The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-08 00:00:00

LONDON, SA tURDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER V. 1855•

MANCHESTER AND LIVERPOOL AGRI

CULTURAL SOCIETY.

(Frost the Liverpool Mercury.)
The annual show of live stock, implements, &c., in

Connection with this society was held yesterday at St.
Helen's. The interest of the proceedings was much
enhanced by the fineness of the day, and the ground was
thronged by a large and highly respectable company,
the numbers being, as usual, considerably augmented

after 1 o'clock, at the reduced charge of admission.

Among the company we observed Lord Stanley, Lord
Skelmersdale, Sir R. Gerard, Mr. Wm. Pilkington, Mr.
E. Pilkington, Mr. T. Townely Parker, jun., Mr. J. T.
Blackburn, Mr. R. Ledger, Dr. Sillar, Mr. J. E.

Pemberton, Mr. White, Mr. J. Clare, Mr. J. Watt,
Mr. T. Greenall, Mr. J. Stubbs, &c.
The dinner, which was held at the Market-hall, was

attended by upwards of 500 persons, and Lord Stanley

occupied the chair.

After drinking the usual loyal toast, his LORDSHIP
gave "The Emperor and the Empress of the French."

There are points in the career of Napoleon (he said) upon
which we, as foreigners, are hardly competent to form a
judgment ; hut there are also traits in his personal cha

racier which Englishmen can feel and appreciate, so long
as the value in those who govern the qualities of a clear
judgment, a strong will, and a mind undisturbed alike

by passion and by fear ; and even those who may take a
less favourable and friendly view of the man will not, I

presume, refuse to pay a proper and customary mask of
respect to one who has in tarn been the guest and the
host of our Sovereign, who is a strong and faithful ally,

and who, under Providence, and next to our own right
hand, is our mainstay in the great, struggle in which the
two nations are engaged. I give " the Emperor and

Empress of the French." (Loud applause.)
_ _ _

After other toasts,
111 r. J. T. BLACKBURN nave "the health of their noble

President," which was honoured with three tines three.
Lord STANLEY rose and was warmly applauded. He
said—lf my duty in now rising were limited to the
simple function of returning thanks for myself, I should
neither think it necesPary to occupy much of your time
in dwelling on so insignificant a subject, nor should I
labour under that feeling of diffidence which I confei.

oppresses me on considering the magnitude of the task
I have undertaken. P.-rsonally I have no claim on your
regard, except one—that Lancashire men are apt to en
tertain a warm and kindly feeling towards one who bear,,
ln old L tticaTh ire name. I3ut, gentlemen, it is now to

duty to propose to you that which is ju tly and empha-
tically described as the toast of the evening, "Success
to the Manchester and Liverpool Agricultural S ecietv."
(Applause ) In so doing, Ido not apprehend it will be
nece‘sary for me to enter at any length into a vindica-
tion of the utility of associations of this class. They
exist in all profes,,ioLs—they exist in all the pursuits of
ife ; and their object may be simply defined as this—
you waet to give to all who follow a particular pursuit
the benefit of the experience of each. Subordinate to
that also is another purpose— the discouraging of idle-
ness and neglect of bringing to hear the powerful stimu-
lus of competition, and of recommending by public prizes
those for whom the prospect of such prizes and honour
operates more strongly than the contemplation of mere
pecuniary reward. (Hear.) Now, what is the history
of agricultural progress in this country ? Up to the
middle of the last century but little had been done by
the isolated efforts of individuals—nothing at all had
been done by the cmbination of many persons in one
holy—to raise agriculture from its rude and primitive
state, and to elevate it to the rank of a science. The
first society of a character at all analog, us to this—the
first society established in the TTnited Kingdom—hears
date, I believe, in the year 1723. It was established
in Scot'and, and it was called "The Society of Im-
provers in the Knowledge of Agriculture." (Hear.)
Its life not was long, but the experiment had answered its
eurpose; oth€r societies followed in due course, and in
1784 the still-existing and flourishing Highland Agricul-
tural Socie.y was founded. About 110 years back—l
ihink it was in the year 1747—a similar body was or-
gaeised in Ireland, with what success I do not exactly
know, but, jadging by the present results, I am afraid
. . .

