The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-13 00:00:00

Royal Agricultural Society of England.

Yesterday the general annual meeting of mem-
bers was held at the society's house, Hanover-square.
Mr. H. S. Thompson occupied the chair ; and among
those present were Lord Walsingham, Lord.Berners,
the Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Tredegar, Sir M.
Lopes, M.P., Mr. E. Holland, M.P., Mr. C. S.
Read, M.P., Mr. T. D. Acland, M.P., Sir W. Stir-
ling, General Hood, Mr. Banks Stanhope,Dr. Crisp,
Captain Thompson, and Messrs. William Lawson,
W. Torr, J. B. Thompson, Mandreth Gibbs, H. de
Vitre, James Caird, T. Duckham, Finlay Dun,
H. W. Freeland, and J. C. Moore Stevens.
Mr. H. HALL DARE, secretary, read the annual
report. It contained the following statements :
During the last half-year six governors and 114
members have died, while one governor and 32
members have been elected, so that the list now
comprises 76 life-governors, 82 annual governors,
1,380 life members, 3,972 annual members, and 15
honorary members, making a total of 5,525. The
funded capital has been reduced by the sale of
£l,OOO Stock, and now stands at £18,027 in the
New Three per Cents. This is owing partly to the
appropriation of a considerable sum to a thorough
investigation into the results of the cultivation of
the soil by steam-driven machinery in various parts
of the country. To this latter object the council
determined to devote a sum not exceeding £l,OOO,
and notwithstanding the wet autumn considerable
progress has been made in the inquiry, the result of
which will be fully made known in the first number
of the Journal for next year. The implements for
which prizes will be given in the ensuing year con-
sist of fixed and portable steam engines, fixed and
portable thrashing machines, finishing machines, and
pressing machines, barley hummellers, chaff cutters,
mills, crushers, oil cake breakers, bone mills, turnip
cutters, and field gates; and, as a period of fouryears
will have elapsed since the trial of some of these
classes of implements, it is to be anticipated that
many improvements will be exhibited. The country
meeting next year will be held in the week com-
mencing Monday, the 15th of July. Prizes to the
amount of £2,925 are offered by the society for live
stock, and £430 for implements, while £570 are
added by the Suffolk Agricultural Society and the
Local Committee. It is also proposed to offer £2OO
in prizes for poultry, the eastern counties having
long been famous for their success in this depart-
ment. The Education Committee have followed out
the scheme of prizes offered in the last report in con-
nexion with the Oxford Local Examinations, and
have made awards of prizes. (There are two lists,
containing 35 names, the amounts ranging from £1
to £7.) The whole number of candidates was 45.
With regard to the Cambridge Local Examinations
to be held during the present month, the council
have determined upon offering prizes for the same
subjects as before. Seventy-four candidates are
entered for these prizes. Of these 21 are seniorsand
45 are juniors ; while 10 are entered for the special
prizes in mechanics and chemistry applied to agri-
culture, of whom two are also entered among the
seniors. The council also offer (besides the fore-
going prizes) one senior scholarship of £5O, and
four junior scholarships of £2O, to be competed for
at the ensuing Cambridge Local Examinations in
December, 1866, limited to sons of tenant farmers,
or of owners, if not exceeding 500 acres, occupying
their own land. White heartily uniting with the
whole kingdom in the thanksgiving for the abate-
ment of the cattle plague, the council are at the
same time sensible of the importance of continuing
many of the existing restrictions on the traffic in
live stock, and with this view have instructed a de-
putation to wait on the Lords of the Privy Council
to draw their attention to the following points :-
Ist, the importation of foreign cattle ; 2d, the re-
opening of fairs and markets ; and 3d, the necessity
of extending the time during which the powers
granted to the Privy Council under the Acts of the
last Session may be exercised. With resnect to
the
.first point the council believe that the exist-
ing restrictions are probably sufficient for the pre-
sent, but that unless they are made perma-
nent, it will not be considered worth while
to erect lairs for the purpose of carrying out
regulations which may be only of a temporary
nature, and that consequently such as relate to qua.
rantine will become inoperative. The constant
presence of the disease in various parts of the Con-
tinent makes it extremely probable that, except
under very stringent regulations, the disease will
frequently be re-imported, and they believe that it
will eventually be found that nothing short of per-
manent regulations for killing animals intended for
slaughter at the p.rts at which they are landed will
prevent its introduction, and that with respect to
store cattle, the regulations should be of such a per-
manent character as will lead to the provision of
suitable buildings for carrying out an efficient sys-
tem of quarantine. With respect to the second and
third points the council think considerable danger
will be incurred by re-opening fairs and markets at
the present time, except under the restriction of im-
mediate slaughter, and they wish to call the atten-
tion of the Government to the importance of ob-
taining, if necessary, additional Parliamentary
powers, so that the trade in cattle may be placed
upon such a footing as may ensure the greatest
amount of security to Owners of cattle, and that at
the same time the dealers and importers may know
under what restrictions the trade is to be carried
on, and be encouraged to provide such app
as may enable them to conduct their business with
the least possible inconvenience to themselves and
the smallest risk to and interference with public
interests.

