166 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  16,  1900. 
•alike— exhibits  falling  off,  visitors  absent,  and  expenses  still  going  on. 
It  is  not  that  the  prize  lists  have  been  much  curtailed,  in  some  cases 
not  at  all ;  it  is  not  that  the  stock  is  in  any  degree  inferior ;  but 
interest  is  dying,  and  money  cannot  be  found  to  enable  the  people 
who  might  like  to  be  present. 
Many  of  these  shows  fall  at  a  very  busy  season  of  the  year — times 
when  every  moment  is  of  value,  and  it  is  annoying  to  the  farmer  to 
find  so  many  of  his  hands  continually  wanting”  a  day  off”  for  some 
show.  He  is  obliged  of  necessity  to  put  some  curtailment  to  this  kind 
-of  thing.  In  our  young  days,  when  there  was  only  one  good  show 
within  reach,  it  was  the  custom  to  provide  the  best  waggon  with  a 
coat  of  fresh  paint,  the  horses  with  practically  new  harness,  and  the 
whole  of  the  farm  hands  went  off  in  gay  holiday  style.  This  was 
like  Christmas,  it  came  only  once  a  year;  now  it  might  come  nearly 
every  week. 
Of  course  we  have  all  heard  of  the  proposition  before  the  committee 
of  the  ”  Royal.”  With  falling  fortunes  their  expenses  do  not  decrease, 
and  something  has  to  be  done,  and  that  speedily.  Curtail  the  prize 
■  money.  No,  that  is  out  of  the  question.  The  great  expense  is,  of  course, 
i;he  immense  quantity  of  shedding  and  pavilions  that  have  each  year 
to  be  put  up.  We  cannot  lay  our  hands  on  a  very  modern  account,  but 
we  have  found  a  list  of  some  of  the  expenditure  at  the  Warwick  Show 
of  1892.  Possibly  some  of  our  readers  will  be  a  bit  astonished. 
Cost  of  erection  of  show  yard  : — Timber,  £5004  ;  ironmongery,  £135  ; 
canvas,  roofing  felt,  &c.,  £1436;  wages,  £2060;  with  sundry  other 
■expenses,  making  up  a  grand  total  of  £10,034  12s.  3d.  The  sale 
of  materials  after  the  show  realised  £2880  7s.  lOd.  Now  this  has 
to  be  repeated  every  year,  and  it  is  a  fearful  let  down  to  the 
■exchequer. 
The  question  now  debated  is.  Shall  the  “  Royal”  have  a  permanent 
home,  a  fixed  location  where  buildings  once  put  up  w’ould  (bar  fire) 
last  till  needed  no  longer  ?  There  are  many  pros  and  cons,  but  the 
majority  seem  fully  to  think  the  permanent  location  must  be,  the 
question  is.  Where  ?  There  are  many  points  to  consider.  The  show- 
yard  is  no  small  enclosure.  In  1839  at  Oxford  7  acres  were  found 
sufficient.  Now  nothing  much  under  100  acres  will  do  at  all,  and 
that  space  of  ground,  tolerably  near  a  large  town  in  a  central  neigh¬ 
bourhood,  well  watered  and  well  shaped,  is  not  easily  met  with.  There 
must  be  every  railway  facility — look  at  all  the  miscellaneous  exhibits, 
all  the  stock,  and  above  all  impatient  visitors  who  brook  no 
delay.  Of  course  many  people  am  in  favour  of  a  London 
suburb,  and  really  London  is  a  centre  that  draws  everyone. 
The  question  is.  Would  the  show  in  this  case  further  the  best 
interests  of  agriculture  ?  An  old  and  highly  respected  member 
suggests  that  England  should  be  divided  into  five  districts.  West 
England,  Eastern  Counties,  Central,  Yorkshire,  and  Northern,  and  that 
shows  should  be  held  in  each  district  once  every  five  years.  We 
wonder  if  he  means  that  permanent  buildings  be  put  up  in  these  five 
centres.  The  cost  would  be  verv  great,  and  would  it  be  worth  while  ? 
In  this  case  the  show  ground  would  have  to  be  bought  straight  out 
instead  of  being  rented  or  loaned.  We  doubt  whether  the  scheme  is 
practicable.  It  might  be  possible  to  have  two  locations,  one  north, 
the  other  south,  and  if  the  land  were  well  bought  the  investment  might 
prove  a  good  one. 
Then,  again,  there  is  a  great  outcry  made,  and  not  without  cause, 
as  to  the  length  of  time  many  of  these  shows  are  open.  With  the 
best  possible  accommodation  the  stalls  and  shedding  at  the  shows  are  not 
so  comfortable  for  the  stock  as  their  own  special  home  quarters,  and 
five  days  or  rather  more  is  indeed  a  long  time  to  be  without  the 
comforts  of  home ;  then  of  course  there  are  the  attendants.  They  do 
not  live  at  the  show  for  nothing  ;  nor  does  the  railway  transport  them 
for  nothing,  and  at  home  their  place  has  to  be  filled  somehow.  People 
do  not  like  to  expose  valuable  stock  to  1,  a  long  railway  journey  ;  2, 
Indifferent  accommodation  lasting  for  a  week.  If  some  plan  could  be 
arranged  by  which  the  non-winners  might  be  allowed  to  return  tc 
their  homes  after,  sa}’,  two  days  exhibition,  it  would  be  an  advantage. 
We  are  not  quite  sure,  and  we  hardly  like  to  hint  at  such  a 
Ihing,  but  is  not  showing  becoming  something  of  a  profession  ? 
