306 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



He is a very fine specimen of the short-horn race- 

 finest specimen of the genus Bos, we heard it stated, 

 ever shown in France, and well worthy of his high rank 



For heifers of the 



the distributed to exhibitors by the Minister of Agriculture is not possible to find work 



was crowded with spectators 



in this great national exhibition. 



short-horn breed, the prizes were awarded to Captain 

 Ball, le Comte d'Aspiemont (for an English heifer), and 

 H.Ii.H. Prince Albert ; and for cows, to Mr. Stratton, 



Clubs, 



Farmers' 



London : Economy and Cost of Good Roads. — This 



was the subject of a lecture last Monday evening by 



Mr. J. Bailey Denton, of Stevenage. After a few words 



ptain Ball, le Marquis de Talhouet (for a cow of Mr. of introduction f rom the chairman, 



•atton's breeding), and Mr. Cartwright. The Here- Mr Denton sa id— I believe, with the late Sir Robert Peel, that 



true economy in road management consists in that combination 





Ca 



Stratton 



ford breed is remarkably well represented ; as fine a lot 



of animals being shown here as will be, we doubt not, 

 at Carlisle next July. Lord Berwick takes the first 

 prize with a remarkably well made lar^e bull ; Mr. 

 Price is second, and M. le Yicomte de Curzay is third, 

 with a bull of Mr. Yeoman's breeding (Stratton House, 

 Herefordshire). Messrs. Perry and Walker, of Leomin- 

 ster, take the prizes for Cows. The Devon and Sussex 

 breeds are shown in a class together, and Mr. Turner, 

 Mr. Farthing, and H.R.H. Prince Albert take the prizes, 

 all with Devon animals. The Ayrshire cattle are not 

 very well represented, neither are the Scotch, Alder- 

 neys, &c, shown along with them. The first prize 

 among bulls is given to Lord Talbot for a large polled 

 Angus bull, and the second to a small Ayrshire ; the i 

 prizes for cows and heifers are all given to Ayrshire 



cattle. 



And now we come to the breeds of Holland, Switzer- 

 land, and France, which must be characterised generally, 

 without any special reference to the prize animals, in 

 which our readers are not likely to be interested. The 

 Dutch breed is chiefly useful as dairy stock — they are 

 large coarse animals, of black and white colour, with 

 tight skins, handling very hard, and anything but attrac- 

 tive to those who have Short-horns, Herefords, and 

 Devons to draw from ; nevertheless importations have, 

 we understand, been made by Irish breeders— not, we 

 imagine, with any probability of improving the native 

 stock. Two classes of Swiss cattle were exhibited, the 

 one chiefly from Canton Berne, the other described as 

 of the Schwitz race, both large and generally well-made 

 animal*, the former chiefly red or black and white, j 

 the latter of a dun or mouse colour of various shades, 

 both very well made and good dairy breeds. Their 

 entrte on Friday of last week decorated (both to eye and 

 ear) with the large bells that are part of their constant 

 dress at home, must have been something remarkable. 

 Upwards of 80 animals of these two breeds are shown, 

 and their Swiss attendants and owners, fine, tall, well- 

 made men, with intelligent thoughtful faces, reminding 

 one of the men one meets on market days in country 

 towns of Scotland, were as striking a feature of the 

 gathering as the cattle they have brought. These large 

 animals — such Jarge-framed heavy cattle — are the breeds 

 characteristic of the mountain districts of Switzerland ! 



Among the French races represented in the Champ 

 de Mars are, (1) the Normandy, a large, coarse, parti- 

 coloured breed, chiefly dark brindled brown and dun. 

 (2.) The Flemish, chiefly red, dark red, and red and 

 white, reminding one in form of short-horn cows, and 

 in colour frequently of the Herefords or more often 

 of the Devons and the Sussex ; they are a large and 

 useful dairy race. (3.) The Charolaise, a pure white breed 

 of great beauty and remarkable symmetry : many 

 among the bulls exhibited would have passed for 

 very decent shorthorns, and French agriculture need 

 not depend upon imported blood for improvement, 

 having the excellent stock of this race as the ground- 

 work of a breed which may become as good as any we 

 possess. (4.) The Garonnaise, a light dun-coloured 

 breed of remarkable uniformity of character, some of 

 -which, with their remarkable horns, are imported for 

 sale at Smithfield. (5.) The Comtoise, chiefly wh te, a 

 well formed breed of moderate size; and — besides other 

 classes from the mountain districts of France— (6.) the 

 little black and white breed of Brittany, reminding one 

 exactly of our own small breed of the Shetland Islands. 