Mr. CALDWELL moved and Mr. ELLMAN seconded
the adoption of the report, which was agreed to.
The CIIAIR3IAN then delivered an address. He
said that last year at this time the council were
exerting themselves to induce the Government to
adopt stringent regulations for preventing the
movement of cattle generally, and or killing those
attacked by the cattle plague. The council's reso-
lutions were substantially embodied in the Cattle
Diseases Prevention Act; and, looking to the check
it gave to the plague, and to its subsequent rapid
and continuum decline, few persons now ques-
tioned the soundness of the policy which had been
pursued. The cattle plague had been brought within
such a narrow compass that we might reasonably
hope soon to see it extinguished. While its disas-
trous effects were still fresh in our memories we
should not allow our attention to be diverted from
the true character and results of this calamity until
such regulations be permanently adopted—be made,
in fact, part of the law of the land—as may give us
all the security against its recurrence which the na-
ture of the case would admit of. (Hear.) Having
shown how much more the disease had spread on
this occasion than it had done in the last century,
he estimated that the national loss caused by the
last visitation could not be less than £3,000,000—a
loss which might have been prevented if we had not
been too proud to profit by the experience of this
and other nations. He compared the returns for
July, 1865, and September, 1866, with those for
September, 1865, and November, 1866, to show
that the " stamping out" principle applied to new
centres of infection reduced the number of animals
attacked. He then discountenanced the notion
that the disease had worn itself out, or had become
loss intense or contagious, observing that through-
out the whole of the visitation the nature and cha-
racter of the attacks had been remarkably uniform,
and that the disease had shown itself as contagious
and fatal in the latest clses as at the commence-
ment. If the provisions
renewedis of tie Cattle Diseases Pre-
vention Act were no
next June, or at the end of the, then
would expire
the disease
n session of Par-
liament, and on any outbreak of
Parlia-
ment would have to be ca..ec, together, or, if then
sitting, the tedious process of passing a bill through
both houses would have to be incurred before a
effective measures could be taken, and we should
assuredly have again to pay dearly for our want
of foresight. The importation of foreign cattle
should be permanently placed on a safe footing.
(Hear, hear.) The whole character of this trade
had been changed by the continued extension of
railways on the continent of Europe, occurring as it
had done simultaneously with a great increase in
the price of cattle in the English markets. These
two causes combined made it answer to the impor-
ter to bring cattle from much greater distances, and

we could no longer consider Rotterdam and Ham-
burg as the ports from which only Dutch or North
German stock were brought here but they had be-
come the termini of a great network of railways, at
the other end of which lay the great steppes of
Eastern Europe, from which the riuderpest was
rarely absent. Imported store cattle were few, and
efficient quarantine would be easy, and the slaughter
of fat cattle at the ports of disembarkation would
conduce to the interest of both importer and con-
sumer. In winter the animals could be slaughtered
at the continental ports, in summer at our own.
Even now fresh meat was becoming an article of
daily importation, and a return from the Board of
Trade showed that in October 3,428,0001 b. of meat,
salted and fresh, were imported, the greater portion
being fresh mutton. Referring to scarcity of labour
in certain districts, and a noble lord's suggestion
that the co-operative system might be applied to
agriculture, he said the labourer could not share the
farmer's profits in good seasons without sharing his
losses in bad ones, which he would be clearly unable
to do; but labourers might be made partners in
farms if they had sufficient grass land to enable each
to keep a cow, the allotments to be the reward of
industry and sobriety. He had for some years
watched two modes of carrying this out--one plan
being to.lot each man a separate field of two or
three acres, which is much preferred by the men ;
the other being to devote two fields of considerable
size to a number of men, who use one in common as a
summer pasture for their cows, and mow the other
for hay, the separate holdings being marked out by
a post at each corner. The latter method was suit-
able for large farms on which it might be difficult to
find or to form a sufficiency of small fields for sepa-
rate allotment. Both plans work well. The cost
to the farmer- was trifling, as the cottagers were
always willing to pay a fair rent for the land. To
labourers with families the advantage of keeping a
cow could not be overrated. The effect of the cattle
plague on the supply of milk to large towns was re-
markably illustrated by the quantity of milk now

