CHAPTER I?. 



FARMERS CLUBS IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



IN SCOTLAND AND IRELAND. 



Farmers Clubs, publishing their Transactions are no &quot; new 

 invention,&quot; but have the venerable age of a full century and 

 a half. In 1723, there was established, in Scotland, a soci 

 ety to which its founders gave the name of &quot; Improvers in 

 the* Knowledge of Agriculture.&quot; It became extinct in 

 1755, but was succeeded by another, which was merged into 

 the &quot; Highland Agricultural Society.&quot; This association, in 

 1787 received a royal charter, and in 1834, it was re-char 

 tered. Annual fairs were thenceforward held, at each of 

 which premiums were given to the amount of 10,000. 



In Ireland, an agricultural society was established in 

 1747. From the influence exerted by the members of this 

 organization many others sprang up in various parts of the 

 island, which were productive of great benefit, not only 

 among the aristocratic landed gentry, for whom all these 

 earlier organizations were instituted, but also among the 

 small proprietors and tenant farmers, and, indirectly, among 

 the laborers themselves. 



The passage of the Irish Land Act is of too recent a date 

 to enable an authoritative declaration to be made as to its 

 efficacy. Viewed in the light of the steady decrease of emi 

 gration from that country since the law was enacted, it 



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