CHAPTER XI 



My New Sphere of Work Next Door to a Tragedy Signs and Omens 

 A Chamber of Horrors. 



THERE was a marked difference between the 

 personnel of the governing body to which 

 I had been hitherto attached and that to 

 which I now owed fealty. All the really active 

 workers in the Oxfordshire Society were farmers 

 pure and sinple, whilst in the Bath and West 

 Society, although the tenant farmer element is 

 not unrepresented, the governing influence of 

 the Council-room and the show yard rests mainly 

 with the landed interest. It is safe to say that 

 each of the two associations has the governing 

 body, so far as its constitution is concerned, 

 most suitable to its needs, as is shown on the 

 principle that the proof of the pudding is in the 

 eating by the prosperity they both enjoy. The 

 larger Society, with its wide area and diversity of 

 operations, calls for a controlling body accustomed 

 to handle matters in a cosmopolitan and enter- 

 prising spirit and with a knowledge of the world 

 in general as well as that of agriculture. In 

 accordance with this, Parliament, Quarter Sessions, 

 and County Councils are all well represented on 

 the Bath and West Council, to its manifest ad- 

 vantage. In close touch with country-side life, 

 whilst in most cases possessing also a knowledge 



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