The Express.
London, England, 1867-07-16 00:00:00

LSTAMPID, 14. ADDITIOIAL)

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITION.

(ROY OWL lIPZCIAL CORINSPONDWIT.)
BURY ST. EDMUNDS, MONDAY.

Dwelling in tents may be pleasant in warm dry
weather, but the reverse when rain falls and drives
in perpetual plenty. It only required bad weather
to complete the disadvantages to be contended
against by the society this year, and we have bad
weather to-day without stint. The summer
showers of yesterday were succeeded by a magnifi-
cent moonlight, that gave promise of sunshine to-
day ; but after midnight the wind shifted into a
cold quarter, and the rain began to fall with de-
pressing perseverance. Resolving to brave the
worst, the inhabitants of the town were busy soon
after daylight in adding to the pretty decorations
that were already to be seen, cheering each other
in their hammering and snipping by a feigned be-
lief that the rain was merely the pride of the
morning." The show yard was a deplorably de-
solated place at the opening ; desolated because of
the few visitors ; dreary because nearly everything
was covered up and closed in ; cheerless because of
the cold rain that drove iuto your face turn which
way you would ; and additionally uninvit-
ing on account of the universal mud and
slush. The judges, with their waterproof garments,
might be seen at their duties • and unhappy-
looking labourers literally clad in sackcloth were at
the pens looking after their charge. But the only
other visitors wore men spe.'ially interested in the
exhibition—breeders, owners, officials, or persona
of influence connected with the society. Ordinary
people did not probably feel inclined to pay be.
for the enjoyment in prospect. The excursion
trains came in ono after another with lines of
empty carriages, and the cabs and omnibuses that
had been brought to Bury to share in the golden
harvest that everybody hoped to reap, stood in
the rain, with horses and drivers the very picture
of despair. This is no doubt an unlucky opening
day, and it will entail heavy loss upon many who
had provided extensively for the occasion.
The great event of the day, if not of the week,
has been the visit of the Viceroy of Egypt, Earl Cath-
cart, on horseback, directed the movements of the
coachman, having evidently drawn up a p
of the chief things to be inspected. Mr. Torre
active member of the council of the society accom-
panied and assisted the noble earl. About a hun-
dred general followers with umbrellas trudged
through the thick mud close behind the carriage,
and the mayor and two or three other gentlemen
came after in a second carriage. A workman
waited upon the Viceroy's carriage with a
cloth covered board about a yard square for
his highness to stand upon, but during his visit
he did not once leave the carriage. The first halt
was at Crowe's large portable 7-horse power thrash•
ing machine, with engine. This implement
numbers amongst many other advantages the
power of moving from stack to stack and being at
work in five minutes from the time it stops. The
ponderous machine was set in motion by its two
engine drivers and was managed so as to turn
almost in its own length. The stand of Morton and
Co. (Liverpool) was next visited, and the Viceroy
from the carriage window looked at the specimens
of galvanised wire fencing and gatework. His
chief object however in stopping here was to inspect
the improvements shown for cotton ginning. It
has been proved by successful experiments that
Egypt can produce cotton nearly equal to Sea-
island, and the cultivation of the fibre is looked to
both by cotton-spinners here and cultivators and
political economists there, as the future hope of the
country. This no doubt was why the Viceroy paid
special attention to Messrs. Morton's model of an
iron building for ginning or manufacturing cotton,
the original of which was recently sent to the
\Vest Indies. Some highly-finished light land
ploughsat Messrs. Boby's stand next claimed notice,
and then a remarkable machine manufactured by
Marsden, of Leeds, fur crushing stones or ore. It
was set in motion, and the Viceroy witnessed with
surprise the almost instantaneous breaking up of
I small boulders into fragments no larger than a
bean. The Viceroy asked several questions in
French through Lord Shrewsbury, and the
answers at this, as at subsequent halting places,
were promptly written down by the inter-
preter. His highness was so interested in
this implement that he soiled his yellow
kids by handling the crushed fragments. The car-
riage drove on to Howard's stand, where an agent
who could talk French explained the use of various
implements direct to his highness, who questioned
and cross-questioned him upon the merits of a new
patent one-horse sheaf-delivery reaper, which, with
a man and horse, will cut down a field of corn and
leave it in compact sheaves ready for the binders.
A passing glance at Warner and Sons' (Cripplegate)
chain pump, to be used for irrigation or dredging
purposes, brought the Viceroy to a stand where
Messrs. Musgrave had a model of a superb horse-
box erected. This was minutely inspected, the
various contrivances of manger and floor being,
at the Viceroy's request, tested on the spot,
A description of the invention, in French, was
handed to the Viceroy as he passed on. During
these visits the agents of several minor manufac-
turers, with a keen eye to business, rushed at the
carriage and thrust in trade circulars andcards—one
bold workman actually insisting upon the Viceroy
noticing a bucketful of chaff which he held at the
open window.
The party next drove to the horse-ring, and the
carriage was halted opposite the leaping bars. The
band of the Suffolk Militia, in a tent near, struck
up the Egyptian hymn, and there was a little
cheering from under the umbrellas. The prize
horses were all ordered out of their pens, and were
walked, trotted, and cantered in front of the
carriage. The moveable bar was also ad-
justed, and the hunters repeated their leaps. The
old racer " Scottish Chief " was much no-
ticed by the Viceroy; the animal's reputation
having probably something to do with the marked
attention he received. With this exception the
Viceroy did not appear to care as much about the
horses as the machinery. This opinion was
strengthened when in a few minutes, after looking
at the beautifully fleeced sheep and hideously-
fatted pigs, he returned again to the implement
department, this time selecting the machinery in
motion. The carriage proceeded at a slow walking
pace, and every stand was noticed. Ransome and
Sinues stand of miscellaneous patents, Barford's
enormous road-rollers, Turner and Fardon's
thrashing machine to thrash every descrip-
tion of corn without breaking the straw, and
veling and Porter's agricultural locomotive,
wera severally examined as his highness
drove down the ground on his way out.
The last visit was to Howard's steam ploughs, in a
field about a quarter of a mile off. The carriages on
leaving this went at once to the station, where the
special train was ready. The Mayor thanked the
Viceroy for the honour be had done the
town, and expressed his hope that England and
Egypt would long extend their commercial and
agricultural relations to the advantage of both.
The Viceroy, through his interpreter, said he had
been extremely interested with his visit, and only
regretted that the unfavourable weather had pre-
vented him from enjoying the show as he could
have wished. The Mayor called for three cheers
for the Viceroy as the train started for London.
Mr. Milner Gibson was amongst the gentlemen on
the platform.
There were but little signs of improvement in
the show ground during the afternoon. The rain
ceased occasionally, but the number of visitors was
not much added to. A few ladies, in a painfully
draggled state, braved the weather for a tune, but
could not remain long. In the absence of short horns,
the exhibition of which has been prohibited by an
order in council (not by the council of the society
as would appear from yesterday's description),
the horses have been the chief point of interest to
the majority of those who have ventured to the