128 
Agriculture and the House of Russell. 
will be seen, was put to a practical test, with an entertaining 
result : — 
Tlie Leicesters (says Mr. Young) Lave a bad reputation as mutton at 
the tatle of a gentleman, and tlie Soutbdowns are esteemed amongst the 
best in the kingdom. Lord Somerville purchased a leg of both these breeds, 
directing the butcher to cut both in the same farm : his lordship gave a 
dinner, at which the Duke of Bedford, the President of the Board of 
Agriculture, and other company fond of the good cause were present — I had 
the honour of partaking it. The legs of mutton were placed on the table at 
the same time, for the company to pronounce which was the best ; and the 
result was that by much the larger part of the company declared in favour 
of the Leicester, thinking while so doing that it must be Southdown. The 
difference in fact, however, was very small : the flesh of the Leicester was of 
a closer texture, hut rather of a paler colour ; the gravy of the Southdown of a 
higher flavour.' 
In the Charter granted to the English Board of Agriculture 
in 1793, the Duke, who was then, it must be remembered, 
barely twenty-eight years old, was named as one of its members, 
and his attendance at its meetings was as regular as his many 
avocations would admit. He also took a prominent part in the 
foundation of the Smithfield Club, presiding at the first meeting 
held for that purpose, December 17, 1798, and officiating as its 
President until his death, little more than three years later. 
His efforts for the improvement of agriculture were, indeed, 
as unceasing as they were necessary, for at that time English 
farming was in a verj^ primitive state. We learn from Mr. 
Bennett's Prize Essay on the Farming of Bedfordshire that in 
the Duke's early time two-thirds of that county were in common 
field ; a third of the arable land was under a dead fallow every 
year ; the part under crop was wofnlly damaged by water ; the 
meagre-looking sheep were often swept off in entire flocks by 
the rot ; the neat cattle were of no distinct breed ; the fa'rm 
implements were of the rudest kind. No one who lived in or 
near his time could, says Mr. Bennett, " be ignorant of the 
efforts which tlu^ Duke put forth to arouse the torpor-stricken 
agriculturists of his day." But he did not, like his friend and 
fellow-labourer, Mr. Coke, live to i-ee the triumplis of improved 
farming, through which, according to the writer from whom 
we quote, there were in 1857 "scores of farms producing 50 per 
cent, more corn than in 1794, and supplying the metropolitan 
markets with a stone of meat for every pound supplied at the 
former period." * 
Perhaps the best evidence of this popular nobleman's enthu- 
siasm in the cause of agriculture is to be found in the accounts 
' Annals of Agriculture, Vol. XXVI. pp. ^S.^- l. 
2 See Journal," K.A.S.K. 1st Series", Vol. XVJII. (1857), p. 28. 