conveyed by railway for the supply of the metro-
polis. The percentages of increase in the quantity
carried in 1866, compared with 1865, by five out of
seven of the great railway companies are 86, 120,
352, 560, and 560. There are now more than 220
stations sending milk to London, by passenger or
special milk trains, from distances varying from
seven to 190 miles, for a charge varying from a mi-
nimum of a id. to a maximum of 2d. per gallon
for the whole distance. In the last three mouths,
Sept., Oct., and Nov., 1866, which are the worst
months in the year for the milk trade, no less than
1,652,000 gallons of milk have been brought into
London by rail, showing that we should probably
underrate the total quantity carried for the year
1866 if we state it at 7,000,000 gallons. It was to
be hoped this large introduction of country milk
would improve the mixture hitherto sold as London
milk. (" Hear, hear," and lnughter.) The clear
climate of the eastern counties was especially
adapted for the growth of first-rate barley but the
landlords did not make full use of their advantages.
Mr. READ, M.P., in opening the discussion, said
they were deeply inddbted to the chairman for hav-
ing, by the delivery of so able an address, redeemed
the routine character of their proceedings.
,(Hear.)
He would remark that it was impossible, with the
present restrictions upon barley, that the growers of
it could do as they wished. As to giving labourers
an interest in farms, by appropriating to them a
certain amount of pasture land, he did not see how
that could be done in the eastern counties, where

he farmers were so badly off for pasture land that

they could not find food enough for cows, and
therefore kept very few. The way to deal with the
laboiir question was to have more task work and
less day work. There were certain classes of work
which required men's heads as well as their arms,
and for such work wages must be paid according to
the ability demanded. It was a mistaken system
to try to bring all men down to one level by pay-
ing all so much a day instead of endeavouring to
raise some to a higher level by appropriating those
abilities. which task work would develope.
Mr. SYDNEY thought the time had arrived when the
society, with the influence and the means it possessed,
tnight accomplish what was a tternp.ted by Sia. Sinclar

many years ago. There were thousands of mem-
bers of every class—noblemen, landlords, practical
_ _

farmers, and implement makers ; and all were alike
capable of giving and willing to give useful informa-
tion. If the council would consider the best means
of obtaining this information, he believed it would
form a number of sub-committees, one for live stock,
another for cultivation, a third for manures, a fourth
for mechanical improvements, and so on ; and these
committees would frame serie3 of questions, and
they . would divide England into agricultural dis-

