346 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



the prizes of the Socictv. They h ive announced the 

 decision of the Judges in reference to an outstanding 



Essay of 1843, namely : — 



To Mr. JohxCIarke, of Long Sutton, Lincolnshire, 



the award of the Society's prize of 13/. for the best 



Essay on the Management and Application of Farmyard 



Manure; and the following awards already made of the 



Prizes of the present year, namely : — 



To Mr. R. N. Bacon', of Norwich, the prize of 50/., 

 for the best Report on the present state of the Agricul- 

 ture of Norfolk. 



To Mr. Robert Baker, of Writtle, near Chelmsford, 



the prize of 50/. for the best Report on the present 

 state of the Agriculture of Essex. 



To Mr. Edward Little, of Lower Sheldon Farm, 

 near Chippenham, the prize of SOt, for the best Report 

 on the present state of the Agriculture of Wiltshire. 



To Mr. John Bravender, of Cirencester, the prize 

 of 50/., for the best Essay on the Indications of the 

 Fertility or Barrenness of Soils. 



The Judges appointed to decide on the relative merits 

 of the Essays in the latter class, have not only awarded the 

 prize to Mr. Bravender, as announced, but have * highly 

 commended" four of the remaining essays ; and the Council 

 have received from Mr. W. Stace,of Berwick, near Lewes, 

 Sussex, and Mr. John Arkell, of Hollow Farm, near 

 Gloucester, the authors respectively of two of those 

 Essays, their full permission for the Journal Committee 

 to make any use of them, of which they may be found 

 available in carrying out the objects of the Society, have 

 ordered their thanks for such favour to be returned to 



those gentlemen accordingly. 



There having frequently existed a doubt, how far it has 

 been the intention of some of the writers of the Kssays 

 to enter into communication with, the officers of the 

 Society in reference to points of detail connected with 

 their Essays, the Council have adopted the following 

 recommendations of the Journal Committee on this 



subject : — 



1st. " That competitors shall be required to inclose 

 their names in a cover, on which only their motto and 

 the subject of their papers, with the number of that sub- 

 ject in the prize list of the Society, shall be written. 



2d. " That the Chairman of the Journal Committee 

 alone shall be empowered to open the motto-paper of 

 such Essays not obtaining the prize as he may think 

 likely to be useful for the Society's objects ; with a view 

 of consulting the writer confidentially as to his willing- 

 ness to place such paper at the disposal of the Journal 

 Committee. " 



The following recommendation of the Journal Com- 

 mittee on the subjects and amount of prizes for the 

 Essays of next year, has also been adopted by the 

 Council, the conditions of which will be announced as 

 usual In the Appendix to the next Journal ; the Essays 

 for these prizes being required to be sent to the Secretary 

 on or before the 1st of March, 1845 : — 



^10 : On the advantages of One-horse Carts. 



£10 : On the best method of Fattening: Cattle. 



jt 20 : On the best method of Reclaiming: Heath-land. 



£50 : On the Agriculture of Nottinghamshire. 



£50 : On the Agriculture of Cornwall. 



£50 : On the Agriculture of Kent. 



£20 : On the cheapest mode of Establishing- a Tile-yard. 



j€20: On Catch -Meadows. 



£bO : On the Dutch method of Curing- Butter. 



£20 : On Fences. 



£2'j : For the best Experiment in Agriculture. 



The General Southampton Committee have reported 

 their arrangements for the Meeting of the present year at 

 that town in July next ; and the Council have ordered 

 an extensive announcement ot the Prizes to be awarded 

 on that occasion, amounting to upwards of 1400/., to be 

 made, by publication in the Journal, by the distribution of 

 Prize-sheets, and by advertisement in the public papers. 

 They have the satisfaction of announcing, that the Imple- 

 ments entered for exhibition and trial at the Southamp- 

 ton Meeting, exceed by upwards of 130 the number of 

 those at the Derby Meeting. 



The Council have decided that the Annual Cquntry 

 Meeting for the North Wales district shall be held at 

 Shrewsbury in 184o. The Council have unanimously 

 appointed Messrs. Thomas Gibbs and Co., of Half- 

 moon-street, Piccadilly, to be the Seedsmen to the 

 Society, They have also entered into a satisfactory 

 arrangement with the executor of the late Mr. Webb 

 Hall, for the purchase by valuation of the library of 

 the late Board of Agriculture, bestowed upon his father 

 at its dissolution. 



