The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1860-05-29 00:00:00

Corresponbnur.

PAICTICAL iORICULTUILL
Lamm No. XV.
ON THE GREAT DOOD Or Annual:maim Snows;
WHY THE PUBL/E MUST BENEFIT AS wait As
THE FARMER ; •NI/ WHY HIGH AHD Low,
AND POOR, SHOULD TALE A LIVELY humor La
SUCH EXHIBITIONS.
To the Editor of the Dorset County Erprese end
Agricultural Grnetre.
Dorchester, 2bth May, 1f560.
SlR,—The importance of Agricultural Shows will,
I have no doubt, be frilly appreciated in this locrlity
after next week ; that is, by those persona who may
not have had an opportunit7 of judgirg of the utility
of these exhibitions; for I am sure, Mr. Editor, that
you May as well try to print a mewspaper without
ink at a farmer may try to aonry est profitable
agricultuee m the fullest sense, without these show.;
for however clever he may be, he will alway 5 see or
hear something that will at some time or other prove
useful to him, and if he will only take the temp 'le to
enter the show yard with a determination to petit by
it. and learn something useful inafter life, I feel eveain
that he will not be disappointed, but will adask.re
with wonder, perhaps, lint the cattle, for their slate
of perfection. 'flier,, the award of the judges wilt
give rise to the question •• Why is this the fires
, prize?" ;tow, Sir. I contend that anything which,
I will make' the farmers ask the question, wSy and.
I wherefore will he the means of improving agricaltmar
I knowledge, and is step at least toward the succenful
I cultivation of the soil. Then he may go to the.
sheep and meditate on the different breeds, and Ism/-
learn the difference in the wool producing qualities.
of different kinds in different localities, and draw
his own conclusion as to which will snit his climate•
best. Then he may move ou to the pigs and fancy that
this or that ,me may he the hest when some friend
may pass and tell bun where be has made
a mistake. After this lie may move on to the
ponitry, and then wonder why lie he. never made a
profit in this branch of his occupation. Then he
will perhaps turn towards the machinery, and in
this department trill find more room for centempla.
tion and study than in any other. He will here he
able to contrast this maker's production with Slim
maker's production, and form an opinion of the
superior praetioehility of the one as compared with
the other ; and be will hear the explanation of the
makers or their agents, and then be enabled to me
his own judgment. in selecting the article he may
require. I must liore observe that nothing can pos-
sibly be more gratifying to a dal lover of agriculture
than a sight of the steam ploughs at work, each one
doing his best to win the laurels and prove itself
practical and useful. Such trials cannot really he so
genuine anywhere as in connexion with an *gruel.
tural show. I think another great advantage is
the meeting of men from distant counties, the useful
hints which happen to fall from the lips of tbe
learned in a certain branch, and which may reach
the ears of persons equally learned in other branches.
All these tittles weighed in the mind of a practical
man cannot but result in good, for it will not only
show him how others have met with success, but
will prove what has been the canoe of failure in the
many plans which he may from time to time hare
carried into practise. And surely, Sir, if the
farmer reaps benefit from these gatherings, the
public must gain an equal share, 1 do not mean in
the way of X s. d. actually gained during the short
space of time occupied in preparing and carrying nut
Is large show, but I morn in the lasting good which
must surely be the result and it will he brought
about in this way :—The farmer, having improved
the occasion, he will try to get a little nearer perfec.
tion, and by doing this a greater produce must be
brought to market, and in these times of increase in
population (as the census will shortly show,) who
will benefit by this increase in agriculture' I will
answer that it will he the public, high and low, rick
and poor. Perhaps the inmates of an union, or some
such place, may deny this simple truth, but on re.
dection even the must tiny mind must see that it is so,
for if the market has a better supply, the quality of the
article will be improved—so even a poor pauper will
gain by it. Now, Sir, the old saying of "every man
for himself" will be enough to show why all should
take a lively interest in theme exhibitions; and the
mere contemplation of the reduction in horse and
manual labour in the cultivation of the soil by the
improved constructiim of implements, must awaken
in every one who has a spark of humanity a lively
sense of the utility et these exhibitions; and
whether he be a rich man or a labourer, he
will do all in his power to promote the
interest of agricultural shoms as a great piddle
good.

I remain, Sir,
Yours reioectfully.
PROFITABLE AtIVICULTURE.
My Letter, No. XVI., will be on tl.se positive duty
of every fanner within reach of the Dorchester
meeting to visit, with a desire to learn ; why
the machinery department should occupy his greatest
attention • and why he should patronise the groat
makers of the day.
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