tricts irrespective of counties. The essays in the
journals came out year by year, but they glanced
at the position of only one county or district at a
time. The inquiry he saggested would give valu-
able and authentic information. The work was not
of a kind to be undertaken by private individuals,
because it could not be made remunerative, and it
was the duty of such a society to undertake works
which could not be made profitable to private enter-
prise. It was extraordinary that intellectual men
should still assert that the agriculturists had asked
for compensation for the compulsory slaughter of
cattle in order to put money into their own pockets,
instead of regarding that compensation as an as-
surance for the security of the future supply of
meat. If such a report as could be obtained in two
years were published, although its cost would be
great, it would add greatly to the reputation of the
society, and it would bring a large number of addi-
tional subscribers.
Dr. CIIISP opposed the suggestion, on the ground
that if it were carried out the society would be bur-
dened with a chaotic mass of information iu which
the wheat could not be easily separated from the
chaff. As regarded quantity, the members certainly
now got enough information for their money. This
society, however, had been the greatest obstructive
in the way of the progress of agricultural science. It
had prevented the Government
do
to do; and until Government questiontookuinpgtheVilat
it ought
of
f
progre-Is we could not
progress riesn sd
agricultural education( and
have a good and efficient system. when professors
were appointed by the State to devote their time ex-
wreocutllyd, be
elusively to theosaugbujeTtd,isroencitely
made, but not until then. lle estimated the losses
considered not merely the loss of
lie
of stock to
ric,ecrtsahicnwdtihse-
ifr97olooth,oeooca.
*the matter,
animals, but the confining
necessity for Governn
tricts and the suspenslioccntotfakbircegeduinpg
he
referred to the fact that the two commissioners ap-
pointed by this and the Scotch and Irish Societies
reported that the cattle plague could not possibly
reach our shores, because it would have to pass so
many military cordons. Without reflecting upon
them, he would say that if the matter had been ma-
naged by the Government we should probablynever
have had the cattle plague, orit would not have ex-
tended as it did. It was impossible that this country
could continue to supply the people with the re-
quired quantity of animal food. The question arose
how it could be obtained, and he prognosticated that
before many years it would be imported in large
quantities from South America, Canada, and Aus-
tralia. It was important to look at the farmer's ex-
posure to the importation of disease along with
cattle. Within the last few years we had had pleuro
pneumonia, foot and mouth disease, cattle plague,
and smallpox. Recently a number of sheep affected
with smallpox had been brought from the Continent
to a place near Harwich, and the consequence was
the disease was distributed in the neighbourhood.
When a farmer had smallpox among his sheep he
was compelled to confine them to certain districts,
and to submit to various other restrictions, and he
got no compensation. Unless a different system
were adopted, or animals were killed at the port of
lauding, disease would prevail amongsheep and
would be concealed, and indeed he believed that not
half the number of
Sir M. LOPES, M.P ,
said
that 12 months' restric-
tions had got rid of •
the foot and mouth disease, and
that showed the importance
of maintaining those
restrictions.

Mr. PELL attributed the excessive price of labour
to many causes, including one which had ceased to
operate, viz., the law of settlement. In his district
it had driven people away, and now cottages were

being built on the sites of those which had been
pulled down, and other inducements were being
offered to the labourers to return. He did not be-
lieve that the principles of co-operation as they un-
derstood them could be carried out in farming; but
in a village notorious for its drunkenness he had
promoted the establishment of co-operative stores,
that were doing now a large business on a small
capital, the savings of men who were said not to
have money nor pockets that would hold it. In the
belief that beer was the legitimate drink of an Eng-
lishman, its sale had been introduced, despite the
warnings of the clergyman, who now, however,
confessed that the streets were quieter than they
had ever been, while one of the public-houses in the
place had been closed. (Laughter and applause.)
That might be due to a change in his sermons, or to
the quality and price of the beer sold at the stores.
The education of pauper children in union-houses
was a bad application of public money, and he sug-
gested that more country parishes should follow the
example of towns, and, by uniting their :resources,
erect large establishments, where classification and
discipline could be more complete and training more
efficient. In conclusion, he asked if the rumour
were true that there was any idea of changing the
charter of the association to enable it to discuss
questions pending in Parliament.
Mr. EDMUNDS, of Rugby, objected to the society
offering prizes for implements they did not want,
and asked if the turnip-cutter could be improved.
There were many implements it was impossible to
improve, and therefore it was useless to go on offer-
ing prizes for them. If there were anything they
wanted, let prizes be offered until it was secured.
The education of the poor was a question which
scarcely came within the province of the society ;
they had more to do with the education of the sons
of farmers. (Oh, no !) He was prepared to main-
tain that the poor were as well cared for under the
Government system as it was possible for them to
be—(oh, oh !) —and it was their own fault if they
did not reap the advantages provided for them. He
suggested that the small prizes now awarded to boys
at the Oxford and Cambridge local examinations
should be consolidated, and the money applied to
sending youths to an agricultural college or putting
them under farmers.

Mr. WooDs desiderated an improved turnip-cutter,
and said that for farmers' sons he valued practical
more than theoretical education ; and he mentioned
an instance of a farm being let to an amateur, who
was ruined upon it, and then to a practical man,
who made his fortune upon it.
Mr. CAIRD said they might leave the labour mar-
ket to settle itself, as it would do, and urged that it
would be of the first importance to ascertain from
authentic sources what foundation there was for the
rumour of the impending cessation of the supply of
Peiuvian guano, which would immediately enhance
the prices of all other guano.
_ _

A MEMBER said that the rumour of the exhaustion
of the Peruvian supply had been conclusively denied
on the part of the Peruvian Government.
Mr. CAIRD said he was aware of that, and he knew
also the delicate condition of Peruvian bonds and
the importance of maintaining the credit of the
Peruvian Government.