The Council think it desirable to state, in conclusion, 

 that all their weekly meetings, excepting that on the first 

 W ednesday of the month, are set apart for the receDtion 

 and discussion of Agricultural communications ; and that 

 all members of the Society have the privilege of being 

 present on those occasions. The experience which the 

 Council have already had of the sound and practical sug- 

 gestions made to them at those meetings, and the inte- 

 resting discussions which have frequently arisen there- 

 upon, induces them to invite all the members who may 

 happen to be in London on the days of meeting, to avail 

 themselves of this privilege ; begging to assure them, 

 that their attendance on such occasions will be as accepts 

 able to the Council, as it is at all times uniformly desired 



By Order of tie Council, 



James Hudson, Secretary. 

 London, May 22, 1844. 



On the motion of Mr. Parkes, seconded by Mr. 

 Knight, this Report was received and unanimously 

 adopted. Mr. Raymond Barker, Chairman of the Finance 

 Committee, then read to the Meeting the following 

 balance-sheet of the accounts from the 1st of July to 



the 31st Dec. 1813, as examined and approved 

 Auditors : — 



Balance in the hands of the Basket*, Jane 30, 



1843 



Do do. Secretary do. . 



Half year's Dividends on Stock 



Life-Compositions of Governors . . • • 



Do. Members .... 



Annual Subscriptions of Governors . • • 

 Do. Members 



Balance on Sale of Journal, after deducting: the 

 c'.iartce for stitching i6,ooo Copies, and lor 

 amount of Advertisements .... 



Sale of Cottage Tracts 



Receipts, during the tialf-year, on account of 



the Country Meetings . 



by th 



£ s. d. 



1509 



19 



10 



1 



6 



4 



]10 



16 



6 



90 



ii 







217 











1 



183 











1124 



3 







83 



14 



1 



9 



6 



6 



896 14 3 



j£4246 6* 



PAVMKXTS. 



Permanent Charges 



Taxes and Rates ....••• 



Establishment Charges . 



Postage and Carriage . . . ► . . 



Advertisements 



Expenses of Printing and distributing the 



Journal .....«•• 



Prizes .....••• 



Miscellaneous Pay menls 



Payments during the half year, on account of 



the Country Meetings 



Balance in the hands of the Bankers, Dec. 31, 



1843 . . • 



Balance in the hands of the Secretary, Dec. 31, 



1843 



260 

 17 



408 



12 

 13 



6ll 



1271 

 24 



12 



1 



3 



12 



10 



16 







5 



6 



5 



9 



10 

 



3 







11 



922 4 I 

 6o7 11 8 



14 2 1 



£ 4246 6 



(Signed) C. IT. Turver, \ Auditors on the part of 



Chari.ks Tawnev. j the Society. 



Thos. Raymond Barker, Chairman of the Finance Com. 



C. B. Cham.oner. 1 Memb ers of ditto. 

 Henry Blansiiaud, J 



The President then requested the Chairman to favour 

 the members present with an account of the present 

 state of the Funds of the Society, and an estimate of 

 the probable income and liabilities for the next three 

 months ; when Mr. Barker laid before the meeting the 

 following statement accordingly : — The funded property 

 amounted at that time to 7700J. ; and the current 

 cash-balance, at the disposal of the Society, to '2039/. 

 The income for the next three months was estimated at 

 1613/. ; the ordinary expenses during that period at 397/ ; 

 the prizes to be awarded at Southampton at 1400/. ; and 

 the excess of expenditure over receipts on that occasion 

 at 1000/. ; so that if a balance were struck three months 

 hence, the Society would hold its invested capital un- 

 touched, with a probably correct cash balance of 855/. in 

 the banker's hands. There was, however, a large bill on 

 account of the printing of the past year's Journals, in 

 progress through the Journal Committee, which would in 

 due course come under the consideration of the Finance 

 Committee ; but whether the whole or any portion of 

 that account would be ordered for payment during the 

 next three months was uncertain. The rate of income 

 was the greatest during the spring, and that of expendi- 

 ture the greatest during the period of the Country Meet- 

 ings ; so that the income for the next three months pro- 

 ceeded under average and ordinary circumstances ; while 

 the expenditure with which it was compared took place 

 under temporary and extraordinary circumstances. It 

 was, therefore, the more gratifying to the Finance Com- 

 mittee to find the funds of the Society so well bear the 

 severe test of such comparison. 



