138 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
nothing more than this, it has at least made agriculture 
fashionable. We have in every quarter of the United 
Kingdom, gentlemen who are anxiously looking out to 
test any experiment that we may recommend, or that has 
been deemed worthy of our consideration. We have in 
every part of England, gentlemen who are earnestly test¬ 
ing the quality of the soil, making the best rotation of 
crops, determining the best description of seed-wheat for 
different soils; in short, applying themselves to a careful 
consideration of all those operations of agriculture, which 
practical men know to be so essential to success. But it 
is not in practice alone that we are reaping a benefit; 
we hoped to bring science to bear upon the practical ag¬ 
riculture of the country, and in that we have been emi¬ 
nently successful.” 
Although its establishment was suggested by the kin¬ 
dred institution in Scotland—the Highland Society—and 
it may, indeed, be said to be the offspring of that society, 
it has far eclipsed its parent in the splendor of its meet¬ 
ings, the numbers of its patrons and its members, and the 
interest it excites, not only in its annual assemblages, but 
in the quieter course of its useful avocations. It is not, 
fortunately, on the mere magnitude and splendor of its 
meetings, that the Royal Ag. Society rests its claim for 
the support of the agriculturists of Great Britain. Its 
claims for patronage rest upon the interest, zeal and en¬ 
ergy which the exhibitions excite amongst the agricul¬ 
turists ; and which work with such a salutary effect in 
promoting the march of improvement in every part of 
the country where the meetings are held, or whence the 
farmers attend them; and upon the judicious system of 
holding weekly meetings of the Council in London, to 
receive reports and papers upon every point of agricul¬ 
tural knowledge; to stimulate its members both to com¬ 
municate their own experience, and to read that of oth¬ 
ers through the medium of the Society’s Quarterly Jour¬ 
nal ; and thus to set the whole agricultural body both 
thinking upon and working in the great employment of 
providing the food of the country, with redoubled acti¬ 
vity and emulative zeal. But a truce to digression; I 
have already occupied too much of your valuable space 
with my prosaic observations, and must now proceed to 
detail in brief the actual business of this meeting. The 
arrangements of the society were dictated throughout, 
with much liberality and judgment. Ample and exten¬ 
sive notice was given many months previous, of the re¬ 
gulations, the premiums, &c. for the exhibition of stock 
and implements, and other objects of competition. The 
result of the labors of the general and local committees, 
gave much satisfaction. The meeting commenced on 
the 12th of July; on which day a recherche and elegant 
banquet was given to the Council, by the Mayor and 
Corporation of Bristol, at the Merchants’ Hall. At an 
early period of the week the guests began to throng into 
the city, and accommodation could scarcely be found for 
the immense numbers arriving from all parts of the king¬ 
dom. The Duke of Cambridge was among the visitors; 
and their number included most of the leading agricultu¬ 
rists, titled and untitled. 
On Wednesday, the Council dined together at the Vic¬ 
toria Rooms, Clifton, a fine new building, the use of 
which was specially granted to them by the proprietors. 
In the course of the day, a plowing match took place, 
for which 40 plows were entered, and a trial of newly 
invented machines and agricultural implements was held; 
there was also a very fine cattle show. Mr. Smith of 
Deanston, the inventor of the subsoil plow, delivered a 
lecture on draining, which you will find reported in the 
Mark Lane Express, of the 18th ult. which, I may remark 
by the way, contains a full and complete account of all 
the proceedings. 
Thursday, the 14th of July, was the grand day when 
the attendance of members and visitors was most nume¬ 
rous. The first business of the day, was the great show 
of stock and implements. A lecture was then delivered 
at the Bristol Institution, on “ the morbid anatomy of 
domestic animals.” The grand meeting of the members 
of the society, took place at 4 o’clock, in a pavilion 
erected for the occasion; between 2 and 3,000 guests sat 
down to table. On Friday, the 15th, the sale of stock in 
the show yard commenced, and a general meeting of the 
members and council, for business purposes, closed the 
proceedings. 
