118 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  31,  1902. 
The  First  and  the  Last. 
1839— Oxford.  Carlisle— 1902. 
We  are  sorry  to  have  to  write  it — the  last  itinerant  show  of  the 
Royal  Agricultural  Association  Society  of  England  is  over.  For 
good  or  ill,  the  show  for  the  future  is  to  be  a  fixture.  We  are 
not  going  to  discuss  the  wisdom  of  such  a  move  on  the  part  of 
the  directors,  they  are  wiser  men  than  we,  but  we  do  regret  that 
financial  losses  are  causing  this  change. 
When  the  idea  of  an  exhibition  of  agricultural  stock  was  first 
propounded  in  1838,  it  was  thought  that  agriculturists  would 
benefit  more  and  become  more  widely  interested  in  the  work  of 
the  society  if  the  meetings  were  held  alternately  at  some  large 
town,  the  centre  of  an  agricultural  district.  The  show  was  to 
be  brought  to  the  people,  not  the  people  to  the  show.  From  oui 
own  experience,  we  admit  that  there  have  been  in  our  lives  no 
pleasanter  outings  than  those  we  have  taken  in  connection  with 
our  visits  to  the  Royal  Agricultural  Show.  Farmers  have 
always  had  the  credit  of  being  very  conservative  in  their  ways 
and  methods,  but  surely  nothing  will  so  much  tend  to  open 
the  eyes  of  their  understanding  as  ocular  demonstration  as  to 
how  work  was  done  in  counties  other  than  their  own. 
As  judges,  or  as  ordinary  visitors,  one  comes  in  touch  with 
the  farmers  of  the  district.  Often  most  handsomely  entertained 
by  fellow  craftsmen,  then  we,  in  our  turn,  were,  on  a  suitable 
opportunity,  only  too  glad  to  return  the  hospitality  we  had 
enjoyed.  Such  meetings  surely  do  much  to  strengthen  the 
hoods  of  fellowship  and  good  feeling. 
But  let  us  go  back  to  Oxford  in  1839.  Cau  we  picture  an 
England  without  railways  and  without  penny  postage  or 
telegrams  ?  What  a  funny  show  ground  it  would  be,  and  how 
primitive  the  arrangements  ?  The  first  president  was  Lord 
Spencer.  The  show  was  to  last,  as  far  as  we  can  make  out,  three 
days.  The  ground  covered  by  exhibits  was  seven  acres,  and  the 
attendance  was  stupendous!  Yes,  when  we  consider  that  the 
stock  had  either  all  to  travel  by  road  or  canal  boat,  or,  indeed, 
have  the  terrors  of  a  sea  passage,  and  that  coaches,  gigs,  and 
saddle  horses  brought  the  spectators,  it  was  a  tremendous  affair, 
so  much  so  that  folk  of  that  day  prophesied  that  never  again 
would  England  see  the  like.  The  show  proper  seems  to  have 
been  rather  a  secondary  consideration.  It  was  a  special  feature 
in  the  annual  meeting  where  agriculturists  from  all  parts 
gathered  to  read  and  discuss  papers,  and  to  have  a  gocd 
jollification  generally. 
One  feature  of  the  old  system  we  should  not  care  to  see 
revived.  The  judges  arrived  at  their  decisions  in  private. 
Now  the  judging  is  one  of  the  best  parts  of  the  entertainment, 
and  the  company  round  the  big  rings  are  always  more  than 
ready  to  let  the  judges  know  at  once  what  they  think  of  their 
awards.  Mind,  we  do  not  think  the  public  have  any  business 
so  to  express  themselves,  but  they  will  do  it  whether  or  no. 
There  were  twelve  classes,  and  they  wrere  thus  divided: — I., 
Shorthorns;  II,,  Herefords ;  III.,  Devons;  IV.,  Cattle  of  any 
other  breed;  V.,  Dairy  cattle ;  VI..  Oxen;  VII.,  Horses;  VIII., 
Leicester  sheep  ;  IX.,  Southdown  or  other  short-woolled  sheep; 
X.,  Long  woolled  ;  XI.,  Pigs  ;  XII.,  Extra  stock,  implements, 
roots,  and  seeds. 