 Almost all of these races are shown in considerable 

 -numbers. Besides these classes there is one for short- 

 horns of French breeding, in which, however, the race 

 is not as well represented as it is in the English speci- 

 mens sjiown. The cattle classes include not fewer 

 than 643 entries, and have well justified the in- 

 terest excited by them. One very interesting feature 

 of the exhibition is the number of cattle shown by the 

 Emperor and by the National School of Agriculture. 

 His Majesty does not enter into competition with his 

 subjects — his cattle are shown in a class by themselves ; 

 and among them are some good Ayrshires, Short-horns, 

 and cross-bred stock — the result of experiments between 

 the native breeds and our own Devons, Durhams, Ayr- 

 shires, &c. 



The show of poultry includes many very fine kinds, 

 but is not equal to what we have in England, either in 

 the merit of individual specimens or still more in the 

 classification and arrangement of them, which would 

 nave made the work of comparison easy to the visitor. 



As a whole we should imagine that the result of the 

 prize list offered by the French Government will be 

 considered satisfactory by the promoters of this move- 

 ment. Ihe animals exhibited must be a useful lesson 

 to the agriculturists of France and of the other countries 

 from which their visitors and exhibitors have come. ] t 



♦ W i W8re i%. d that a ,ar S er ™*ber have not availed 



SKI™ 8 °4 th % PP 1 0Pt , Unit y of examining so varied a 



** The . E »S h8h ^tors are not so numerous 



from equalling m number those that flock to the annual 

 gathermgs of our own national societies. A larger number 

 «rmded themselves of the free admission given on the 

 Wednesday, and the pavilion in which the prizes were 



of care and judgment which shall ensure the best result from 

 the least comparative outlay, without any other consideration 

 whatever; but as superiority in result is only one element in 

 that combination, and as the occupiers of land (that class espe- 

 cially represented by this Club) are by far the largest contributors 

 towards the cost and maintenance of roads, it bee me s quite as 

 much our duty to check ill-advised expenditure in all its details 

 as it is the object of the general public to have good roads at any 

 price. Perhaps nothing could more appositely preface our dis- 

 cussion than the definition of what a perfect road is, as it will 

 enable us to comprehend how far from perfect our roads still are, 

 though so vastly superior to what they were 50 years ago, and 

 how susceptible they are of further improvement. a A road, to 

 be theoretically perfect/' says Dr. Lardner, " should be— first, 

 perfectly straight; second, perfectly level; third, perfectly 

 smooth; and fourth, perfectly hard. If it possessed all these 

 qualities in absolute perfection, the consequence would be that it 

 would require no tractive power at all — an impulse given to a 

 load at one end would carry it to the other by its inertia alone. 

 This is the ideal limit to which it is the business of a road 

 maker to approximate as nearly as he can, all practical circum- 

 stances being considered." But the doctor further observes 

 " that it is obviously impracticable to make roads in the country 

 which would be perfect; there arises in most cases the 

 extremely difficult inquiry as to the best possible compromise 

 which can be made between all the inevitable imperfec- 

 tions, the existence of which we are forced to admit." — See 

 evidence before Committee of the House of Commons, 1836. 

 Now, although this definition will serve the good purpose of 

 showing us our defects, it is not my intention to rest upon any- 

 thing that savours of theoretical and impracticable perfection, 

 but to proceed with the subject in that way which shall most 

 pointedly and in the shortest manner bring us to a true under- 

 standing of our own position as tenant farmers, who are not only 

 maintaining for the most part the public thoroughfares of the 

 country, but are necessarily obliged to maintain the private or 

 farm roads within our own occupations, where we are fortunate 

 enough to possess them. In the first place we will have regard 

 to the turnpike and parish roads — those roads which are called 

 * public," and are suppo-ted by tolls and rates; and in the next 

 place, we will refer to those roads which afford internal accom- 

 modation to farms, which are called "private/' and which are 

 solely maintained by those who possess them. When treating 

 of public roads, the question of their economy and cost has refer- 

 ence to their maintenance, rather than to their formation, and to 

 this view of them we must confine ourselves on this occasion. 

