The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-05 00:00:00

THE dr DERBY A 7 PRE'S' I ON.:

ljhb North LanoAshi re Agricultural Show added
to the attractions as thr Preston Guild festivities on
fednesday. The d innd: of the association, at which
' Lord Derby presided, was held in the afternoon.
y a rule of the association, politics are excluded
nom all their meetings.

Earl DERBY, 'n proposing the health of his Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales, observed that the
prince had alree ay slen more of the world, more of
distant countries, et-alied their habits, and
laws, and institutions, than many men of double his
age. During his tour in the North American pro-
vinces, 'in a position of the greatest possible diffi-
culty, 'he conducted himself with the tact and dis •
creraon which would be rarely found in men of
m( ,re advanced years. He had since then endea-
v oared to improve himself by diligent attendance
at the learned universities, as well as by foreign
travel and foreign observation ; and those who had
had the best opportunity of seeing and knowing his
royal highness in private life all speak of him as
one eminently calculated to excite the most affec-
tionate regard, mixing the frankness and cordiality
of an English young gentleman with all the 'dig
nity which he never forgot was due to his royal
birth and station. (Cheers.) It had been stated—he
-might almost say it had been more than reported—.
for it had been announced that, following the exam-
ple of his illustrious parents, his royal highness's
marriage was likely to take place at an early
period ; and, if repoec spoke truly, he was about
to be united to a princess of a family and of a
t
country whic:a had many ties with ours, and be-
tween wheal and ns there were many points of
union—.a princess moreover who, if report spoke
truly, Dot only could boast of great personal beauty
but was of a character likely
and aficomplishments,
to 'ender her worthy to share his future inherit-
nce of the British throne. (Cheers.) He (Lord
ar
Derby; Was sure their best wishes would attend his
Highness in every state of life, and if he
(the President) might venture to offer an expres-
si on in favour of the prince's apparently approach-
i.ng marriage, it would be thel he might be destined
to enjoy as complete happiness in that state as fell
for two-and-twenty years to the lot of his illustrious
parents ; bat that tb'a date of that happiness might
be infinitely longer prolonged than, unfortunately,
theirs was. (Loud applause.) He proposed " His
Royal Tr
—;.ghness the Prince of Wales and the rest
of the r oyal family."
ThP., toast having been duly honoured,
Trite noble lord again rose to propose a toast
w} aich he said he was sure would call forth the warm
Acknowledgment of every man who was a lover of
'the independence, the honour, and the glory of his
native country. (Hear, hear.) He was about to
propose the health of those who, by sea and land,
in whatever difficulties, were prepared to maintain
her glory and independence in every circumstance
in which the valour, the steadiness, and discipline
of troops should be called into action. (Applause.)
Tie was not about to separate the navy from the
ai'my, the army from the militia, nor the militia
from the volunteers, but would propose them as
one great united whole—one great arm, put toge-
ther with great skill for the accomplishment of
one common object, the common object being the
co-operation of each and all according to their
several stations, and none encroaching upon
the province of the other— in maintaining
the independence and honour of the country.
(Cheers.) Taking. this view of the subject, and in
order to save time, he should call upon a distin-
guished offieer to answer them all, and he was happy
that in so, doing he could unite the obligations of
public; duty with the gratification of private per-
sonal friendship. It was exactly fifty-one years
Mince first, as boys at Eton, Major-General Sir Jas.
Scarlett and himself—(cheers)—precisely contem-
porary in age and boarding in the same house—
were, in the language of Eton slang, "strong cons,"
-which interpreted meant firm and constant friends.
(Laughter.) Their course in life, however, had been
different ; and the duties they had been called upon
to perform of a very different character, but he be-
lieved he could say for both of them that they had
each watched with interest and with satisfaction
'the progress which the other had made in public
life. (Hear.) Eor many years, like many equally
distinguished, equally gallant and meritorious offi-
cers, his gallant friend had few opportunities of
showing that he was more than a good, steady, and
efficient officer, bat the trouble and difficulties of
the Crimea brought out the stuff of which his gal-
lant friend was made—(cheers)—there he worthily
-won those honours and earned that distinguished
position which he now holds. (Applause.) With
regard to the navy, he would cnly say that it must
always be regarded in case of defensive warfare—
and God forbid that the time should ever arrive
when we should be engaged it any but defensive
warfare—(cheers)—but if we are to be subject to
the miseries of war at all, the navy of this coun-
try mast ever be, as it ever had been, the first
line of defence, the main bulwark upon which they
must rely for the repulse of the first attack of
any invading foe. (Hear, hear.) God forbid that
Any such invasion should take place ; if it
should, they knew that trey had an army which, as
it had carried our colours to victory in distant climes,
would not be slow to maintain its own glory
repulsing any enemy who should endeavour
or should venture pon landing on our shores.
(Cheers.) It was a great satisfaction to know that
that army, in case of need, would be supported by
bodies so numerous and efficient as those of the
ancient constitutional militia of the ancient consti-
tutional militia of the country, and that noble force
which had been in a comparatively short period
organised and established by the public spirit and
patriotism of the country, and to which the country
owed so much, for the security which
it had against
any foreign insult, in the knowledge
which foreign
k-,ountries had of the spirit which had raised and
supported the volunteers of the country. (Cheers.)
He was satisfied that neither the militia nor the
volunteers would fall into the mistake of supposing
'hat they were substitutes for the British army
`They were an auxiliary, and a most valuable
auxiliary to the army, and whenever the time of
trial should come, he was sure they would not
forget what was due to the sister services, and that
they would, one and all, perform their duty to
their Queen, their country, and their God. (Loud
cheers.) He gave the " Army, Nevy, and Volun-
teers."