Perhaps  in  this  list  the  two  things  that  strike  us  most  is  the 
class  for  oxen,  and  the  fact  that  horses  are  all  put  under  one 
heading  in  Class  VII.,  just  two  varieties,  cart  stallion,  cart  mare 
and  foal,  and  stallion  for  breeding  hunters,  carriage  horses,  and 
roadsters.  The  cart  stallion  produced  ten  entries ;  mare  and 
foal,  six  entries  ;  and  of  the  rest  eight  comprised  the  lot,  and  so 
without  value  that  no  prize  was  awarded  !  Can  this  be  possible  ! 
Among  the  instruments  was  from  Jersey  a  small  one-horse 
plough  for  setting  Potatoes.  This  must  be  a  misnomer,  for  we 
have  not  yet  got  a  plough  to  do  this  work.  The  great 
Ipswich  firm  was  well  represented.  A  scorcher  machine  was 
exhibited,  and  we  will  own  at  once  we  thought  it  was  some  sort 
of  horse  singer  ;  but  we  were  quite  out  of  it,  as,  on  reference  to 
the  account  of  the  show,  it  was  a  machine  to  burn  up  weeds  as 
they  grew. 
At  this  exhibition  we  find  Thomas  Bates  was  present,  and  he 
brought  with  him,  partly  by  sea,  partly  by  canal,  the  great  fore¬ 
runners  of  his  wondrous  Shorthorns,  such  cattle  as  had  never 
|  been  seen  before.  We  almost  fancy  no  “  Booth  ”  blood  was 
invented  then,  and  the  Collings  Brothers  had  both  joined  the 
majority.  There  is  in  the  “  Royal  Agricultural  Society’s  Journal  ” 
for  June,  1894,  an  amusing  print  of  the  Oxford  Show  ground, 
with  gentlemen  in  white  trousers  and  tail  coats.  The  attendance 
on  the  first  day  was  20,000.  The  prize  sheet  amounted  to  T890. 
At  the  Oxford  meeting  it  was  decided  that  the  next  show  should 
be  held  at  Cambridge  in  1840,  and  we  see  the  resolution  was 
most  cordially  received  by  Mr.  Jonas  Webb.  This  was  in  1839, 
and  we  believe  another  Jonas  Webb  was  on  the  Committee  of 
Management  at  the  Carlisle  Show  of  this  year. 
Now  let  us  turn  to  Carlisle.  The  president  this  time  is  of 
higher  rank  than  a  belted  earl — the  King’s  brother-in-law,  Prince 
Christian.  Instead  of  a  ground  of  7  acres,  we  fancy  50  is  more 
like  the  size  now,  and  instead  of  an  attendance  of  20,000  the 
committee  are  hardly  satisfied  with  an  aggregate  of  93,600,  and 
many  of  these  enter  at  5s.  apiece.  In  1839  the  whole  number  of 
classes  was  only  12  ;  in  1902  the  horses  alone  are  divided  into 
15  classes,  and  number  521.  The  cattle,  which  are  grouped 
under  19  heads,  add  up  to  667.  Sheep,  which  were  but  of 
three  varieties,  have  now  swelled  to  seventeen,  and  number  546. 
Pigs,  poultry,  and  produce  are  respectively  178,  653,  and  461. 
Then  there  is  the  working  dairy  with  practical  demonstration, 
the  competition  of  shoeing  smiths,  the  bee  driving,  and  the 
butter  making  competition.  We  have  also  the  enormous  army 
of  implement  makers,  all  the  seedsmen,  Royal  and  other-wise,  all 
the  patent  cattle  medicines,  all  the  cake  and  feeding  manu¬ 
facturers,  all  the  dairy  and  bee  appliance,  and  poultry  requisite 
caterers ;  in  fact,  we  hardly  dare  venture  to  hint  at  what  is  not 
there.  Sheep  dipping  and  clipping,  home  and  foreign.  You  can 
insure  yourself,  your  workmen,  and  your  stock  on  the  grounds, 
and  those  who  own  a  motor  car  can  include  it  if  they  like. 
