The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-11 00:00:00

2LINCILESTER AND LIVERPOOL
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

MANCHESTER, FRIDAY.
The annual dinner of this society took place in the music

saloon of the Belle Vue Gardens, last evening,. and was
attended by upwards of 400 gentlemen.
Mr. Alderman MEcnx, in proposing the toast, " Success
to the Royal Agricultural Society," said he need hardly

remark that the efforts of that society had resulted in very
great good to agriculture. He felt that it might still extend

its sphere of usefulness, by showing itself a little less exclu-
sive, and by throwing open its discussions to the public
press still further good would result. (Hear, hear.) He
must congratulate the city of Manchester on the excellent
show of that day, in which he could mark the progress of
the agriculture of the 'district. At the same time he was
bound to say that he was not satisfied with British agricul-
ture as it was. He admitted that great progress had been
made, and that we stood in high comparison with other
nations. But we were also sadly in arrear in comparison

with the perfection which time must develop, and which
he hoped would be very much hastened. The cultivation
of this country was at present only as deep as a common
wine glass, and its return per acre not more on an average
than Li of actual available produce. This was disgraceful

to English agriculture, when we reflected what it might be.
Why wa.s it so ? It was notorious that we had not .done

our duty in this respect. Four years ago he ventured to
make some remarks on the agriculture of Cheshire, and he
had hoped that in fdur years a great improvement would

ave taken place. But, as he passed through the district by

•ail on Wednesday, he still noticed the old sore—the want

of drainage, the want of proper cultivation and of more
manure; and altogether the want of a higher tone of agri-
culture. It was best to speak the truth, whether it was
palatable or not; and he had a right to say a word on the

subject. For 16 years his experience and his outlay of money
in agricultural improvement had taught him that there was

nothing so certainly profitable as the judicious investment of
capital in agricultural improvement. It had been the
fashion to say " Mr. Mechi carries out agricultural im-
provements as a hobby." But he only did that upon the
farm which he would do in his business or house—if he
found it out of order he would put it in order, and that
could not be done without an expenditure of capital and
intelligence. (Hear, hear.) If Manchester had been
satisfied with the old hand-loom, would she have been
able to clothe the world in calico, and to get large

profits ? No. But by .a large intelligence, and a great
availment of chemical, engineering, and manufacturing
science, she was enabled to do this. Precisely the same
thing must be done 'in agriculture, and by similar
means. They must not remain satisfied with their present
condition ; but, feeling that they were only moving gra-
dually on the way to perfection, they must make more
haste than they had hitherto done. This was not a matter
of easy accomplishment. Fortunately, however, there were
railways now, and every facility for inter-communication.
He did not charge it on agriculture that she was so back-
ward. It was her misfortune from the nature of distances

and the impossibility of farmers meeting together as men
chants and manufacturers did. Until agriculture had rail•

ways it was almost imposSible for her to improve. A
practical farmer seldom went out of his own county, and
some seldom left their own parish. Every parish believed

,
itself to be the most perfect parish in England, and that
had nothing to learn from any other But all that was now
done away with. The introduction of the locomotive had
Irought people to rub their heads together, and the result
was a much greater amount of progress. There were now
two great questions before the agricultural world. First, the
introduction of steam to cultivation. He hoped that for all
general purposes, as thrashing, grindingond so forth, most
farmers used the steam engine. Fifteen years ago he was
pronounced a madman for having a steam engine on a farm
of I:50 acres. But the gentlemen who then thought he (Mr.
Mechi) had lost his wits were nowfollowing the same course.
And his hearers might depend upon it that they would
never develop the full powers of agriculture until they
brought steam to bear on cultivation. Their five inches of
cultivation would be exchanged for two feet or three feet ;
he said that very guardedly, They all knew how much
was raised by market gardeners; but that was done by
depth of cultivation and great manuring. , Perhaps gentle-
Melt were not aware also that the horses now used in agri-
culture consumed one-fifth of the whole produce of the
country. When they introduced steam their horses would
cat coal instead of corn, and coals were much cheaper than
the corn which would be eaten by the horses necessary to
do the same amount of work. The next great question.
was, " What is' to be done with the sewage of the
towns ?" They know what it cost to feed the inhabi-
tants of the country, and they could calculate what would
be the value of the manure if it were reapplied to
the soil. The Chinese were our superiors in this re-
spect, for they husbanded the manure like gold, and
not a particle was wasted. But he had no hope that
that would be done just yet in this country. It would
take a long time, and require a large unanimity of senti-
ment among the landowners and farmers, and the general
public. When the public voice should be. raised on the
subject, and discussion upon it should be entered into
.in
every society, they might hope that the time would come
when we should have the gratification and profit of seeing the
people better fed by means of that which was now considered
positively injurious to them. Ile hoped they would believe
him when he said that if they would employ a large capital
in the soil in improvements, in drainage, in deeper and
cleaner cultivation, in the use of a larger quantity of
manure—if they would make their fields squarer, erect
better shelter for their:stock, and persuade the lawyers that it
would be better to enable them to change their farms as
they did their consols, they would be able to compete with
the most favoured countries in the world. (Hear, hear.)
He often met men from all parts of the world, and his in-
quiries from them had led him to conclude that English
labour, judging by the amount of work done, was the
cheapest in the world. (Hear.) He had found, upon exa-
mining some Polish and Russian freeholds, that their good
crops were not much above a half of what was grown on our
best farms in this country. But then they said their cost
was very little,--they could buy the fee simple for £3 or 1
per acre. It would be a sorry thing for this country if the
cost was so little. He hoped to see the time when the rent
would be about £3 per acre. It would be a happy thing for
farmers if the rent were doubled, supposing the increased
rent represented the 'improvements made by the landlord.
Non-improvement was unprofitable. If some one were to
offer him a farm of a thousand acres of undrained land he
would not have it as a gift to be. compelled to farm it him-
self. He thanked them for the attention with which they
had listened to him, and concluded by again proposing the
toast.

