SHOW AT DUNDEE, 1 843. 28 1 



tubs \vi' a tear in its e'e.' He referred to the change which 

 had come over the times since the days when an Enghsh- 

 man coming into Scotland would have been met by a dirk 

 and claymore. Englishmen coming in now proved rather 

 dangerous visitors. Had they not come and taken away 

 their prizes for Shorthorns ? Lord Duncan recommended 

 that the Scotchmen should remember what their ancestors 

 would have done in similar circumstances. They would 

 have buckled on their dirk and claymore, ridden across 

 the Border, and brought back the siller ! He recom- 

 mended the breeders to exhibit at the first meeting of 

 the Royal Society in England, where he wished them 

 good speed. 



Lord Duncan having coupled the toast with the Royal 

 Societies of England and Ireland, the Secretary of the 

 latter Society, Edward Bullen, returned thanks, and gave 

 some information respecting the operations of the Irish 

 Society. He said that it was three years since the 

 Secretary of the Highland Society, Sir Charles Gordon, 

 had visited Ireland to initiate them into the objects of the 

 Highland Society, and since that time the Irish Association 

 had made great progress. They had already a funded 

 capital of iJ^5000, with an annual revenue of ;^2000 a-year 

 arising from subscriptions. Besides their annual shows, 

 they had succeeded in establishing throughout Ireland a 

 hundred agricultural societies, among which they had that 

 year distributed ^1000 in premiums. They confined the 

 money prizes to working farmers holding under forty acres 

 of land, giving medals and honorary awards to the gentry 

 and proprietors. The effects of these operations on the 

 small farmers of Ireland had been extraordinary. They 

 had heard almost for the first time of the doctrines of high 

 stall-feeding and green cropping, and of the value of 

 judicious rotations ; and, thanks to Mr Smith of Deanston, 

 they had opened their eyes to the efifects of thorough 

 draining, which had hitherto been almost unknown in 

 Ireland. Mr Bullen, whose speech was quite a feature of 

 the meeting, enhanced the impression his remarks pro- 

 duced by adding that the Society meant to spend at their 



