The Express.
London, England, 1864-07-18 00:00:00

[Stamped, id. Additional.]

THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S
SHOW.

(now ova own loroarso
NEWCASTLE, JOLT 17.
To Newcastle belongs the honour of being the
first town in the kingdom selected for a mood
meeting of the Bo* Agricultural Society. Upon
whatever theory of selection the committee of the
society may have proceeded in thus distinguishing
the " metropolis of the north "—as the inhabitants
are wont to style the capital of the Tyne—whether
the cboice was made in consequence of the bright
atmosphere of the locality, or from its renown as
an agricultural district, it would perhaps be diffi-
cult to determine. But "the northern sons of
toil" are at all events proud of the honour, and
they seem determined to give the Royal Agri-
cultural Society a hearty and an enthu-
siastic reception on this the occasion of
their mood visit. The meant is the 26th
annual show of the society, which was masticated in
1838, although it was sot incorporated by 74.
charter till a few years later. The first meeting
which the society sed in Neirosatle took place in
1846, at which period there wee offered in prises
lt2Bll. At the iseseng impid la* rot in Wespenter

woripommow maw ampiems.W raaire.,
being an inclusee on the average of the last five years
of 1,2401. This comparison shows M a glance the
steady progress of the society during the last 18
years.
Properly speaking the show does not conituence
till to-morrow, but a large influx of exhibitors and
visitors has already set in, and stook in consi-
derable quantity has been arriving within the last
few days. As far as a hurried glance enables me to
decide, I do not think that the entries of stock will
equal those at the Worcester show of last year. The
show of implements is decidedly inferior:in quantity,
the entries in this department being something
over 4,000, whereas at Worcester they amounted
to 5,839. The show ground is situated on the south
edge ofa piece of ground called Moor, and approach-
able from the town by the North-road and North-
terrace. It is of irregular shape, with some eight
or ten sides, and covers no less than 42 acres. The
north portion of the ground is set apart for the
stock, and the south part is devoted to machines and
implements. lu the latter department there are 14
sheds running east and west, and of these seven are
576 feet long, and the seven others of the respective
lengths of 441 feet, 420 feet, 399 feet, 378 feet, 357
feet, 336 feet, and 310 feet—a total length of shed-
ding of 6,610 feet by 20 feet broad, for the imple-
ments alone. Then against the south wall there is
a shed for seeds and models, 337 feet in length,
and soother for wool and butter 240 feet long. The
Bull Park is occupied by machinery in motion with
an exception or two, one of these being a large and
elegant conservatory, the foundation of which is
built of brick. Pausing into the stock division we
have twelve sheds divided between the cattle, and
sheep and pigs of the former ; three of the 'diadems
504 feet long, two 462 feet each, one 402 feet, and
the portion of a abed 105 feet--a total cf 2,961. feet.
For the sheep and pigs the shedsare of the following
lengths :-54i feet, 525 feet, 546 feet, 316 feet,
336 feet, and 315 feet—total, 2,641 feet. The sheds
in the stock department are all 18 feet broad, with
sufficient hurdles to keep the stock apart. Sm.
rounding the horse ring, which is the northern
portion of the ground, are 160 horse boxes, of
stronger construction than the sheds for cattle. The
sheds for the implements and cattle are open at the
aides, but covered with canvas, no less than 60 tons
of canvas having been used for this purpose. The
quantity of timber treed in the construction of tl•e
various erections on the ground is something like
107 tons. In the stock and implement yards are
large tents for refreshments.
The show can be entered either from the North-
road, where there an five separate ticket boxes,
or from the North-terrace, where there an two
ticket boxes. To prevent confusion in passing in
and out, there are as many places of exit. Each
I shed is marked with a letter of the alphabet, and
I each stand is numbered to suit the reference in
; the catalogue, so that any stand or any beset may
be easily found. There are nearly 300 stands,
varying in size according to the number of the
articles to be shown by the exhibitor.
The contractor for the whole work is Mr. H.
Manning, of High Holborn, London, who usually
erects the society's show-yard. Outside of the
enclosure many of the victuallers' tents, which were
on the rlloooolltle last month, have been moved
down beside the entrance gates.
The trial of implements took place on Wednes-
day, Thursday Friday, and Saturday. The trials
took place at Long Benton, when the society has
selected a large area of very suitable soil for the
purpose. The fields lie close to the main turnpike,
at a point where the North Eastern Railway passes
under the road. The first field is to the north of
the turnpike, and contains 14 acres. Immediately
opposite to it, on the south side of the road, is the
second field, which contains 20 acres. Both there
fields are the property of Mr. Jamieson, Long
Benton farm. Stretching eastward are five fields
belonging to Mr. Dodds, of Rest Benton farm, con-
taining respectively 181 acres, 20 scree, 23 acr,
14i acres, and 34 acme, and beyond these are teswo
fields, which have been lent by Mr. Smith, of the
Rising Sun farm, and which contain 20 acres
each. This makes a total of nine fields, of 184
acres, a larger extent of acreage than the society
has bad, we believe, at any of its previous
meetings. The Blyth and Tyne Railway
Company have erected a temporary station near
the turnpike road, within a few yards of the field.
There were eleven engines altogether in the
field, three of which were shown by
Messrs. Fowler, of Leeds ; two (Savory's patent),
by Messrs. Garrett and Son Leioester Works, Suf-
folk ; two of Messrs. R. and R. Turner's (exhibited
by Mr. Collinson Hall), Ipswich ; and one each by
Mr. Savory, Gloucester • Messrs. Coleman and Co.,
Chelmsford • Mr. Howard, Bedford ; Messrs. Ri-
chardson and Co., Hirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire.
Very great interest was excited by the competition
of the steam cultivators, which seem to be more and
more appreciated as scientific agriculture advances,
although their cost puts them out of the reach of
the ordinary farmer.

In the 00-uree of the trials the ground was visited
by Earl Cathcart, W. B. Beaumont, M.P., Sir
William Armstrong, H. Fenwick, ILP., the Mayor
of Sunderland (James Allison), Major Clutterbuck,
Warkworth ; Dr. Charlton, Newcastle ; Dr. Ellis ;
R. R. Redmayne ; Addison Potter, Chinon ; T.
Riddell, Cheeseburn Grange, dm
The judges will not make their award till
Tuesday. There were also trials of light land
ploughs and "general purpose ploughs," in which
class there are several competitors. The trial-yard
for machinery in motion was opened yesterday, but
was confined to those who had the privilege of etarte.
This department of the show is always a source of
wonder to the "million," and will doubtless prove
highly interesting when the shilling days commence.
In addition to the agricultural show there is to
be a dog show, and as the summer mires are at
present going on the town of Newcastle may be
said to be quite fulL During the " wise week," as
the people termed the meeting of the British Asso-
ciation which took place here last autumn, the
sitting rooms of the hotels were in many instances
converted into sleeping apartments ; and although
the accommodation is at present adequate to the
demand, we are informed that extra preparations
ere in progress to meet the expected increase in
the demand for sooommodation to-morrow (Monday).
Already the streets present the appearance of •
town which has received a considerable addition to
its population, and the agricultural element in it is
as easily distinguishable as if it were wholly alien in
race and language. The weather is up to the
present all that could be desired, and if it continues
ine the Newcastle Agricultural Show of 1864 will