In connection with this meeting, I would especially' 
call your attention to the excellent observations which 
fell from the American Minister, the Hon. Mr. Everett. 
The Mayor, in an appropriate speech, proposed the 
health of the Hon. Edward Everett, the Envoy of the 
United States. (Cheers.) 
The Hon. E. Everett, in acknowledging the toast, said 
he felt greatly indebted to them for the very flattering- 
manner in which his health had been proposed, and the 
yery kind mode in which they had received it. He felt 
gratified in being present on an occasion which was so 
deeply interesting to him, because he had observed that 
there was a great similitude in the mode in which such 
meetings were conducted here and in his own country. 
The fundamental principle of his country, as they all 
knew, was equality, and he confessed that he had erro¬ 
neously thought that in the mother country this was not 
so; but when last week he had met his Royal Highness 
at Cambridge, wearing a doctor’s gown at the University 
of Cambridge, like the rest, and mingling equally with 
his fellow doctors, and -when now again he met his Roy¬ 
al Highness mixing with the farmers of England, he was 
proud to confess how erroneous had been his impression; 
and he must say that this example set by his Royal High¬ 
ness, was calculated to have the most salutary influence. 
(Cheers.) There were many associations between the 
ancient city of Bristol and the United States, and he felt 
satisfaction, while at such a distance from his home, at 
being in a city which from the earliest times had been 
connected more or less with his own country. (Cheers.) 
Perhaps it was not known to many who were present, 
that the discoverer of America, the great Columbus him¬ 
self, had been at one period of his life, a resident of 
Bristol, engaged in carrying on the trade of a common 
pilot between Bristol and Ireland. In later times asso¬ 
ciations had sprung up between Great Britain and Ame¬ 
rica, which he hoped would be advantageous to both 
countries. Steam navigation had still closer cemented the 
intimacy of both countries, and he could not forget that 
to Bristol was the honor due of having first originated 
that navigation across the Atlantic; and he could assure 
them that the arrival of their noble Western at the shores 
of America, was considered as an era in the history of 
their country, which he hoped would prove but the har¬ 
binger of a closer union, and that the steam navies of 
both countries would only be used to assist each other. 
(Cheers.) The steam engine had arrived at a degree of 
perfection in this country, under Bolton and Watt, but it 
had not been used on the waters in this country, until his 
countryman, Fulton, took the engine of Bolton and Watt, 
and put it in locomotion on the waters; thus had this 
great result been brought about by the united sagacity of 
both countries. (Cheers.) He assured them that he 
felt at home in this, the home of his fathers, and in com¬ 
ing down from London, to-day, every name and every 
spot on the map, appeared familiar to him. This was to 
be accounted for from some of the earliest settlers in 
America coming from this part of England; and they in 
the United States, had their Bristol, their Bath, their 
Wells, their Exeter, their Gloucester; every name in 
this neighborhood seemed to remind him of the home 
of his heart, and to make him, a pilgrim in a strange 
land, feel at home. Mr. Everett then concluded, by ex¬ 
pressing a hope that the communication between the two 
countries would be still more frequent, and their union 
more cordial than ever. 
At the dinner on the 14th, the President rose to pro¬ 
pose the healths of the foreign ministers present. 