 It is in consequence of the vast change that has recently taken 

 place in the system of our national intercommunication that the 

 consideration of the matter should not be delayed. Railways are 

 in fact fast superseding or detracting from the use of the prin- 

 cipal coach roads, and we shall therefore be better employed in 

 considering their future support and management than in dis- 

 cussing any improved means of making new ones, particularly 

 as we find by every day's experience that the more railways are 

 extended and appreciated, fresh lines or existing highways are 

 opened up radiating to the numerous railway stations, by which 

 neglected parish roads are brought into use and their imperfect 

 chaiacter brought to light. The effect of this vast change is 

 becoming gradually known to us all in one way or another. If 

 we are trustees and bondholders of turnpike roads, we know it 

 by the insolvent condition of our trusts, although the annual ex- 

 penditure on turnpike-roads has been reduced in eight years to 

 an extent of more than 410,0001. per annum. As rate-payers we 

 know it by the increased amount of the highway rates, which, in 

 the same period of eight years, have increased above 600.000Z. 

 per annum, with the outlay disproportionately increased in those 

 particular parishes lying nearer the railway stations, and through 

 which the traffic from the more distant must pass without con- 

 tributing to that extra cost; and, as part of the general public, we 

 know it by the total neglect of those roads which have had their 

 traffic diverted, and by the unequal condition and the absence 

 of judicious control of the roads generally. Of course there is 

 no rule without an exception, and districts may exist where 

 turnpike trusts are still thrifty, and where uniform good manage- 

 ment by parochial authorities is prevalent, but I think there is 

 no one here present who has failed to observe the ill consequences 

 accumulating throughout the country from the bankrupt state of 

 turnpike trusts through the neglect of irresponsible trustees, and 

 from the fact that parish roads still remain under the control of 

 unpaid and unpractised surveyors serving only for a single year. 

 With respect to such roads, we have all I dare say, had some ex- 

 perience, and I am not misrepresenting the fact, when I say that 

 there are not a few who have felt the necessity of acting as sur- 

 veyor of highways in our several parishes, as a means of self- 

 preseryation, as a means in fact of remedying the omissions of 

 preceding surveyors who may, perhaps, have been more liberal 

 near their own occupations than ours. I will freely confess that 

 it was the total neglect of the roads in that part of the parish in 

 which 1 resided that induced me a few years back to seek the 

 office, and then I did not fail to make the best use of the opportu- 

 nity to give the neglected roads a dressing which I believe my suc- 

 cessors have considered so abundant that they have done nothing 

 to them ever since. But leaving individual cases out of conside- 

 ration, we must all acknowledge that unpaid services are generally 

 of little value, and that no man whose income depends upon a 

 profitable use < f his time ought to be called upon to devote a part 

 of that time to periodical business without compensation, and 

 further if we examine the matter attentively, we shall find that 

 the knowledge and application essential to a good management 

 and economical maintenance of roads is comparatively rare. It 

 is too frequently believed that any parishioner who can be trusted 

 to collect and dispense the highway rates is qualified to act as 

 stonewarden of his parish, and it is this unfortunate theory that 

 trustworthiness is synonymous with knowledge, supported by 

 erroneous notions of economy, that has led to the defeat of every 

 measure which has been proposed for the improved management 

 and union of public roads in districts. It may be true that a 

 person may be a good manager of existing roads without being 

 able to enter into such refined calculations, for instance, as the 

 resistance of friction and collision of material, the force of gravity 

 in impeding draught on roads at different gradients, and the 

 amount of impediment arising from elasticity of formation. 

 These, however, are elementary data indispensable to a good 

 road maker, and though, perhaps not so necessary to a road 

 manager, it is manifest that a knowledge of the whole 

 subject in its various details must better qualify him for 

 his duties than the possession of accidental information, acquired 

 in the pursuit of another business. Under any circumstances we 

 shall all agree that any one taking the management of our parish 

 roads should at least apprecia'e the advantage of a perfect surface 

 draining and under draining roads, and the benefit of sun and of 

 air; the proper sectional formation for different roads according 

 to circumstances of position; the relative value of materials in 

 comparison with the cost of procuring them; the proper size of 

 material by which to maintain the bottom stratum as well as the 

 surface covering; the quantity to be applied to the best advantage 

 at each dressing, and the best time of applying it; and particu- 

 larly the economical application of labour in a broad engineering 

 sense, not as meaning the crowding of men on the roads when it 



like practical considerations, we must all admhh !! 

 surveyor of the highways should h. «w" ." fti ! 