with less ;uccesA than the exertions of its founders de-

served. In Digland, between 1750 and 1800, varion• local

a,sociationa were formed, but the first really important

_ .
step, the first occasion on which the movement assumed a
national macmituda was the formation by Sir James Sin-
&air—mid all credit is due to him for the work--of the
Board of Agriculture in 1793. (Hear.) That board ex-
isted until 1816. It did much, though in a rude and
rough way, to supply better and fuller agricultural sta-
tistics than had up to that time been attained. (Hear )
It gave a vast impetus to scientific agriculture, and so
strong arid so lasting was the impression which it left on
the public mind, that many years after its decease in
1834, the want of some such organisation being felt,
a new and in.re extensive society was forme,', which
still lives and flourishes, and I hope has not yet seen tie
middle of its care,r—l mean the society which is now
known as the Royal Agricultural Society of England.
That is the last great step which has been taken in this
direction ; and of the practical value of that step one
test exists—namely, that whereas previous to the foun-
dation of the Royal Agricultural Society, in 1834, the
local associations of a similar character were few arid far
between ; in 1845, only 11 years atter its first establish-
ment, the number of such local associations already ex-
ceeded 400. They had since that time increased year
by year, and they were increasing still, and we here
in this locality are merely working by the same means

for the same object which hundreds and thousands
of our countrymen in other parts are endeavouring
to prom to, each in his own district. I think, gen-

Venien, you will not object to that brief retro-pect of the
past. I colic now mitre imme liately to the toast or
the evening. You are probably familiar for many
v,irs with a retrospect of this society. Befitre the year
1847 we extend iu t'se form of two independent a-socia-
'ions, one formed at Nlatichester, anti the other at Liver-
pool. Of that state of things two evils were found to arise.
It neces.arily limited the number of our subscribers, and
seriously curtailei our income. It necessarily limited the
area over which we operated, and tended to check com-
petition. The remedy was obvious, and that remedy was
applied No doubt there is a point beyond which it is not
desirable to extend an area of associations of this kind,