His Excellency, the American minister, rose to respond 
to the toast, but could not proceed for several minutes, 
so deafening were the cheers with which he was receiv¬ 
ed. His Excellency said,—May it please your Royal 
Highness, Mr. President, my Lords and Gentlemen, be¬ 
lieve me, I am deeply sensible of the kind feelings which 
you have been pleased to express towards myself and my 
country, and I assux-e you that that kindness has so affect- 
me, that I want words to express my feelings. To be 
received as I have been, so far from my home, and by 
such a company, overpowers me; and no where could 
such kindness be more welcome to me than here, for the 
history of North America runs back to this very point, 
and its very first chapter is written in the books of the 
Merchant Venturers of Bristol. (Cheers.) I allude not 
to what I mentioned the other day, as to Columbus hav¬ 
ing resided in Bristol, but to the fact, that Sebastian Ca¬ 
bot, who ran down the coast of North America as far as 
New Florida, was a citizen of Bristol, anil that his expe¬ 
dition was fitted out by the corporation of Merchant Ven¬ 
turers of Bristol, of which his Royal Highness, on my 
left, is now a distinguished member. (Cheers.) You all 
know that New England was founded by citizens of Bris¬ 
tol, and within the vaults of your Redcliff church lie 
moldering the bones of the father of "William Penn, the 
founder of Pennsylvania; and although William Penn, 
himself, was not born in Bristol, his notions of America 
were no doubt founded on the stories the Bristol mari¬ 
ners told him of that distant and then almost unknown 
land. (Cheers.) Bristol and America should therefore 
be closely united, and it seems that your merchants mean 
to keep up the intercourse; for this morning, as I stood 
on the towers of your Blaize Castle, and looked upon a 
view—a more beautiful than which I never saw—I be¬ 
held in the distance, the tall masts of your unrivaled 
Great Western, resting peacefully upon the water, but 
which, the day after to-morrow, will be plowing the 
mighty deep; and as you, sir, have desired me to send 
the tidings of your feelings towards us, to my country, 
the day after to-morrow, the Great Western will carry 
those tidings with her, and in 14 days, or ere the deafen¬ 
ing cheers with which you have received me have died 
away upon the wind, they will be re-echoed in my own 
country. (Great cheering.) Yes, gentlemen, in science, 
in literature, in language, in blood, in every thing but 
political regulations, we are truly one and the same peo¬ 
ple. (Cheers.) Every thing that issues from your press, 
every literary and scientific production of yours, is wel¬ 
comed by us, and I rejoice to find that the works of our 
authors are received with favor here. The climate of 
New England, although more severe than yours, is yet 
similar in many respects; and I assure you that we look 
with great interest to your works on agriculture, and ap¬ 
ply them to the improvement of our soil in New Eng¬ 
land; and I may say that the improvements you make 
here, are broadcast in my country. (Cheers.) Gentle¬ 
men, I hail this society Avith peculiar feelings, believing, 
as I do, that the system of communication which it holds 
out, will draw off" the bitter Avaters of international con¬ 
tention, and create a soil for the diffusion of harmony and 
good will. (Cheers.) Believe me, sir, A\dien I say that 
my most anxious Avish is for the speedy and honorable 
adjustment of all the questions pending between the two 
countries. (Cheers.) And most happy am I to say, that 
from all the means of information within my command, 
I believe that such an event is likely to be speedily con¬ 
summated, and these little clouds blown over, let us 
unite heart and hand, and then, Avith England and Ame¬ 
rica united, they may bid defiance to a Avorld. (Great 
cheering.) Sir, I have been honored by being permitted 
to propose a toast,—that of “ Success to the Royal Agri¬ 
cultural Society of England;” anti if, as has been said, he 
is a benefactor to mankind Avho can make two blades of 
grass grow where only one grew before, I think I may 
say, that by your improvements you have not only suc¬ 
ceeded in making two blades, but four or six, where one 
only grew before. (Cheers.) And is not this the same 
as if you had made another England rise up from the bo¬ 
som of the deep, with 
11 Deep waving fields and pastures green, 
And gentle slopes and groves between.” 
Yes, if you can double the amount of food for man and 
beast, do you not double the extent of your territory and 
of your power? (Cheers.) And all this is accomplished 
without the expense of a single pound to the society, 
except that which comes back with tenfold interest in 
the benefits conferred upon the people. (Cheers.) Yes, 
and all this is done Avithout shedding a single drop of 
blood. What is there in all the conquests of an Alexan¬ 
der or a Csesar, to compare with these, the peaceful tri¬ 
umphs of your society? His excellency then proposed 
the toast of “ Success to the Royal Agricultural Society 
of England.” The toast Avas drunk with much enthusiasm. 