** 



i ft «i n- « e£ ways should be ableT^niJ?*"^ 

 details of his office. How few there are who at rt? J * * * 

 undertake the duties possess even this esstntui L pTt ** £ 

 they possess it how few will give the lltlt^ "^^ 

 able application! But as we haveno^art^t^^ 

 period when the trustees of turnpike roads are 3 i be *»* 

 through which they pass, under Sir Chafes B «^^ 

 contribute to the roads they undertook to mairZ? V \**> * 

 the whole traffic of the country is being £ '^ 

 channels to courses at right angles to them I ™J25 !"■» 

 the farmers of England will see it is time w ?chanJ2 T * ** 

 cf management also, that, in fact, we should look 



to oar 



interests as ratepayers, and abandon the iinsati «f«*«!J 

 the main costly, agency of paid surveyors and St** 

 turnpike roads, and unpaid and annual parish W** 

 parish roads, and adopt the more consistent ind inrt? * 

 less costly machinery of consolidated authority t! "Lt •*. 



~..&... UM «*.^ ,»<n<- , lucic ttic io,o*i distinct olacM 

 highway rates, and that, although the tnrrnikp n>mlu~Ll!lft 

 less every year to maintain, the expenditure on hiJU? 

 which in 1827 was l,0C0,0COl.. and in 1839 w« & 

 amounted in 1845 to 1,717,334*., without any an«28£ 

 increase in length of the highways themselves- butillikR 

 true, and it is to the expediency of consolidating these -»• -■ — 

 jurisdictions into unions with an equalisation of eiwZE 

 that I hope you will address yourselves this fvenin/ln #w 

 year 1850 Sir George Cornewall Lewis, now the Chancellor 

 the Exchequer, introduced a bill into the House of 

 having in view the union of parishes in district! and tW 



BUI 



the Exchequer, introduced a bill into the House of Otni! 

 having in view the union of parishes in <?" " 

 concentration of the unpaid officers of parishes into one tutt 

 officer for each union. As you are aware it did not becoaTi 

 law simply, I presume, because the time * as not then ripe lr 

 the acceptance by the country authorities of the principle! |k 

 tinguishing that measure. But five years have bince tliMtf 

 and the country, as well as town, is rapidly acknowledging fe 

 union of extended management as the most effective and at* 

 economical system of management. I shall, therefore, nit fa 

 outstepping the duties I have taken upon myselt in tins die*. 

 sion in placing before you the scheme of ^ir George Conanfl 

 Lewis, with such additions as shall retain in the handi of tk 

 rate-payers certain powers of appeal and scrutiny, ibid, I 

 would submit, it is desirable they should continue to kit 

 Under any circumstances, although there may be different! of 

 opinion in details, it will serve to bring into comparim t 

 the present divided and unsatisfactory mode of managOMnl 

 the principles of union management. The main point! rf tfat 

 scheme are these :— 1st. The districts of road management ikl 

 be coextensive with the unions. 2d. That a competent rarrcro 

 of roads shall be appointed to each union, or to two or mi 

 unions, according to the extent of mileage of roads within net 

 union. 3d. That directly any portion of the highway rataofi 

 parish is applied to the maintenance of a turnpike road, Ikl 

 turnpike road shall be placed under the management of fk 

 surveyors of the union. 4th. That the surveyor shall be 

 nated by the board of guardians, and if approved (after 

 nation of his qualification for the office) by a central 

 of examiners appointed by the Board of Trade, shall nab* 

 the appointment. The board of examiners will be mat 

 in character to the official referees of the metropolis whert tk 

 district surveyors for buildings undergo examination Ml F£ 

 pose here. 5th. That there shall be a select committee of» 



board of guardians to be called the roads commit ^^ f ^J 

 all complaints of ratepayers, and all accounts respecti ng m 

 roads shall be referred, whose decision on sneta eonpj"« 

 shall be binding on the surveyor, except in such insuaw ■ 

 the surveyor may elect to appeal to the central 'X*™ 

 examiners. 6th. That the salary of the surveyor smum 

 regulated by the mileage of, and duties upon the rows w 

 his management. 7th. That such surveyor shall dim » 