because if you do so you pracicslly limit competition to
large holders and to large capitalists, and exclude the
small tenant-farmers altogether. But in an amalgama-
tion like our own, in the embracing of that new area
which we took in 1847, no risk of the kind Nas incurred.
The best test is the result. Since that time, though agri-
culture has bad its periods of depression, our state has
been on the whole satisfactory. Our position, in a few
words, is this :—Last year we had 465 subseeter:, this
sear.we have nearly 500. Ido not exactly know what
our income for this year is—l believe our accomits are
not made up ; but last year it was 8501., showing a
steady increase, without a diminution in any single year,
from 1848 to 1854. (Hear, hear.) In 1848 it was
6741. ; last year the income was 8501. Our expenditure
last year was 786/. leaving in our favour a balance of
more than 601. And at this point, gentlemen, as it is
always pleasant to get through the least agreeable part
of one's duty as early as one can, I will now notice, and I
will now speak to you with all frankness of, the one re-
spect in which our organisation seems defectvie. When
I look at the list of subscribers to this society, I find
two-thirds are not wholly dependent on agriculture. I
believe that of our entire list not above one-third are
tenant farmers. Now, there is no harder working class
than the tenant-farmers of Lancashire. They are not
above their business ; they are industrious and sober in
their habits ;they
are willing to labour with their hands ;
they have an honesty and independence which are worthy
of all esteem, and on that account, as well as on many
others, I confess I should be heartily glad to see more of
them enrolled on our subscription list. (Applause.) I
know that Lancashire holdings are small, and I know
that small holdings with large families, when they go
together, make men unwilling to contribute any sum,
however small, to any object from which they do not see
direct benefit to themselves or their families. But as our
subscription is only 11. annually, and, in some cases, and
under certain circumstances, only 10s., I confess I think,
if this society be, as I believe it is, doing its duty well
and faithfully, and accomplishing the object for which
it is established, a subscription list of that amount ought
not to be any bar to the addition• of such as those I have
mentioned. (Hear, hear.) Now, gentlemen, lam not
going to enter—and, indeed, I an not competent to do
so - into any practical remarks as to the improvement
of which your mode of farming is susceptible in this
county. There is a strong feeling, and a very rea-
sonable feeling, among all men of sense, that every
man should etick to his own business, and talk of that
which he understands, and of that only. Now, lam
not a practical farmer, and I do not pretend to be
one ; but there are some points in connection with agri-
culture which, as a public man—l mean as one en-
gaged in public business—it is impossible not to notice.
In the first place, I would say that in the present state
of English agriculture there is great room for improve-
ment. (Hear, hear.) In the next place, I would say
that for such improvement there is an equal necessity.
(Rear.) What are the facts ? I won't weary you with
many figures : but it is estimated that in the United King.
Um there are 77,000,000 of acres, of which 47,000,000 ar,-,
cultivated well or badly, 15,000,009 cannot be culti.
vated, and are waste by nature, 15,000,000 mere may
be cultivated, but have not been reclaimed—that is to
49,y, that of the entire soil of the country we cultivate
well or badly three-fifths. One-fifth we cannot cultivate,
nature prevents it ; and the other one-fifth we can cul-
ivate, we ought to cultivate, but we do not. (Rear.)
Yet that, after all, is a very partial and a very inade-
quate test. (Hear,
tliheear.)Ttelisat scope
nwe fornic imhwpoerarvrnt
are most
leficient, in which greatest
And reform exists, is not the diffusion of agriculture
o'er a larger surface than it now
ptaoh(r
tee); uoepfairetsh,
the
but
iclet hnwetlh
titi mho
h:
might draw from the
fullest
iprser
soaovtue
rmpresent
muondd eerrn agriculture.
culteiinvncaett,hi
otawnete.
land is-
calculatedthrce
ttihma
et ,e
tbhye
apprpeslyenintgamount of sustenance that
it 7idds, we seed, py p,Q9040_ 111_ o_4 with the

