The Express.
London, England, 1863-07-23 00:00:00

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

(FROM OUR OWN UPORTIII.)
WORCESTER, WIDENSDAT.
The " vanvrard clouds" of gloomy days did not
quite exhaust themselves in yesterday's rain, for
this morning opened dark and gloomy, and por-
tended another wet afternoon. Fortunately for
the success of the show on yesterday and to-day
the forenoon wore only a bad prospect, and as those
who are bent ou excursions of pleasure generally
assume the sunny side of the future, this san-
guine class of persons augured that the day
would hold up—that the clouds would break,
and the evening turn out fine. Thousands who
same to see the show under the uncertainty of the
weather would undoubtedly have postponed their
visit, if the mornings of Tuesday and Wednesday
were anything like what the afternoons turned
out to be. The success of the show, so far as
the number of visitors was concerned, though im-
perilled, was not spoiled, and when it is stated that
7,683 persons paid their half-crowns yesterday, and
probably as many. more to-day, it will be re-
cognised that, in spite of adverse circum-
stances, the Worcester show is a great fact. The
total receipts up to Tuesday evening amounted to
about 1,4601., of which 9601, was taken yesterday
(the first half-crown day), 4031. on Monday (the
half-guinea day), and 901. last week. The receipts
of to-day cannot fall far short of those of yesterday.
The steam cultivators were again at work this
morning on Mr. Coney's farm, but they seem to
excite little attention, except on the part of those
who are immediately interested in the result. Ido
not know whether any of our agricultural "Excel-
sior." devote much of their spare momenta
to the reading of the archives of the 'aged°
University, but they will find there that Swift
reports as one of the ingenious contrivances pro-
posed for the ploughing of land, that acorns and
chesnuta should be 8 by 6 inches apart, and that
a drove of swine should be then turned into the
fields to be rooted up. By this ingenious process
three results would be accomplished at once—the
fields would be turned over ; they would be manured ;
and the pigs would be fed. Last night a public
meeting was held in the Guildhall on this important
subject—not the pig-ploughing system—but the
steam-cultivating system • Mr. J. C. Mor-
ton, of Straitly, Reading, in the chair.
The meeting was very well attended, and was ad-
dressed by Mr. J. A. Clarke, of Long Sutton,
Liecolnshire • Mr. Sewel Reed, of Plumstead,
Norfolk ; Mr. Dring, of Cloxby, Lincolnshire ;
Mr. Williams, of Baydon,Wiltshire ; Mr. Williams,
of Abingdon • Mr. Duckham ; Mr. Denton, of
Stevenage, Heta ; Mr. Hatfield, of Stamford ; Mr.
Smith, and Mr. Howard Reed, all of them having
had more or less experience of cultiva-
tion by steam. That practice was recom-
mended to farmers for general adoption • and
as the expense of steam cultivators was admitted to
be generally beyond the reach of individual farmers,
it was suggested that a company should be formed
for the purpose of enabling farmers to buy the cul-
tivators by instalments, or to hire them.
The horse-ring was the principal attraction of the
show to-day. There were some thousands of per-
sons surrounding the parallelogram which fenced
the ground, and the action and bearing of the ani-
mals were the theme of general admiration. It wee
mentioned that Lord Coventry was a purchaser of
two or three of the principal prize horses.