AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES 215 



Stramongate Bridge and 6d. charged for entrance to the field— no 

 prizes to be offered for Longhomed cattle, but prizes for the best 

 fleeces of wool. Reginald Remington was appointed secretary in 

 1840. At the show in the following October the prizes offered were for 

 the best bull, heifer, and dairy cow ; sheep of Fell breed. Leicesters 

 and Southdowns ; fleeces of wool from the same breeds and crosses ; 

 boar and sow ; colt and filly. 



In 1844 the cultivation premiums were restricted to 20 miles 

 from Kendal, and at the spring show no prizes were offered for bulls, 

 but there were three classes for stallions : thoroughbred, road or field, 

 and agricultural. The show was held in a field at the top of Castle 

 Street. With all these changes the Society still did not prosper ; in 

 1846 there was £40 of the previous year's prize money still unpaid, 

 the debts had increased to £120 by September in the following year, 

 when a subscription was started to wipe them off and a suggestion 

 made to amalgamate the various local societies ; J. Pickthall was 

 appointed secretary, and held the position two years, when Wm. 

 Longmire was appointed and held the office till i860, a period of 

 eleven years. New energy was thrown into the Society by Wm. 

 Longmire and the new committee, prizes for poultry being offered 

 at the October show, when there were 5 entries for geese, i for Canadian 

 geese, 3 for turkeys, 6 for ducks, and 3 for barn-door fowls— male 

 and female in each entry ; after paying all the premiums a small 

 balance was left in hand, and a Christmas Fat Show was started with 

 three classes— (i) for the best carcase of fat beef, ist prize £1, 2nd 

 prize los. ; (2) ditto mutton, ist prize los., 2nd 5s. ; (3) ditto 

 veal, ist prize 5s. At this date, 1850, there were still no prizes given 

 for butter or cheese, but one was offered for the latter in 1853, which 

 brought out two competitors. This show established a record, the 

 money taken at the gate being £21 i8s., and at the year end the Society 

 had a balance of £37 i8s. 8d. in hand ; in this year the Society, not 

 to be outdone by its highly popular neighbour at Staveley, held a 

 prize sheep shearing competition at Kendal on May 31st, when there 

 were 7 competitors for the " round and round " class ; the time occupied 

 for shearing three sheep was from 53 to no minutes as against 22 to 

 45 minutes occupied by the eight competitors in the " country fashion " 

 class for the same number of sheep. In 1857 the Christmas show of 