The following is a summary of the winners of the prin-
cipal first prizes, beginning with the premiums offered by
the society :—Mr. J. Dickenson, of Upholland, near Wigan,
showed the best short-homed bull, between two and four
years old ; Mr. Henry Ambler, of IVatkinson Hall, near
Halifax, the best under two years ; and Mr. Thomas Bell,
of Rainford, St. Helens, the best short-horned bull calf—
these three premiums being open to general competition.
The beSt bull of any breed, between two and four years,
belonging to a tenant farmer, was a very fine shorthorn.
belonging to Mr. T. Forrest, of Tarporley ; and for the
corresponding prize, for a beast under two years, the prize
went to Mr. R. Birch, of Aintree, also for a short-horn.
We come next to three prizes (all open to general competi-
tion) which were awarded to Mr. Henry Ambler, namely,
those for a cow or heifer in milk or in calf, a two-year-old
and a yearling heifer ; the three beasts being of the short-
horned breed. Mr. Hugh Higson, of Pendleton, was the
successful competitor amongst the tenant farniers show-
ing cows for dairy purposes ; and other prizes for tenant
farmers were thus awarded : Two-year-old heifers,
Mr. James Dickenson ; one-year-olds, Mr. Henry La-
fon°, of Fazakerly ; mulch cows, Mr. J. Heawood, Reddish,
near Stockport ; and calves, Mr. T. Atherton, Spoke.
near Liverpool. For the last two premiums, it was required
that the exhibitors should not be cattle dealers. In the
extra stock a silver medal was given to Mr. L. IV.
Ackerley, of Prescott, for a short-horn bull. Foremost to
the horse-prize schedule are the stallions (open to general
competition) ; and here'we find the names- of -Mr. James
Dale, of Liverpool, for an animal for agricultural purposes ;
Mr. James Robinson, of Broughton, for dray purposes ;
Mr. John Brogden; of Sale, for roadsters ; and Mr. John
Dagger, of Liverpool; for a thoroughbred. Mr. Robert
Birch, of Aintree, showed the best three-year-old halfbred
gelding (class for gelding or filly) ; and Mr. Wm. Richard-
son, of Manchester, with a mare, aged 8 years, gained the
first prize for a mare or gelding in actual use as a roadster.
The best pair of draught horses wasest
rtoi: f-norbaygruAiler.h3m.
of Stand; near this city; but the b
alpur-
poses, belonging to a tenant farmer, was that,ihe first
fishotw;rib:e'sflorr.
John Birch, of Orrell, near Liverpool.
sheep open to general competition Were thus awarded
caster ram, Mr. T. Johnson, Runcorn ; Southdown ram,
Mr. L. F. Lloyd, Mold ; Shropshire down ram, Mr. A.
SaCotswold, or other long-woolled, the
Et
and Balcarras. In the pig prizes l‘lr.
.a Earl
eor tf ,Cra Kirkhamllot
a ;
John Harrison, jun., of Stockport, stood prominent, as
usual, in this district, for he gained the first prize with his
boar of the large breed, as well with the one he exhibited of
the small breed. The best sows were' shown by Mr. 43.
Wright, of Church Minshull, and Mr. Joseph Hudson, of
Everton. Amongst the poultry exhibitors Capt. Homby,
of Knowsley, stood foremost, as he gained the prizes for
Dorking and Spanish fowls, for geese, turkeys, goslings,
and Dorking chickens. Mr. Thomas Stretch, of Bootle,
Mr. R. Serjentson, of Liverpool, Mr. William, Pierce, of
Northwich, and Mr.. J. Robinson, of Garstang, were also
very successful exhibitors. The judges " commended" or
" highly commended" a large number of birds.
Passing to the special prizes offered by the local commit-
, tee, we find Mr. T. Walter, of Mellor, near Stockport,
showing a priie shorn-horn bull ; and in the same class of
premium Mr. Ambler's name eecurs twice. Mr. Joseph
Heawood, of Reddish, was the, winner of the prize for the
-farmer or dairyman exhibiting the best four dairy cows ;
and again for Mr. Ambler- carries off a prize with a pair of
stirks. The best six dairy fed cows shown by a cattle dealer
were those belonging to Mr. William Green, of Kersal
Hall. From the very long list of horse prizes we' select the
following :—Mr. Jathes Robinson carried off the premium
for the best stallion of the draught kind. Messrs. W. Lip-
trot, and Sons, of Wigan, showed a white mare with foal at
foot, which was very much admired ; it gained a pre-
_mitun, Mr; W. Smith, 9f tin losisel