The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1866-06-05 00:00:00

PREPARATIONS IN TILE lIIIOWTARD,

SALISBURY' seemed to US more like Old Sarum
coAainly than New, last Friday, and to have
ne:ually relapsed into a state of chronic medi-
a,valisin, with its vast procession of aurpliced
and unsurplieed choristers, and the quaint
bri.4lit banners of its Diocesan parish choirs,
mustering underneath them scarcely fewer
tban 2,0t10 singers! But what will this be to
the modernised scenes that the show week
now ushers in. We well remember the de-
li4htful exhibition of the Royal in 1557 in
Salisbury, on the self-same ground, and with
almost the identical surroundings for nine
years has scarcely altered Salisbury, unless it
he for the better. It is true there were one
~r two figures. one or two voices there which
-,ve much miss. The Right Hon. Sidney
llerbert was then the leading spirit of the
dist rict ; the stone figure in the great market
spaccand the memorial (yet unecelesiastier,b
looking) church at Wilton alone remain to
ill of Lord Herbert. of Lea. The great
farm of 2.000 acres on Salisbury Plain was
then also the rendezvous of all agricultural
wursionists, but the great farmer too is
and the place that knew him knows him
ii more. Mr. Sr arey's lectures on the
m•i.2llhu oring "Cate i-meadows." we also well

member, were, together with the meadows
themselves, particularly those in the neigh-
}, .iollood of Wilton, matters of immense
interest to the assembled agriculturists of
:ugh lid. There is one cause for the omission
el these extraneoua attractions, however, at
Cie Bath and West of England Shows, and
by confining, the interest entirely to the Show-
% dt.l and that is. that. as shown ;n the pro-
gramme—which we reproduce at large in the
eeutm of our front page, knowing the scar-
my of it after the first day, of the show, and
satisfied that thousands will be glad to have
3 copy of it at the rate of a penny—the
attractions of the Show-yard are in them-
selves so infinitel3 varied by the constitution
of The Bath and West ot England Society
for the encouragement of Agriculture, Arts,
Manufactures, and Commerce," that nothing
rise is required to entertain, amuse, instruct,
and gratify the attendant crowds, day by
ilay, and all day long, beyond what may be
found in the Show-yard. Sometimes, indeed,
we have thought this principle to be carried
out rather far at these meetings. where, as
last scar at Hereford, there was nothing
trihril,7 on in the town af.er the close of the
;-•how -3 ard throughout the long summer's
%ening,a. save the preachments of Mrs. Bell.
But. unquestionably. whilst the Show-yard is
open and in full exhibition, there is nothing
like the combination of attractions it dia.
%itivi%. Ti say nothing of the horses, to
0110.. we may this year add dogs (although
either catalogue is very extensive) and the
the comparatively novel ineidentsof Monday's
open judging. the first and most attractive
feature of the scene on passing the entrance
barriers and clearing the official range, is the
Milt hundred feet and upwards of machinery
di motion at away to the right. Such
,atiic is not to be paralleled any w here else
in the world. Gracefully opening up before
in fan-like radiations the different lines of
s!,..d.ling present fine avenues of access, in
hi,•ll our footsteps are, however, constaotly
urri steil by objects of passing and some of
surpassing interest, leading to those centres
of elegance as well as interest, and enjoy-
ment as well as either, the arts department,
the exhibition of paintings, lace, flowers,
aninufm•turea. and, chiefly, of agricultural
machinery. with the shows and parade (twice
Luui) of horses, dogs, poultry, &c., already
mentioned, enlivened by the exquisite strains
of two ot the finest bands in England—Win-
ter-blossom and his Royal Marines from
Plymouth, Godfrey aid his Grenadier
Guards from London—the one taking
the initiative up till Wednesday, when
t's., arrival of the other to their relief
affords scope for that species of rivalry or
contention betwixt these great bands which
always ends iii new and striking develop-
ments of the marvellous skill of each. We
fuel that we have been somewhat hasty, how-
ever, in saying that all the attraction is on
these occasions concentrated within the Show-
yard, for, to agriculturists at all events,
although for several years the Bath and West
of England Society has abandoned the award
of prizes for implements, the most especial in-
terest always arises from the trial of field im-
plements of various kinds in a neighbouring
field on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednes-
day in fact is the great day of the Show, and
is signalised not only by the friendly conten-
tion of the rival bands, but by the Annual
Meeting of the Society in the Council tent,
at which there is frequently good speaking,
and by the banquet in the immense circular
pavilion, supported by a mast equal to that of
any seventy-four gun ship, and where the
apeeches are famous for their ab;lity and
value. beyond those of any similar meeting
we have ever attended, as there are always
several picked men prepared with pet subjects
to carry with them the sympathies of an
agricultural audience.

Had the entrance to the field known as "The
Butts" been constructed on purpose to regu-
late the gradual access of a vast crowd to and
from the entrance barriers of the Show yard,
it could not have been better devised. The
field is 24 acres in extent, it slopes somewhat
iu certain parts, but is on the whole not only
level but sheltered. Mr. Jonathan Gray, for
e‘ainple—whoni we found engaged in the
great tent for the flower-show one day last
week—pointed out to us, although scarcely to
be detected by the eye, that the difference of
level betwixt one side of this tent and another
was from eight to nine inches, and betwixt
one end of it and another about three feet.
Up the centre of the space from the main
entrance gate runs the water pipe, which will
plentifully supply theyard with water—a most
considerate hoon, seeing that under existing
circumstances there are so few animals besides
bipeds to care for, yet a vast supply will be
requisite for the unusual display of machinery
to motion. The sward has been smoothly
bile% eu (by hand mowing) all over it, surface,
and amidst all the operations and preparations
that for days past have been going on, the
floek of sheep by whom the pasture was
occupied up till last Thursday have probably
been the individuals most amazed. We are
told that early in the week when the work 1.
began to be pursued in earnest it was more !
than amusing to see them in a body leave off
feeding and gather themselves together under
the windows of the Secretary's office as if to
demand of that gentleman an explanation as
to what it all meant. The sheep neverthe-
less remained several days more upon the
spot, whilst Messrs. Chaplin and Horne and
other railway carriers were thundering in
with hundreds of tons weight of machinery
daily. The extent and value of these arrivals
may be perhaps 'raagined when it is said that
of the nearest eighteen stands of machinery
in motion, not one can be estimated as
exhibiting articles of a value under £2,000.
Indeed our own columns have for weeks
exhibited a foretaste of what the great firms
!rive here brought forward; and not to
mention any but our own advertising
customers in these preliminary remarks it
may be repeated that :

Messrs. Rinsomes and Sims, of Ipswich
exhibit largely on this occasion, their firm
being veil-known as the manufacturers of
those celebrated ploughs so successful at
Newcastle-on4yne in 1864, and which have
since gained 50 all Ragland champion prises,
besides a number of silver cups and local
prizes. Mann. Itanoconeo, in addilion to