duce of this country ; if the resources of the country
were fully developed it wool he ia our power to feed
not 20,000,000, but 60,000,000. Now, I give you that
calculation. I do dot pretend to verify itfroin my personal
knowledge. I ask you to remember this—it is not the
calculation of speculators or theorists, but of men who
have given their own time, their own energies, their
own capital to the promotion of that reform in favour of
which they write and speak. (Hear.) I therefore think,
gentlemen, I have made out my case when I told you
there was great room for improvement in the state of
English farming. I go further, and tell you now that
for such improvement there is an equal necessity. The
value of agricultural produce in the United Kingdom. ac-
cording to the estimate of the Statistical Society, from
which I obtained it lately, is about 215,000,0001.
,early. We do not know—the best approximate calcu-
lation fails to tell us within any reasonable limit of
accuracy—what the total private income of England
is ; but I believe it cannot much exceed, at the out-
side, from 400,000,0001. to 450,000,0001. If that is
the case, as I believe it is—if the agricultural produce
of this country supplies nearly one-half of our national
wealth—l leave you to judge how vast would be the
effect on both public and private property—if such a
development of our agricultural resources as modern
science has made possible were to take place. (Hear,
hear ) But there is another point of view in which we
must and in which we ought to consider this question.
"This England of ours" ranks amongst the first. I may
unY the first, of the nations of the earth. (Applause.)
We have inte'lgence, we have industry, we have wealth,
we have pu' lic order. we have science. One requisite,
and one thing en'y is wanting to our greatness. Now,
what is that weak point l I will tell you. It is narrow
area and circurn-critied territory. No nation materially
and morally so great is territorially confined within such
narrow limits. (Hear.) It appears that we cannot ex-
tend the national area ; there are no unoccupied lands
near us ; colonisation at home is impossible, and the
days of conquest are gone by ; and the only resource,
therefore, that remains to us, if we cannot extend our
territory, and if at the Fame time its smallness is the
only limit of our power as a nation—is the principal
limit of our power as a nation—to do what is equivalent
to extending our territory, by increasing the productive
power of the soil within the same area. (Applause.)
It is for that object—an object witbin our power by
many applications of the scientific means known to us
all to attain—it is for this object that nations have quar-
relled, that battles have been fought, that blood has been
shed, that countle.s treasure has been wasted ; and that
object, I say, is within our power to obtain by applying
the resources of science. (Hear, hear.) Ido not speak
of continental competition ; from that I fear little, but
there is another kind of competition te which we are
even now exposed, and to which we shall he more ex-
posed than we are -I mean to that of the new world.
(Rear.) If we are pertratiert'y to hold our own against
countries like the United States and Canada, against
countries where you can busy land out and out for little
more than one-fourth of the price per acre for which
you rent it in this country—l say our only chance,
our only hope of retaining our national position as
against this new competition —the only chance of
holding our heads above water—is to apply mechani-
cal aid and use the resource' of science to an extent
of which we have never hitherto dreamt. (" Hear,
hear," and a cry " Oar only chance is to crush them at
once.") Now, what are the practical changes necessary
to bring about that state of things ? Ido not mean all,
but one or two upon which I have touched. There is
one particularly, which I would venture to lay down
with all confidence. I think that land in this country
',sight to be easier and freer to buy and sell than it is.
(Hear.) You may be told there are legal difficulties in
the way. So there are no doubt, but those legal diffi-
culties are comparatively slight. It is not there the
real obstacle, the real impediment lies ; it is a social
difficulty, and not a legal difficulty. (Hear, hear.) One
could understand, one could excuse, one could sympa-
thise with the feelings of a man who was reluctant to
let go his hold upon any portion of the soil which he
had once called his own ; but, after all, the personal
feelings of individuals must give way to the national ne-
cessity, and I do not hesitate to say that I feel con-
scientiously, that any man—whether be knows it or not
—is a wrongdoer as regards the community who retains
in his own hands, or in his ownership, land which be
has not the power to improve, and which he has the
power to sell. (Applause.) The community has the
right to ray to every one, use your property profitably
yourself, or let others use it for you. (Hear, hear.) I
am not now talking of a legal remedy ; I do not want
an Encumbered E-tate Act for England—that is not
necessary here, whatever it may be elsewhere ; but I do
want, and I do desire to see, that every landlord should
be an encumbered estate court in himself. Until that
is done you wil not place the tenure of land, you will
not place the ag iculture of this e.inntry on a sound
and rational footing. There are other points which I
would pass over lightly. One was mentioned at our last
anniversary by a gentleman of great acuteness and skill
—Mr. Mechi, of Tiptree-hell. Mr. Mechiteeld this so-
ciety last year that it was absurd to send to the Pacific,
a distance of 10,000 miles, to boy bird dung for manure,
while thousands of tons of the natural manure of this
country were poisoning our rivers and choking our seas.
But I suppose in that we are all agreed ; and so far, as
it is hardly a practical pie-tion, no single landowner
or farmer can do much in that respect. The towns
must take it in hand. I am told that experiments have
been made ; lam told that those experiments have not
been always so successful as they deserve to be. If that
is so, more is the pity. But the principle is, notwith-
standing, a right and a sound one, and whatever may
now he wrong in the details will doubtless come right
before long. One word you will expect from me on that
which is, perhaps, a great feature of our age in all the
departments of labour—l mean the application of ma-
chinery. No doubt, when you apply mechanical power
to agriculture yeu have to encounter many difficulties
which do not exist in other cases and in other business
operations. In the factory or in the town you bring the
material on which you want to operate to the machine ;
but on the farm you muse generally brine the machinery
to the material. This is n doubt a great drawback and
a great ,lisadyantage ; hut, notw thstanding its exist-
ence, I believe firmly that at no distant • period inani-
mate labour will have almost, if not entirely, superseded
brute labour of every kind. That will be, whenever it
takes place, not merely a mechanical, not merely an
canindustrial,
hardy but a moral and social change, and which we
overrate. (Rear.) An obstacle to the more
extensive introduction of machinery here is the compa-
rative smallness of our holdings. It is so costly that
very few of our farmers can purchase it to a large ex-
teet for themselves. If, therefore, it is to he introduced
practically to the extent to which it may be and ought
to be, I believe it will be done in this way—it must be
provided either by the landlords or by some person let-
ting it out to the tenants, who
must pay a rent for the
use of it to the owners of the machinery. Well, gentle-
men, I feel I am trespassing unreasonably on your time
(cries of " No, no ; go on"), and omitting, therefore,
several topics of minor moment, I shall pass on to one,
and it shall be the last, which is particularly interesting
at the present time. I mean the question of which in
other parts of England a good deal has been heard, and of
which I believe something has been heard here, the ques
tion of aricultural statistics. There is a prejudice—per-
haps, not an ume aeonable one—against their collection by
Government. There are fears entertained, and various
objections are urged. There are some who apprehend that
it may lead the way to a new tax. There are others—
farmers, I mean—who do not like their landlords to
know exactly what they are doing. There are some who
merely dislike the trouble of drawing out returns, and

