Royal Agricultural Society : Oxford, 1839 ; Cambridge, 1840. 211 
caravans and conveyances of all kinds, capable of containing 
cattle, sheep, &c., were seen hastening to the centre of 
attraction. By Monday evening the greater portion of the 
stock for exhibition had arrived, and by eight o’clock on 
Tuesday morning the entire space allotted for the exhibition 
was occupied. 1 
The proceedings commenced on Tuesday morning, July 1G, 
with a trial of implements in a field adjoining the Show- 
ground, those tested being a subsoil plough, Biddell’s scarifier, 
a drill for depositing manure for turnips, and one or two others ; 
but the ground was not in very good condition for displaying 
their action to the best advantage. In the afternoon a meeting 
was held at the Town Hall, where various prize essays were 
read— viz., one by Col. Le Couteur, of Jersey, on the most ap- 
proved varieties of wheat hitherto introduced into England; 
another by Mr. Handley, M.P., on the comparative advantages 
of wheel and swing ploughs ; and a third by Mr. Richard 
Hopper, of Nottingham, on the advantages of drawing turnips 
from the land and consuming them in houses or yards. Mr. 
J. W. Childers, M.P., sent a communication on the advantages 
of shed-feeding for sheep ; and the President, Earl Spencer, read 
some physiological observations on the gestation of cows, de- 
duced from his own experience. These matters disposed of, a 
party of about three hundred and sixty gentlemen made an 
agreeable ending of the day’s proceedings by dining together at 
the Star (now the Clarendon) Hotel, under the presidency of 
Lord Spencer. 
Next morning Oxford was astir at an early hour, for the 
Show-ground at Holywell was opened to the public at seven 
o’clock, and from that time until the evening a continuous 
stream of visitors passed through the gates. “ The influx of 
visitors from many miles around Oxford was exceedingly great, 
the principal streets being completely lined with gigs, coaches, 
and other conveyances, whilst the town throughout the whole 
day presented such a scene of bustle as was never, perhaps, 
before witnessed. The crowd waiting for admittance to the 
Show-yard was so extensive that, immediately the gates were 
thrown open, the rush was so tremendous that many gentlemen 
had their coats torn from their backs. Although 5,000 tickets 
of admission had been printed, before ten o’clock the whole had 
been disposed of at 2s. 6d. each. The consequence was that 
some thousands who were unable to obtain them were refused 
admittance to the Show. It was calculated that upwards of 
1 JicU's Weekly Messenger , July 22, 1839, 