England has always had the character of being an ex¬ 
ceedingly proud nation, but I think she may well be 
proud of her successful efforts in promoting the interests 
of agriculture—efforts which have commanded for her 
the admiration of other countries—many of whom are 
now nobly emulating her zeal and enterprise, her ener- 
gy, industry, skill and perseverance. Other countries 
may be blessed Avith more bountiful soils, more gen¬ 
ial climates, and more luxuriant vegetation, but the 
British farmer has battled with all the adverse circum¬ 
stances Avith which he is surrounded, and the fruits of 
his labor are evident in the garden husbandry of our land, 
in the rich crops and abundant harvests which he reaps. 
England may well then be proud of all she is, and has 
been, and will be. She is proud of her wealthy farmers 
and yeomanry, of her cottage homes, of her honest pea¬ 
santry; she is proud of her fine stock, of her unrivaled 
breeds of cattle, of her improved implements of hus¬ 
bandry, of her success in introducing new fertilizers to 
recruit the soil exhausted by over cropping. And she 
may challenge the world to compete with her in any one 
department of agriculture—be it in the rearing and breed¬ 
ing of stock, the tillage of the soil, the successful groAvth 
and culture of crops, the occupations of rural life, or the 
application of skill and science to the various agricultu¬ 
ral implements. Far be it from me to boast vain-glori- 
ously of these acquirements and this success; other na¬ 
tions are equally capable of successfully carrying out the 
various branches of husbandry and rural economy, and 
glad shall I be to see them more zealous and indefatiga¬ 
ble in the promotion of agricultural improvement, and 
competing successfully with Great Britain, folioAving step 
by step in the race, and they may, perhaps, yet outstrip 
her at the goal. 
Several important meetings have followed that of the 
Royal Ag. Society of England. 
The Irish Ag. Improvement Society held its first an¬ 
nual meeting and show of stock, at Cork, on the 20th of 
July. The meeting was one of the most important that 
had ever taken place in Ireland, as many of the leading 
nobility-, gentry, and agriculturists, from England and 
Scotland, were in attendance. Deputations from the Roy¬ 
al English Ag. Society-, and from the Highland Society 
of Scotland, headed by the Marquis of Downshire, and 
the Marquis of Abercorn, were in attendance. The 
Council dinner was held in the Clarence Rooms of the 
Imperial Hotel; Lord Viscount Bernard, M. P., took the 
chair in the absence of the Duke of Lienster, the Presi¬ 
dent. Lord Viscount Doneraile, filled the vice chair. 
Some excellent speeches were made on the occasion. On 
Thursday, the 21st, the members and visitors, about 1,000 
in number, dined together in the Corn Exchange, the 
Marquis of Downshire in the chair. Nearly £900 Avas 
awarded in premiums, for the introduction of new and 
improved breeds of cattle, agricultural implements, &c. 
About £700 was also applied towards premiums for the 
local societies. These prizes Avere confined exclusively 
to small farmers, holding only 25 acres of land, and me¬ 
dals were gi\-en to the large proprietors. This society, 
has at present, an annual revenue of about £2,000, be¬ 
sides a large sum vested in the funds. The Duchess of 
Leinster gave a grand assembly, which closed the pro¬ 
ceedings. 
There was a very interesting meeting of the Northum¬ 
berland Ag. Society, on the 28 th, at Bel ford. 
The Highland Society of Scotland, held its meeting on 
Monday, the 1st inst., when there was a dinner of the 
Committee, at the Waterloo Rooms, Edinburgh. The 
great cattle show and dinner, were to take place yester¬ 
day. His Grace the Duke of Richmond, President of the 
Society, in the chair; his Grace the Duke of Roxburgh, 
Vice President of the Society, croupier. The proceed¬ 
ings of the meeting and the result of the show, have not 
yet reached. 
The Yorkshire Ag. Society, a A-ery large and impor¬ 
tant one, is also now holding. 
I have extended this letter to so great a length, that I 
must hasten to a conclusion, and my rematks upon the 
crops, &c. must necessarily be very brief. 
The harvest is getting in in many parts of the country, 
and will soon become very general; on the whole, the 
weather has been very fine. On the 27th, the countsy 