there are others who very plainly and very simply pu
the question, " What has Government to do with the
way I manage my farm ?" I don't think, I confess, there
is much in any one of those objections except, perhaps,
the second. There is no fear that new taxes will be im-
posed, and the trouble of filling up properly-drawn re-
turns is very small ; and in such returns there is nothing
half so inquisitorial as those which are now called for,
and are not objected to,: in the case of the income tax
and the census. There is, indeed, a precaution which
ought to he taken. Their object is to obtain accurate
returns of the produce of the country or of the district ;
their object is not to pry into the private affairs of any
individual, and all care, therefore, ought to be taken, as
in the case of the income tax, that the private affairs of
no person are exposed, and that due secrecy is observed.
If that precaution wen taken—and it would be easy to
point out the means by which it might be done—l be-
lieve that the collection of such a system of statistics a.=
the Government now desire, and as the Legislature re-
commends, would be not only no injury, bet be a great
practical benefit to the farmer. Consider his case. He
sells his corn to the dealer; the dealer picks up infor-
mation, often roughly, it may be, and imperfect, but
still better than none, and of that information he takes
care the farmer shall not have the benefit. It is thus in
the power of the dealer to set market against market,
is scarce. His profit is based upon the'farmer's ignorance.
buying corn where it is plentiful, and selling it where it
In one place you may have farmers holding over where
t hey ought to be selling ; in another place you may have
them selling in a panic, while somewhere not far off there
exists something like a scarcity. The farmer, under pre-
sent circumstances, is the victim of every speculator ; and
to him more than any one else such statistics as would
supply full information as to the nature of the trade in
which be is engaged would be a safeguard and protection
which would check panics, prevent fraud, put an end
twooaulind ossat:eeinnlio
eiirlalisnils2g system of gambling, and which
to the country. ( Hear.) Now,
gentlemen, I have to thank you for bearing with me so
long. As to the present state of the society, I will only
say we have every reason to be satisfied with the re/ml!
Of this day. (Applause.) lam told that the receipt- a.
the show-yard to-day have exceeded 2161--(applause)
falling only a little short of our second best year. (Hear,
hear.) There are many persons here who are far better
judges and far more competent critics of what we have
all seen and heard to-day, and, therefore, with those
general observations which I have made, I leave the
subject in your hands, only proposing, and I do it with
great pleasure, the toast which is now placed in my
Mitnchester Agri-
hcualntdu'ra‘;
The toast was duly honoured.
Ssuocccieetsys.? the Liverpool and
Tho SECRITART then read the list of thi premiums
which bad been awarded by the judges, and "the candi-
dates vier® colled forward to, recoil%) ttle4. Hi es.