We  should  rather  like  to  see  some  sort  of  a  handicap  arranged  by 
which  outsiders  might  occasionally  get  a  look  in.  We  are  not  sure, 
too,  whether  sometimes  breeding  stock  is  got  into  such  a  high 
condition  that  it  ceases  to  breed,  else  why  do  we  so  often  see 
So-and-so’s  heifer  failing  to  be  in  calf  the  prize  goes  to  the  first 
reserve  ?  Tiptop  condition  is  not  conducive  to  breeding  with  safety 
or  dispatch.  We  want  to  go  one  better  than  Nature,  but  she  will 
not  have  it. 
Could  not  something  be  done,  too,  to  provide  a  better  view  ot 
the  rings  to  those  people  who  cannot  afford  a  stand  ticket?  and 
also  we  have  many  times  had  great  reason  to  corhplain  of  the  very 
poor  provision  for  the  inner  man.  Of  course  there  is  the  costly 
luncheon,  but  for  small  purses  and  ladies’  appetites  there  is  little 
or  nothing  “fanciable.”  We  were  glad  to  see  the  other  day  at  a 
Highland  Show  that  the  Temperance  ladies  had  taken  the  matter 
up  and  had  provided  pleasant  and  dainty  meat  and  drink.  We 
have  heard  the  stockmen  complain  of  the  dearness  of  the  pot  of  tea. 
Surely  with  good  tea  at  Is.  6d.  per  pound,  and  milk  on  the 
premises,  they  might  have  as  much  as  they  liked,  and  cheap.  It 
is  just  the  way  to  set  them  off  to  the  liquor  tent,  for  they  must 
have  something  to  drink,  and  it  is  a  shame  that  tea  should  be 
dearer  than  beer.  Can  any  suggestions  be  made  by  the  outside 
public,  or  are  they  so  absolutely  sick  of  shows  that  they  will  not 
attend  ? 
We  are  writing  on  Bank  Holiday,  and  have  just  received  the 
report  of  a  favourite  little  foal  show  close  at  hand.  Saturday  was 
fine,  harvest  was  not  general,  the  exhibits  were  excellent,  but  the 
attendance  practically  nil.  To-day  the  rain  pours  down  in  torrents, 
and  there  must  be  an  awful  deficit  at  the  popular  flower  show  held 
just  across  the  valley.  The  execirtive  has  been  literally  coining 
money  the  last  few  years ;  how  is  it  they  can  attract  where  the 
agricultural  show  fails  ? 
Work  on  tlje  Home  Farm. 
The  past  week  has  been  a  terrible  one  from  a  farming  point  of  view. 
The  daily  deluge  was  bad  enough,  but  the  wind,  sometimes  almost  a 
hurricane,  has  wrought  endless  damage.  A  great  deal  of  forward 
Barley  of  the  Standwell  and  Goldthorpe  varieties  has  been  necked, 
but  the  worst  thing  is  the  storm-broken  condition  of  a  large  proportion 
of  both  Wheat  and  Barley.  In  exposed  fields  quite  half  of  the  stems 
are  broken  half-way  down,  and  the  ears  hang  close  to  the  ground. 
Neither  reaper  nor  scythe  can  cut  this  corn  without  beheading  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  crop.  The  lighter  and  thinner  pieces  have 
suffered  most,  the  heavy  crops  being  much  laid,  but  as  a  rule  in  only 
one  direction,  and  reaping  will  be  quite  possible.  The  rain  has  made 
the  ground  so  soft  that  reapers  will  only  work  under  great  difficulties 
for  the  next  day  or  two,  and  it  wilt  be  heavy  work  for  the  horses. 
With  fine  weather,  however,  the  work  must  go  on,  for  another  wind 
with  the  crops  as  they  are  might  be  ruinous. 
With  harvest  at  a  standstill  the  men  have  been  able,  when  weather 
would  allow,  to  go  over  the  Turnips  again  for  weeds  that  have  been 
missed.  It  has  been  too  wet  for  the  horse  hoe  to  do  anything  but 
harm,  and  the  horses  have  been  carting  manure  to  seeds  intended  for 
Wheat  or  Potatoes.  It  is  very  heavy  work,  and  the  field  roads  will 
soon  be  cut  through,  but  there  is  no  other  work  possible,  and  we  cannot 
afford  to  let  the  animals  stand  idle. 
On  wet  days  at  this  season  the  available  hands  may  be  usefully 
employed  repairing  sacks,  wliich  will  soon  be  in  full  employment. 
Where  Potatoes  are  grown,  and  baskets  or  scuttles  largely  used,  basket 
repairing  may  also  be  done.  Some  have  had  handles,  others  have  good 
handles  but  no  bottoms.  The  former  must  go  to  the  basketmaker,  but 
the  latter  may  be  repaired  at  home.  Sacks  which  are  not  worth 
mending  may  be  usefully  cut  up  and  sewn  into  the  bottomless  baskets ; 
they  will  last  one  Potato  harvest,  and  possibly  outlive  the  handles, 
which  is  all  we  can  wish  for. 
Lambs  are  doing  well  so  far,  but  the  excessive  rain  may  flush 
pastures  more  than  will  suit  young  stomachs.  The  grass  in  feeding 
pastures  will  be  plentiful  now  to  the  end  of  the  year,  but  both  lambs 
and  feeding  cattle  must  have  their  cake  if  they  are  to  keep  up  the  good 
progress  already  made.  Cake  costs  money,  but  the  money  is  rarely 
wasted,  and  is  generally  an  excellent  investment. 
A  well-known  manure  and  cake  firm  has  just  been  entertaining 
their  customers  and  receiving  accounts.  The  first  cheque  received  was 
one  for  £1000,  and  a  well-known  sheep  and  cattle  breeder  paid  a  bill  of 
£1800.  In  both  these  oases  payment  would  be  made  very  cheerfully ; 
the  goods  paid  for  have  been  used  with  great  success  and  to  considerable 
profit. 