There  is  every  sort  of  cheese  and  every  variety  of  butter,  with 
good  wholesome  cider  and  perry. 
To  get  some  idea  of  what  there  is  to  see  on  a  Royal  show 
ground,  a  glance  through  the  thick  catalogue  will  be  a  revelation. 
Perhaps  the  greatest  attraction  is  the  butter  working  tent,  or 
rather,  the  competitive  dairymaids.  It  takes  a  good  deal  of 
nerve  to  go  quietly  on  with  the  work  before  the  curious  gaze  of 
the  assembled  multitude — almost  as  nasty  a  job  as  faciDg  the 
enemies’  guns  in  South  Africa. 
Just  think  of  the  number  of  visitors,  that  is  a  sight  in  itself  ; 
prince  and  peasant,  town  worker  and  plough-boy,  duchess  and 
dairymaid  (we  were  going  to  say  all  interested  in  agricultural 
work,  but  we  hold  our  pen,  that  would  be  a  too  sweeping 
assertion).  That  it  is  a  grand  holiday  outing  for  the  adjacent 
country  side  none  will  deny,  and,  unlike  many  outings,  it  combines 
“  instruction  and  amusement  hand  in  hand.”  We  wish  good 
luck  to  the  new  venture;  but  we  part  most  reluctantly  with  the 
old  order  of  things  that  made  the  Royal  Show  a  movable  feast. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
Though  there  have  been  showers  and  rumours  of  showers  in 
parishes  not  far  distant,  and  the  papers  have  been  reporting  the 
abandonment  of  cricket  matches,  we  have  had  a  fine  week,  and 
have  much  good  solid  work  to  show  for  it.  The  hay  is  all  well 
saved,  and  the  condition  is  most  excellent.  Except  in  a  few 
early  cases,  hay  has  been  well  got  all  round  Doncaster  way. 
Good  progress  has  been  made  amongst  the  Turnips,  but  much 
remains  to  do.  Common  Turnips  are  nearly  all  struck  out,  and 
then  we  can  turn  attention  to  Swede  cleaning,  which  is  badly  in 
want  of  it.  The  young  plants  and  weeds  left  in  the  rows  grew 
so  rapidly  during  the  wet  of  a  fortnight  ago  that  the  horse  hoes 
could  not  properly  contend  with  them.  The  Swedes  have  since 
then  made  great  headway,  and  will  soon  cover  in,  so  the  last 
weeding  is  most  urgently  required. 
Mangolds  are  looking  grand,  but  here  again  there  are  a  few 
ugly  weeds  showing,  and  they  will  need  another  looking  over. 
As  the  ears  increase  in  weight  the  Corn  crops  show  signs  of 
going  down  without  any. provocation  from  showers  or  storms.  A 
number  of  fields  about  here  will  not  need  a  drop  of  rain  before 
harvest ;  nay !  they  will  be  better  without  it.  Barley  is  particu¬ 
larly  heavy  and  thick,  and  it  is  certainly  the  crop  of  the  year. 
The  interval  between  the  hay  and  Corn  harvests  gives  us  a 
chance  to  rest  some  of  the  horses.  The  mares  (with  foals)  which 
have  been  doing  light  work  may  now  be  turned  right  away  to 
richer  grass  in  the  carse,  also  the  two  and  three-year-olds  which 
need  rest  more  than  the  mares  do. 
Farmers  are  in  some  cases  selling  their  wool.  A  neighbour 
has  just  let  his  two  years  clip  go  for  16s.  6d.  per  tod  for  hogg  wool, 
and  10s.  per  tod  for  ewe.  What  a  wretched  figure !  How  many 
shillings  per  quarter  increase  on  Wheat  would  be  required  to 
make  up  the  wool  deficiency  ?  Surely  the  British  public  buys  its 
raw  woollen  material  so  cheaply  it  must  not  grumble  at  another 
4d.  on  the  loaf.  What  are  blankets  worth  now? 