yearly statements, showing the length and cost of ™* l "^5 

 each public highway within the several P a,1 ^.f"S2 

 the cost of labour and materials, and such h » l ^ e rJ' w i*aj 

 ments shall be affixed to the church door in e f \ Pfr'^fc 

 a month of the termination of each halt-year for tne ' ™ ^^ 

 of the ratepayers. 8th. That such surveyor i |h»uro - ^ 

 board of guardians with a complete annual Btaten « ^ 

 total cost of the maintenance and managemen i v ^ 



under his charge, together with an estimate ^ d 



quired for the next year, which having been i anou eu r^ 

 the accounts of the union, the clerk of the Dowu & rfjtJ| 

 shall reduce the whole into an abstract form, ana ^ ^ 

 the clerk of the peace of the county, in order ■ iu ^ ^ 

 published in the county newspapers and rorw™ otbef ^ 

 of Trade once in every year concurrently J* ltn * prson s to ft- 

 throughout the country. This will *"*}***"£%&*** 

 pare the cost of management and ^ a . int ^f^ e gerenl * 

 unions and will prevent jobbery. 9th. in»- bv the Boari 

 stracts so published shall be formally wllecteo ^^ ^ 

 of Trade from the several unions tbroug&oui ^ ^ HocSI< ( 



o diff« 

 th in S 

 involve 



onof> 



They have m view mo ^"""7. the score «^ 



system of management with such security ^ 



presented annually as a parliamentary paper differ ^ 



r^mmnna Th«A Rno-P-pqfionS Will be tOUlIU i^ : „ gir G«qj 



ed i& 

 are the same. They have in view the constitute ^ rerf 



Commons. These suggestions "»* - - -- f h in S u 

 few particulars from the modus operandi sew ]ved ^m 

 Cornewall Lewis's bill, though the pWW^J 



potency that, as the several turnpike-trusts e P ^ i ^j 

 roads are thrown on parishes to support, ▼« * of | 



en row ii uu parishca iv "--rr - 'ifit*»naiice o» " 

 ence an fxecutive conducting the maim «" ded tli d 



superior to, and much less costly than, 



the 



ment of to 



** 



Bible system which prevailed in the mana.e m ^ ^m 

 roads in their most palmy days, and vniu income s}fltFr 

 before railways robbed them of ™ch °1 t ne .^ ^m 

 dually bringing the majority of tb08 ? h " rfect conp««^ 

 debt. I have laid great stress upon tfie 1* ftftch uiaf f*~ 



aeot. i nave laiu gre»u owe™ -*- - . eaCU u^— -* 



the surveyor, for although there should ° e ^ ncip i» # * jS 

 committee, so as to preserve the En^ »" f be founding, 

 local affairs to local management, still « eTO r who JP~# 

 that the real onus will rest with th * SUI t / tu e d^JL* 

 obliged to devote the ^le of his t ,nj * ug ges«^ 



office, and you will have observed that i de t ^Jn 



appeal to the road committee a sl ^ ry Tbis is *#£* 

 inattention on the part of the w^^i. It * *££ 

 order to avoid the expenses of an ^^soffjSK 

 that a person fully understanding ^he D i£ f rcadsoTJJ* 

 ment may look after from 150 to , 2o0 ^ w| „ ^p*** 

 character, and that this a titude in "^ ntaln in* *^*l 

 roads with an area 10 »^s squjre, »n rf hl gft£^ 

 There are in England and Wales 1 M,i^ «f. ASr»» 



57,805 square miles of country ; w that we J of ^ 

 there is not on an average s a length ox there Jf ^p^ 



square mile of country. In ^ «;K^ tr v f whet*** 

 mile of highway to a square mi \^~^ *^dS»~i 

 shire therlare nearly three m ^ ke the do 



persons are to be found who ^ ™7 we i« •&? Sot *£ 

 150?. to 200*. a year, to j-hicM 1 \ e raise d to g> 

 a horse, the average salary n ««" nli i e of or f°^tb** 



This would be equal to a ^ tan^V ^ T**«£* 

 roads; or, to place the matter t angij y p^fcett^jj 



may see how such a salary would aCec po""* *% **! 



it is estimated that from Id to ► 1A m an^e^ijg 

 the salary of the surveyor «nder w , t h i^ 



Co*** 



manag e roen t. We can «£* ^^jgZl 

 paid to and duties ^vfonnedbr^ sa *n' ^W 



and with those •»«£,»£* XV Pf^e V > 



in unions, and the expenses »ttenmn B 



tliink -- jm - . 



