The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-26 00:00:00

Vale of Evesham Agricultural Society.

The annual meeting of this society was held at
Evesham on Wednesday, under the presidency of
the Due d'Aumale, After the usual award of pre

miums in the morning, and the hold of a cattle show
and flower show, a party of about 150 ladies and

gentlemen sat down to dinner at the Town-hall,

The Due d'Aumale (who possesses large estates in

this fertile vale) presided, and there were also
present the Duchesse d'Aumale, the Prince Conde,
Lord Northwick, Sir T. E. Winnington, M.P., Sir
E. A. Lechmere, Hon. H. Ryder, and Mr. Hol-.
land, M.P.

The Due D'AUMALE, in proposing the first toasts
—" The Queen," and " The Prince and Princess of
Wales and the Princes and Priticesses of the Royal

Family"—made some graceful allusions to Her
Majesty, the late Prince Consort, and the Prince

and Princess of Wales.

Sir E. A, H. LECHMERE then gave the toast of
:he Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese, and alluded

to the condition of the agricultural labourer, ex-
pressing a doubt whether his condition had im-
proved pars passu with agriculture itself.
The Rev. A. W. INGRAM having responded to
this toast, proposed the toast of the " Army, Nary,
Militia, and Volunteers,"

Lord NORTHWICK replied for the army, and
alluded to the recent death of a veteran soldier
who had been connected all his life with Worces-
tershire—Earl Beauchamp. Subsequently his lord-

ship responded to the toast of the " House of

Lords."

The Hon. H. RYDER gave the toast of " The
House of Commons," and advocated the collection of
agricultural statistics. He was aware that the idea
was rather dreaded by gentleman like those he saw
around him, but the dread was unfounded; they had
no reason to be ashamed of what they grew upon the
land. He saw by the newspapers that the imports
into this country last year of corn and flour
amounted to a value of £37,000,000, which would be
perhaps, about equal to 18,000,000 quarters of grain.
We liked to have the statistics of those imports, and
why should we not also have statistics of the growth
of cereals in this country P
Sir T. E. WINNINOTON replied to the toast of
" The House of Commons," and suggested that to
meet the objections raised by some persons to agri-
cultural statistics they should merely take the re-
turns of the average of wheat, beans, barley, or
whatever might be grown on each farm—(hear)—
leaving the average of produce to be arrived at as it

might.
The Due D'AIIMALE, who on rising was received
with enthusiastic tokens of respect, said,-1 now
rise, ladies and gentlemen, to propose what is called
the toast of the day, and in beginning that part of

the duty which devolves on me as your chairman, I
must confess that I feel some embarrassment, for,
although I have been very much interested in agri-

culture, and although I have tried to observe its
state and what are called its characteristics every-
where that I have been, I cannot present myself to
you as an agriculturist, and at the same time you
all know that I am a foreigner. I cannot, therefore,
speak to you with the same degree of authority as
would the noble peer or the hon. member of Parlia-
ment, or as many of the gentlemen I see around me
who are connected with the neighbourhood by long

family, political, or social ties could, lam utterly
unable to display the knowledge of a practical agri-
culturist. So I will address you as a foreigner, but,
let me add, as your sincere friend and well-wisher.
(Cheers.) Gentlemen, first of all, that art which is
the profession of most of my hearers, cannot be car-
ried on all over the world by the same process.
Climate, laws, customs, the temperament of the po-
pulation, its wants and means, and the division of
property must have, and necessarily have, a great
influence over the way in which man works the
land and draws out of it the innumerable products

which are given to us by the munificence of our Crew
tor. From the nature of your climate and your geo,
graphical situation you have been induced to apply
your energies and your skill principally to two great
points, which are the growing of corn and the
breeding and feeding of animals. No doubt there
are some exceptions to this rule, but I think I am
justified in saying that the two great aims of Eng-
lish agriculturists are the production of meat and
bread. (Applause.) These are the two great objects
you have had in this direction, and you have pur-
sued them with the tenacity which is one of the
characteristics of your race. In this you have been
well served by circumstances, and you have reached
a degree of advancement which may be, and cer-
tainly will be, carried further, but which is not
generally surpassed out of these islands. (Applause.)
It is for this reason that your agriculture is the sub-
ject of study and attention to many foreign econo-
mists and practical men. A friend of mine, M, de
Lavergne; has given a very good description of your
agriculture in a work entitled " L'Agriculture
Anglaise," which has been translated into English;
and an account of your agricultural experiments
and meetings is periodically published in French.
Gentlemen, I will try to point out some of the fea-
tures which seem to strike more particularly foreign
visitors to this country. (Cheers.) The first is the
nature of your farm buildings, which are strictly
limited to what is necessary, and are much less ex-
tensive than those that would be required abroad
for the same extent of land in the same state of cul-
tivation. I believe this practise is a wise one to pur-
sue, for it saves a great amount of capital, which
can be thus more profitably invested. However, on
this chapter of buildings there is an improvement
which is much required,' and which has recently
been much discussed—l mean the dwellings of your
labourers. (Applause.) Although the rural popu-
lation in this country are upon the average better
fed, better clad, and better lodged than in most other
countries, it is very certain that in many places the
cottages of the labourers have not been improved in
proportion to the implovements made in the landlords'
mansions and the farmers' houses. (Applause.) I
am happy to say that in this neighbourhood, how-
ever, much has been done in this direction ; but
much still remains to be done. To increase the wel-
fare of the agricultural labourer is one of the pur-
poses of this society, and as it is an object worthy
the attention of the landlord and the tenant, and as
it must be in the end profitable to both of them, I
believe it is an object worthy of your careful and
constant consideration. Another fact which rather
surprises the foreign economist in t'uis country is
that the land should have been brought to the high
degree of cultivation that it has been when in many
parts of the country it is held under tenure at will,
and without any very distinct agreement between
landlord and tenant ; but if there is a deficiency in
that respect, I think you have it supplied by th
mutual trust and confidence whin happily exis
between the various classes of society. (Applause.
However, success has not made you deaf to the calls
for improvement. (Hear.) The question of landlord
and tenant right has very often attracted your at-
tention, and has been more especially brought under
your notice by one of our friends, in whose judg-
e went, experience, and fairness We have the greatest