iv 



English Agricultural Society. 



Being desirous,, as early as possible^ to enlist talent in the inves- 

 tigation of those subjects which involve matters of deep interest to 

 the practical farmer;, prizes for essEiys upon a variety of topics 

 have been offered, some of which will be awarded this day, some 

 at the meeting at Oxford next year, and others at the country 

 meeting to be held in the year 1840. The majority of those 

 prizes are upon subjects directly calculated to improve the culti- 

 vation of the soil, an object regarded with special interest by the 

 English Agricultural Society. The prizes for cattle to be given 

 at the Oxford meeting, and through which improvement in the 

 breeding of stock is mainly contemplated, will be publicly 

 announced in a few days; and your Committee trust that the 

 owners and occupiers of land in Oxfordshire and the neighbour- 

 ing counties will co-operate in rendering the first meeting of this 

 Society efficient for the objects for which it was instituted. 



Aware of the immense loss sustained in consequence of the 

 want of better knowledge in the treatment of the diseases of cattle, 

 sheep, and pigs, the attention of the Committee has been turned 

 to this subject, in order, if possible, to devise means for suppljing 

 the deficiency. A veterinary school has been long established in 

 the neighbourhood of the metropolis, and it has been most useful 

 in teaching the scientific and successful treatment of the diseases 

 by which thousands of horses used to be destroyed ; but its atten- 

 tion has been almost exclusively devoted to the horse ; and it was 

 considered that, if its labours could be directed with the same 

 success to the management, in health and disease, of our cattle 

 and sheep, it would be of inestimable advantage to the British 

 farmer. 



Application has been made to the Governors of the Veterinary- 

 College, stating the anxious wish of the English Agricultural So- 

 ciety that this most important extension of its inquiries and its 

 benefits should take place, this Society not interfering with the 

 arrangements and proceedings of the governors of the college, 

 but contributing from its funds to the accomplishment of this 

 purpose. 



