xxxvi Annual General Meeting, December (5, 1911. 



Report. 



As they would see from the Report, the Society had, (luring the time that 

 had elapsed since they last met in that room, lost by death a large number of 

 its Members, many of whom had been well-known figures in the agricultural 

 world. But there was one sad death since the Report was printed, and that 

 was the death of Mr. Henry Webb, of 8treetlj\ who was such a noted breeder 

 of Southdown sheep, and was a son of Mr. .Jonas Webb, of Babraham, who was 

 known everywhere as a breeder of Shorthorn cattle as well as Southdown sheep. 



The Show next year was to be held, as they knew, at Doncaster, and every- 

 thing pointed to a most successful Show. He had the opportunity, at Sir 

 Gilbert Greenall's dinner to the Breed Societies the other evening, of sitting 

 next to the Mayor of Doncaster, and he and his Local Committee were deter- 

 mined to do everything they could to make the Show a great success. The 

 Yorkshire Agricultui'al Society, from the Council of whom, some two years ago, 

 emanated the proposal that the "Royal" should visit Yorkshire in 1912, were 

 giving up their own annual show for the year, and the two Societies were 

 working together, the County Society members being granted the same privi- 

 leges for the Show as Members of the Royal Agricultural Society. The list of 

 prizes for the Show, which would, he hoped, be ready for issue next month, 

 would be on very generous lines. The Council had voted the sum of 6,000Z., 

 the biggest amount voted from its own funds, and 2,000/. more than the grant 

 for prizes at the Derby Show in 1906. Wiiile on the subject of the prize-list, 

 he would like to take the opportunity once again of thanking most heartily, 

 on behalf of the " Royal," the Breed Societies for the great help they had given 

 the Society in the past year and in years gone by. 



For the generous prizes offered by the Doncaster Local Committee for farms 

 in Yorkshire no less than forty-nine entries had been received, and the Judges 

 would shortly be making their first visit of inspection. 



Membership. 



There was one other thing he would like to mention — it was generally mentioned 

 at every annual meeting of the Society — and possibly, as he came from Norfolk, 

 he might be allowed more strongly to put it before those present. That was 

 the question of membership. He did not want to boast about his own county, 

 but he (lid say that Norfolk had done well during the past year. They had 

 secured something like 400 new Members, and from a letter which had been sent 

 round to all the Members in the county, signed by himself and the four elected 

 Norfolk Members of the Council, he sincerely hoped and trusted that the very 

 large majority of those Members would become permanent supporters of the 

 Society. What a poor agricultural county like Norfolk could do a good many 

 other counties could do, and he honestly thought that the membership of a 

 great — the premier — agricultural society of England was not sutticient with 

 10.000 Members. If each one Member would himself get one Member by next 

 year, they would have 20,000 Members, which was not a bit too big for a 

 Society like theirs. 



Adoption of Report. 



The Report had been printed and circulated through th(> post to each 

 Member, and the meeting would probably be willing that it should be taken 

 as read. There was one other point which, although not in the Report, he 

 would just like to take the opportunity to mention, especially as his friend 

 Sir Thomas Elliott was present that afternoon. Sir 'I'homas had informed him 

 that in connection with outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease which had taken 

 place in Somersetshire the last remaining restrictions had been removed that 

 day, and it might therefore be confidently asserted that the country was now 

 free from this disease. 



Sir Thomas Elliott said that he had been asked, and he did so very 

 heartily, to move the adoption of the Report and Accounts presented to the 

 general meeting. He would not like to do so without expressing to the Council, 