On the motion of Mr. Pusey, M.P., the following gen- 

 tlemen were unanimously elected Auditors on the part of 

 the Society for the ensuing year : — Charles Hampden 

 Turner, Esq., of Rook's Nest, Surrey; Alderman 

 Tawney, of Oxford ; and Thomas Knight, Esq., of Ed- 

 monton. 



The President then congratulated the members on the 

 rapid progress of the Society, and the flourishing condi- 

 tion of its affairs. He regarded it as effecting in a most 

 satisfactory manner the various objects for which it was 

 instituted. There was one point, however, which he 

 had always considered as a blot on the accounts ; and 

 that was the large amount of the arrears of subscrip- 

 tion. That subject, he was happy to say, had received 

 the very mature consideration and diligent scrutiny of 

 the Finance Committee, whose chairman had addressed 

 to each defaulter a letter, drawing his particular atten- 

 tion to the subject ; and the Committee had decided on 

 the line of conduct to be adopted in the partieular case of 

 each class into which they haddistributed such raembersin 

 arrear. The Society had no wish to take any unfairadvan- 

 tage of any individual, who indirectly, and without know- 

 ledge of the liabilities of attaching himself to a chartered 

 body, had become enrolled a member of the Society at the 

 Country Meetings, and tor the purpose only of being 

 enabled, as a member, to be present at the public 

 dinners of the occasion. But, on the contrary, in these 

 cases, where deliberate election and payment of subscrip- 

 tion had taken place with a full knowledge of the rule 

 of the Society, and the due notice to be given on with- 

 drawal, and had been followed by intentional neglect, or 

 defiance of the regulations of the Society, the Committee 

 have felt it their duty to recommend, as stated in the 

 Report just read, the most deliberate measures to be 

 taken and followed up for the recovery of the arrears. 

 In enforcing the payment under such circumstances, he 

 thought it quite fair and proper to proceed under the 

 powers of the Charter against such defaulters. He still, 

 however, hoped that extreme measures might remain 

 uncalled for ; as he felt assured that the members in 

 arrear, on being made sensible of the undoubted legal 

 claim and power the Society possessed in a Court of Law, 

 would at once pay what was due. Under such a system, 



rapidly assume a better form, and the blot of its 

 neatly enormous arrears be wiped away from its ae * PPt " 

 From his intimate connection with the Societvf *" 

 its commencement, he had alwavs been mo*t an.iioa f 

 its welfare ; and it was a subject of sincere pleagJ, 

 him, at the end of the sixth year of its existence to 2. 

 ness its continued prosperity, and to find, at the end 

 every year, that the more it has hitherto done, the mo 

 it has still to do. He earnestly trusted that it would 

 continue to go on in the same prosperous state an 

 prove a national benefit to the farmers aad all perM» 

 engaged in the cultivation of the soil. 



The President announced the preliminary Schedule of 

 Prizes for 1845, to be awarded at Shrewsbury, and of 

 which copies were then laid in proof, to receive the $u». 

 gestions, corrections, and additions of the Members to 

 be taken into final consideration by the Council in th» 

 last week of June, 1344; previous to which time the 

 President requested the favour of all such remarks for 

 the guidance of the Council to be forwarded to the Secre- 

 tary, in writing, for such purpose. — The Rev. J. R 

 Smythies objected to the class for animals of any bat the 

 three pure and recognised breeds ; and recommended, 

 accordingly, that the fourth division of the classes or 

 prizes for half-bred animals should either be expunged 

 altogether, or the prizes reduced greatly in their amount* 

 he considering it to be a great anomaly to set aside an 

 amount for such animals equal to that assigned for the 

 pure bred stock. 



