford, with some few others, established the Smith- 

 field Club in 1798, and was its President until his death in 1802. He was 

 succeeded in the ofSce of President by his brother, John, Duke of Bedford, 

 the grandfather of the present Duke, who held the office until 1821, In 

 these praiseworthy efforts in behalf of agriculture, the Dukes of Bedford were 

 closely associated with Mr. Coke, of Holkham, afterwards Earl of Leicester. 



" The Woburn and Holkham sheep-shearings will, for generations yet to 

 come, be discussed with the liveliest interest, as they were the means of bring- 

 ing into existence large numbers of county Agricultural Societies. Bedford- 

 shire, one of the oldest, was established in 1801. From these small begin- 

 nings we owe our own Royal Agricultural Society. With these historical facts 

 before them, it is not surprising that our Bedfordshire friends considered it 

 would be a fitting compliment for the Society to hold its show at their county 

 town, on the occasion of its visit to the district of which Bedfordshire formed 

 a part." 



In the glut of labour that prevailed in 1810, a year of Woburn 

 sheep-shearing, at which Arthur Young was present (commemo- 

 rated by an elaborate engraving), there was little encouragement 

 for the ingenuity of an implement maker. It has, however, been 

 distinctly ascertained that the germ of many implements now in 

 common use was to be found in the workshops of Woburn Abbey 

 from the designs of the ingenious Mr. Salmon. 



The site of the showyard, 55 acres of grass-land admirably 

 suited for the purpose, two miles from Bedford, was rendered 

 easily accessible from that town, froin London and from the 

 manufacturing centres of the north, by two temporary stations 

 connecting the yard with the Midland and North- Western lines ; 

 thus reducing to a minimum the difficulties of transporting im- 

 plements and live stock as well as passengers. 



The arrangements of the Society's showyards in a uniform 

 series of sheds, are now so familiar that it is not worth while 

 to dwell upon them. It is a question whether the extreme limits 

 of space have not been reached, and whether future plans should 

 not be rather in the direction of concentration. When the show 

 is pitched near a dense population like that of Leeds and Man- 

 chester, the avenues a*'e perhaps neither too wide nor too long, 

 but on a hot July day to traverse five miles of live stock and 

 implement streets is beyond the powers and enthusiasm of 

 ordinary visitors. The recent alteration under which all the 

 prize implements were brought together, arranged in two special 

 sheds in the centre of the implement yard, gave satisfaction to 

 the public and to the prize-winners. 



Divine service was performed on the Sunday preceding the show 

 in the Members' large tent in the showyard. In the morning. 