Sir J. SCARLETT returned thanks.
Lord STAN Ly.y, ha • The High Sheriff,"
Prying given "
The CHAIRMAN
the
eosied the toast of the even-
lug—" Success to h
Agricultural Society." His lordship
North Lancashire
ltolardship said : I have
now to propose the toast of
one of great importance. (Appeievening, which is
) The experi-
ence which I had had during the last forty years
has enabled me to know how extremelytradiaitficalt it
is to attract the attention of an assemblage
subjects of personal interest to ono of r rifroita
business-like character. I am not so forgetful
what I owe to your time and patience as to presumef
upon keeping you with any array of figures or sta-
tistics on the subject of the toast which I am about
to offer. I aat sure that those who are present, and
those who have taken a deep interest for many
years in the progress of agriculture in this country,
will not be altogether indifferent to the "Pro-
sperity to the Royal North Lancashire
Agricultural Society." (Applause.) I r egret
greatly that ',:the state of the weather, from the
effects of which we have not altogether
been free even in this tent—(laughter)—should have
been so unfavourable as to have prevented me from
attending the society's show ; but I am gratified to
learn from the secretary, and I trust you will hear
the report affirmed by the judges, that in spite of
a!1 the disadvantages, there has been no previous
occasion on which a more decided success attended
the opera tion3 of thy society than upon this occa-
sion. Of cours,e I cannot spat of what might have
been the state of the society upon this day further
than to refer to one important point, which is that
our financial position is a very healthy one. We are
not only altogether free from debt, which was not
the ease a few years ego,
but have already a respec-
table balance in the bank. (Cheers.) Although I
do not
-"sv the precise number of implements and
stock exhibited to-day, or the precise amount paid
for admission, this I do know, that I am enabled to

