The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-02 00:00:00

EAST CUMBERLAND AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.

At a recent meeting of the above society's show and
dinner, after a splendid exhibition—indeed, the best ever
seen in Carlisle—the President for the year, P. H. Howard,
Esq., of Corby Castle, proposed the toast of the evening as
follows :—Mr. Vice-chairman and Gentlemen,—The next
toast I have to propose is that which may be called " the
toast of the evening." (Cheers) It condenses in our minds
the objects of this meeting. But before I venture to sub-
mit a few remarks to you upon that subject, perhaps I may
be allowed to express the regret I feel that an eminent
agriculturist—Sir James Graham—is unable to attend on
the present occasion. (Hear, hear.) This is an extract
of a letter he has addressed to me—" Neither my health
nor spirits qualify me for a public dinner, and may I re-
quest you to make my apology to the company assembled,
and to assure them that to improve the agriculture of
East Cumberland is, at the close of my life, an object in
which I take as deep an interest as I have felt from my
earliest years." (Hear, and cheers.) Mr. Brougham also
expresses his regret that he is unable to attend on this oc-
casion, but he has had a letter which has suddenly called
him from home. And now, gentlemen, I believe I may
congratulate this meeting upon the excellence in every
respect of the successful exhibition which we have witnessed
to-day. (Cheers.) I understand from the worthy and
energetic Secretary that since 1855—1 mean the year of
the Great Agricultural Show of the Royal Society—with
which perhaps it would be presumptuous to attempt to vie,
this has been the most important show in point of number
and excellence that has taken place here, or perhaps in
Cumberland. (Hear, and cheers.) I may tell you, as an
indication of the increased interest taken in this meeting,
that whereas £3O was receives at the gate for admissions
some few years ago, to-day the admission money amounted
to no less than £ll6. (Loud cheers,) lam sure, gentle-
men, you will all look perhaps with some interest to the
result of the harvest of this country. (Hear.) From what
I can gather from various sources it appears to me that
that harvest, though perhaps deficient in quantity, is good
in quality. That at least seems to be the general attribute
of the season. The season has, perhaps, been too wet
almost for every kind of crop, even for turnips, and perhaps
the only entire consolation we shall have is that we shall not
have to Import that large quantity of Dutch hay which two
years ago formed such a profitable item in a railway of which
lam a director. (Hear, and laughter.) It is always an in-
teresting inquiry for the farmer or agriculturist to estimate
the future price of grain; and so far as I can judge there is
no reason to believe that it will fall very low. On the
Continent, especially France, the harvest has been decidedly
deficient. In the United States, as we all know, many hands
that were devoted to agriculture have now directed their
energies to military purposes, and though these circum-
stances in some other cases might in former times have pro-
duced something approaching to scarcity, yet now the range
of supply is so much more expanded than in years gone by,
owing to the facilities of steam and other causes, that, unless
yo ;t can suppose a general scarcity in Europe, and even be-
yond Europe, we could not anticipate anything like a serious
famine, provided the industry of the country is sufficient to
supply the'means of purchasing grain. (Hear, and cheers.)
Since the wanderiul invention of the electric telegraph has
been applied to the purposes of agriculture and commerce, a
great change has been produced, for through that agency a
dealer is now able to ascertain in two hours the price of corn
in Odessa, and so to judge whether he would be justified in
giving an order. (Hear.) At the same time that it is advan-
tageous to the general community it must be stimulating to
the farmer, because he sees the range of competition grow-
ing much wider than it used to be. (Hear.) Reverting
to the show, I may remark that the entry of horses to-day
did credit to the county, and certainly, if at the next IN ig-
tmn meeting they do as well, they will have no reason to
complain. (Hear, hear.) In counties which boast of a
more genial climate, and, perhaps, a richer soil than
our own, the stocks are almost confined to shorthorns,
of which we have seen some .excellent specimens
to-day; but, as Sir James Graham once recommended, for
the poorer soils and wilder districts the Galloway race of
cattle has, and probably always will have, a certain hold on
public estimation. (Hear, hear.) As regards sheep, I
may perhaps be a little over romantic in deploring the
departure from the field of competition of the mountain and
Highland breed, but you must all have seen with pleasure
the excellent specimens of Leicesters and the cross between
the Leicesters and Cheviots exhibited to-day. (Hear.) It
would bo trespassing too much upon your time to go
through the different descriptions of stock exhibited on
the show ground, but I cannot help saying that the pigs
especially were worthy of the county, and though there
were not so many as exhibited at Wigton, yet they did
great credit to the exhibitors. (Cheers.) I need not say
more. In conclusion, I may congratulate you, I trust, upon
the harvest, which, though not very abundant, is not such
as to give rise to despondency. If the farmer has severe
competition to struggle with, the breeder of horses may
congratulate himself that the foreign demand opens out an
excellent market. The demand for horses for other coun-
tries is on the increase, and we find that the Emperor of
the French nays a practical tribute to the strength and
beauty and fleetness of English horses by adding numbers
to his stud, and purchasing large numbers in this country
for other purposes. (Hear, and cheers.) lam afraid you
may have found these details rather dry—(no, no)—but I
am sure you will drink with earnest wishes to the continued
prosperity to the East Cumberland Agricultural Society.
(Loud cheers.)