The President remarked that the division to which the 

 Rev. Mr. Smythies had alluded, did undoubtedly admit 

 cross-bred animals; while, however, the Society in their 

 prize-sheets encouraged the selection of pure bred 

 animals of the best breeds ; they were also desirous of 

 admitting to competition for their prizes animals of 

 those breeds which maintain a great reputation among the 

 farmers of their respective neighbourhoods. Every 

 locality had some breed that was considered particularly 

 good, and he therefore thought it unfair, when the Society 

 held their successive meetings in such parts of the king- 

 dom not to encourage these local breeds, and give them an 

 opportunity of competing for the prizes in such miscel- 

 laneous class as that hitherto adopted by the Society. 

 Although he agreed in the general principle contended for 

 by Mr. Smythies, he thought it would be unjust towards 

 the Shropshire cattle, well known to be of a good and 

 useful kind, to exclude them at the Shrewsbury Meeting. 

 Mr. Hillyard said, that the short-horns and Herefords 

 were superior to every other breed in the world, no 

 doubt ; but they required good pastures, and there were 

 localities in this kingdom suited to neither o( these 

 breeds ; he therefore trusted that the particular breeds 

 best suited to particular localities should continue to be 

 encouraged by the Society. 



The Duke of Richmond suggested that prizes for 

 cheese should not be forgotten at the Shrewsbury Meet- 

 ing, as prizes belonging to the dairy character of the 

 district. The further consideration of the Prize-sheet 

 was then postponed. The Duke of Richmond proposed 

 the best thanks of the Society to be given to Earl Spencer, 

 the President, for his conduct in the chair that day, and 

 for the anxiety he had evinced on every occasion to pro- 

 mote the prosperity of the Royal Agricultural Society oi 

 England. Lord Spencer was so well known and e>ti- 

 mated by the members of that Society, that it was not 

 necessary for him to detain the meeting with any eulogy 



on his merits. u P hJ 



Mr. Raymond Barker seconded the motion, ne la- 

 had the good fortune, during the last six years, m 

 fellow-worker with Lord Spencer in attending w 

 business of the Society ; and he stood forward on 

 occasion to bear his testimony to that noble ' tbe 

 uniform devotion to whatever he undei takes to 

 public benefit, and especiallv for the Royal Africa ^ 

 Society of England. The motion was then put J 

 Duke of Richmond, and carried by acclamation. ^ 

 Spencer, in returning thanks for the manner J ^ 

 the members had received the proposition just P > 

 them by his noble friend the Duke of Richmond, cec 

 his sincere desire to further by every means in ms F 



Society so beneficial in every respect to the cow ,. 

 The President then left the Chair, and tae » 

 broke up. 



[The length to which our present Ren ort ° f ^fJJ 

 ceedings of the General Meeting extends, induce ^ 

 postpone the conrinuation of the discussions o ' ffle 



Council; to next week, when we shall be enabled 

 our notfee of those interesting topics.] ^ 



Errata in Report of Mr. Parkes y ^S^S^T* Graburn 

 25 : for - washed," read " ro asted ;" for Graham, 



HIGHLAND AND ^*}™yM*^^^ 

 At the last monthly meeting of he Society >£ fl 

 read an essay by Mr. John Taylor, f.noo£ ^ 

 Corsietown, near Huntly, on the comparaa ^ 

 of reaping Corn with the scythe aad sickle. * 



first considers the comparative merits ot the P 



cesses of binding, winning 



325 



in reference to the processes 



In reg 





ing, stacking, and thrashing the crop. * » c0 |bJ 

 binding, a man can bind and stock UOfl » »^ d 120» 

 the scythe, in 10 hours, as ewily as hewn ^^ 

 sheaves cut with the smooth or serrated siciue . ^ 



reason for the difference being in the c rcums hi0J , 



hinder to the mower havine his work straight oe^ ^ tf 



allowed on all hands, as remarked by \£'^&#* 

 mown sheaves win in about one-fourth less ^ 



in 9 days, instead of 12-than those ; cat ; ^ ^g 



ider to the mower having his wort strai^ , t „ 



thout having to move from one ridge ! to ai ^^ ^ 



" uull » *»■ um.cpaj nun woo uuc. uuuer sucn a system, m *> ua j°» ■ ■■— ■ ■ » , . difference 



he had no doubt that the finance of the Society would | though there is no perception u 