Mr. WILLIAM LAWSON said that at the beginning
of this year he told his labourers that at its close he
-would divide among them one-tenth of his profits in
proportion to the amount of their wages. He would
add his belief that nearly all co-operative societies—
and there were some 600 in the country—did not
consider it to their advantage to sell beer.
Mr. SIMONS said it was impossible for farmers to
advance the price of labour; if they did they would
be ruined. Let those who thought otherwise lead
the way.
Mr. Toßn said supply and demand would regulate
the price of labour. In his time the cost of cultiva-
tion had risen seriously. Ethigration carried off the
best labourers, and left the worst. It was better to
pay 3s. to a good man than 2s. 6d. to a bad one ;
inferior labour of every kind was always the dearest
in the end. He feared that the cottager who had a
piece of land took more interest in that than he did in
his master's. He gave to men with large families the
milk of a cow, and he allotted them potato land in a
field which he mannred, they finding seed potatoes.
He ridiculed the outcry for three-roomed cottages,
believing two rooms best, except for families.
Mr. DtJCKIIAM concurred in lir. Crisp's estimate
of the loss by the cattle plague, and wished that
more had been said about the prevention of the
spread of contagious diseases. The losses from
pleuro-pneumonia bad probably in the aggregate
exceeded the losses from the cattle plague. The
society could do service by expressing an opinion at
the Home• office and urging the introduction of a
better system of offering animals for sale in the
home markets.

The CHAIRMAN, in reply, said he claimed to as-
sert the success of au experiment he had tried,
which showed that labourers would be the best im-
provers of grass land against those who had made
no experiment ; and he defended the offering of
prizes for implements as well to encourage improve-
ment as to secure the exhibition of the best where
farmers were congregated. Ile would endeavour
to ascertain if there were any useful information ac-
cessible respecting the supply of Peruvian guano.
(Hear, hear.)

Mr. HOLLAND answered the question as to the
proposed change of the charter. He said there had
been a-meeting of the committee that morning, and
they had determined not to recommend any altera-
tion of the charter, seeing that the Privy Council
bad permitted them to do all for which they would
seek the alteration.
This terminated the discussion.
Thanks were voted to the auditors.

Mr. Astbury and Mr. Corbett were re-elected
auditors, and Mr. F. Sherborn was elected to that
office.

A vote of thanks to the Chairman for his address
and for presiding terminated the proceedings.

Railway and Other Companies.

BODMIN.

A meeting of the shareholders was held at Bod-
min on Monday, at which Mr. Alms, the chairman,
stated the liabilities of the company to be £3,233.
It was resolved to apply for an Act of Parliament,
conferring certain additional powers on the com-
pany. By avoiding a tunnel set forth in the
original plans many thousands of pounds would
be saved, and the line made for about £48,000.

PANAMA, NEW ZEALAND, AND AUSTRALIAN

ROYAL MAIL (LIMITED).
The report of the directors states that the removal
of the head colonial establishment from Sydney to
Wellington, in view of the opening of the Panama
Ipiinlea,tiohuad
ofi a
nvclvesdummteamrpoy temporary dtehleay
aieneotuhuets to
com-
pilation
30th of June. The commencement of the
Panama service in June last, and the first voyages
not having been completed
until July, also rendered
it difficult to exhibit an accurate statement of the
profits received during the half-year
for the entire 12 months willb e
pr.e
presented.
uhtee
da c caotu
then ts
annual general meeting in May next, when it is be-
lieved that a satisfactory dividend will be declared.
Notwithstanding the heavy outlay attending the
establishment of the Panama service, the opening
of the service across the Pacific had been highly suc-
cessful. The line was commenced at each end in
June, and advices had been received of seven voyages
having been made betweenTanama, New Zealand,
and Sydney. The service had given universal satis-
faction, and established confidence in the new route,
the amount of traffic already secured being most en-
couraging and in excess of what had been antici-
pated. The number of passengeis had averaged 70
per month from the first, and, the advantages of the
line having been fully demonstrated, it was ex-
pected there would be a steady and continuous in-
crease in the passenger traffic. The quantity of
cargo had been increasing every month, and the
shipments of specie from the colonies promised to
be large. At the general meeting held last June it
was proposed that the consideration of the declara-
tion of a dividend for the six months ended the 30th
of December, 1865, should be postponed for three
months, in anticipation that the remainder of the
debentures would have been subs' ibed for, and that
the amount properly available for dividend, but
which had been for the time applied in part pay-