contrast safely enough the present meeting with
the first meeting of the Royal North Lancashire
Agricultural Society which I attended--I believe
the first of its institution-15 years ago, in the year
1847. I will not trouble you with any detail of
figures, but I would just mention the t- in the year
1847, the receipts of admission to the show yard
were £63 18s. In 1861, the receipts were £375,
and I am told that, notwithstanding the obstacles
which were interposed by the state of the weather,
the receipts to-day are expected to considerably ex-
ceed that amount. But when I say that the receipts
of 1847 were only £63 18s. I am bound, as an old
member of the society, to say that I think the show
was very dear for the money. (Laughter.) I recol-
lect that upon that occasion the show was in a small
field in the neighbourhood of Lancaster. The
stock exhibited included a few very inferior
brood mares, some very moderate hacks, and I
doubt if there were any sheep. There was
a very small and inconsiderable number of
cattle, which belonged to the old long-horned
and I may say long-haired breed—(laughter)—few
specimens of that almost unknown description of
cattle, respecting which there was then great con-
troversy, which is now known as the short-horn.
That was the state with regard to the exhibition of
stock in the year 1847, and I leave those who have
had an opportunity of seeing the stock to-day to
say how great is the progress which agriculture has
made in this country. It is not in stock alone, but
in every respect, that within the last 20 or 25 years
agriculture has made a satisfactory progress which
would vie with that made in any other description of
free industry. It would be a very curious statistical
problem to solve to ascertain how many more acres
of land, by the removal of unnecessary fences, have
been gained to the county of Lancaster during these
last 20 years, and how much addition hasbeen made
to the value of land by the comparatively small sums
laid out in that all-essential A B C of agriculture,
namely, thorough drainage. Within the last few
days I have seen districts of country which certainly
would have been very much improved by the ex-
penditure of a couple of hundred pounds in tile
drainage. I must say the improvement is one highly
creditable to the country generally, and I have no
doubt highly remunerative both to the landlords and
tenants of the county. (Applause.) While I speak
of drainage and the improved value given to the land
by it, let me also mention incidentally a matter which,
perhaps, has not been so specially brought forward,
but which is of the greatest importance. It is not
only upon the arable lands of this country, but
upon the pastures also that drainage must have a
beneficial effect ; and more especially upon those
pastures devoted to sheep, the cultivation of which
is greatly increased during the last few years ; and
it is found that the drainage of the land produces
perhaps greater effect upon the feeding quality of
grass for sheep than upon any other description of
produce. Lancaster has been a county in which
it has been supposed sheep could do no good. I
have been assured, that there have been exhibi-
ted a number of Leicesters and Shropshire Downs,
which for quality and value would be a credit to any
county. If there is any point in which agriculture
has made greater progress than in drainage, it is in
the extended application of machinery and sciences.
(Hear, hear.) I recollect not many years ago the
late Sir Robert Peel was talking to me about the
prejudices of farmers. He said he had announced
upon one occasion, that, as an agricultural prize, he
would give an iron plough. He was surprised
there were not many competitors, and he called
upon one of his own tenants for an explanation. He
said, " Why, you see, Sir Robert, we farmers have
a notion that iron ploughs breed weeds."
(Laughter.) I am happy to say that, although
agriculture in this country is not always spoken of
in the complimentary terms, even in the year 1847
we were not in that state of primitive ignorance. I
wish to call the attention of this great meeting to
the subject of irrigating the land by the sewage of
great towns. It is now about 20 years since I
pressed the subject at Manchester upon the atten-
tion of the Liverpool and Manchester Agricultural
Society, and I made perhaps not a very scientific
but a lengthened statement, in which I dwelt upon
the balance between production and consumption,
and upon reproduction, compensation for waste, &c.
When I sat down Mr. Mark Phillips rose and said,
" What the noble lord has said is all very fine, and
also very true, but all he has said amounts to this,
' Muck is money." (Great laughter.) If that be
true, although no doubt their are many men who
make ducks and drakes of their money, it is no
reason why we should make ducks and drakes of
our muck—why we should not merely waste
what is for the benefit of our land, but abuse, for
the deterioration of our streams and rivers, that
which was intended materially to promote the'
agricultural production of the land. (Applause.)
It is a subject which is attended with very great
difficulty, but it is beginning to attract a great
amount of attention. I only wish to remind my
friends that the subject was not overlooked by me
twenty years ago; and if I should not be unduly
trespassing on your time, I will venture to call your
attention shortly to a practical exemplification of
the benefit of attending to this subject which has
come under my own observation. It may attach,
perhaps, additional interest to the observations I
am about to make when I tell you that the novelty,
if novelty there is in the discovery and application
of the means, belongs not to me, nor to any man
now living, but exclusively to the practical know-
ledge and experimental observation of his late
lamented Royal Highness the Prince Consort. He
had applied his eminently practical mind to this
subject, among others, and had made various expe •
riments upon it, the result of one of which we have
had the opportunity of seeing, and noticing the
important effects produced by it upon the herbage
at Osborne, in the Isle of Wight. That to which I
am about to call your attention is an experiment
which has been recently carried on according to the
plan of his Royal Highness, on a small scale cer-
tainly, at Wellington College. I must first tell you
that the population of the college is about 300 souls,
and there is attached to it a very large laundry for
doing the washing of the whole establishment. I
mention this, not as an unimportant fact, because
it is important to them. In this way a very large
supply of water is obtained, and those who know
anything about it know that for the production
of vegetables and the cultivation of flowers there
good as the application of soap-
the refuse of washing. We have the
sisudns°talluidng
usual cesspools at the college ; and all we had to
sloi iqud manure from those cesspools.
„n
depend upon in our operations was the overflow-
ing of the
Following the
plan of the Prince Consort, we con-
ducted this liquid a short distance from the college
through pipes
ieg it. It has been found in all former experiments
in filtering that if the liquid is introduced at the
top of the filtering bed the solid matter in it would
in a short time form a
cake and prevent the con-
tinuance of the process of filtration. The novelty
bottom of the ID, not at the top, but from theintroduced by the Prince Consort was that all came
watery. part
filter-
ing bed, and so, by its own
the bed, leaving the
\ made its way upwards throughthe
solid part at the bottom.
three separate f each covered to the
Wooden frames
depth of three bed consisted of
or four inches with burned
The water force,
The
h e
through the
grade liy forced its way
lowest frame to thea that
through
second and then
bogsoil_
to the upper on©, It then fell over a
rating the larger filtering bed smaller one,
and dropped to the bottom
from a
bed, in
which it rose through three of the second _
burned bogsoil, as in the first instance.fvames or trays 01_
it As each of
the trays absorbed the manure division saps-
rating
collected
awfbrich the
was removed, and
a fresh tray was substituted. The
original. expense
of the tank and pipes leading from
In the course cf nine months, duringit Was. £ll3.
college has been open, we have
bogsoil placed on the frames an amount equaolmtottee,
tons of the best manure, equal at Bs. a ton to £3B
a year, or one-third in the first year of the Whole
expense Gf the tank we established. That, how_
ever, was an object attained by the way. our
principal object was to obtain the liquid manure for
the purpc,,es of irrigation. To give you an idea of
the soil at the college, when we purchased the land
we gave £lO an acre for the fee simple of it, and
were told that we had given twice ad much as it
was worth. It is of the worst description of heath--
a thin layer of worthless sand above a mass of gravel,