The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-07-23 00:00:00

trade, commerce, agt 'culture, and good feeling—throughout
this great country, it was impossible they could ever succeed
as they ought in the purposes for which they were associ-
ated. (Applause.) The noble lord thanked the company
for the great honour conferred on him in the toast, and said
if any of the gentlemen present would do him the honour of
coming to Ingestrie (to the cattle show on the first Thurs-
day in June next year) lie should have great pleasure in seeing
them there. He concluded by proposing the health of Thos.
Bolton, Esq., mayor of Liverpool. (Loud applause.)
The %IATOR rose and said he felt overpowered by the kind
manner in which the noble lord had been pleased to bring him
before the meeting. He observed that he was sure trade
was not felt by those around him to be the antagonist of agri-
culture (a sentiment which was warmly responded to by the
company) and expressed his belief that " ships, colonies,
and commerce" were necessary to the greatness of a nation.
The CHAIRMAN next proposed the healths of the success-
ful candidates for the best breed of sheep, and mentioned
the names of Mr. Jonas Webb, of Babraham, near Cam-
bridge, and Mr. Large, of Broadwell, near Burford, Ox-
fordshire. (Applause.)
Mr. Werth and Mr. LARGE briefly returned thanks.
The CHAIRMAN said the names he had to mention in con-
nexion with the next prize—the prizes for cart horses—were
Lords Talbot and Derby, and Mr. Crisp; but as the noble
lord on his right (Lord Talbot), with that modesty which
always distinguishes his conduct, had expressed a wish not
to have his name again brought before the meeting—(loud
cheers)—he begged to propose the healths of the other two
winning candidates, Mr. Crisp and the Earl of Derby.
(Loud laughter.)
Lord STANLEY rose amidst great cheering, and said—Mr.
President and gentlemen, I can assure you that when I
entered the room this day nothing was further from my im-
agination than the thought that by any possibility 1 might
be placed in the situation I now am, by having to acknowledge
the honour you have done me by drinking the health of one
so near and dear to me. (Applause.) Gentlemen, the des-
cription of horses with which I am connected, is somewhat
different to that which has been the means of calling me be-
fore you at this moment. (Laughter.) But, I confess, when
I look to the different character of my father's horses, though
the thorough-bred are more swift, it is full as sure to stick to
the cart breed after all. (Hear, hear.) I can assure you,
gentlemen, that I came here little expecting to find my father
a successful competitor. It may be in our farm at Knows-
ley there is some judgment exercised, or there may be a
laudable degree of modesty; but it is somewhat singular that
the only two animals which they have thought proper to
enter the lists with, have both been fortunate enough to carry
away prizes. (Cheers.) I am sure this circumstance will
be gratifying to my father, and I am sure it will encourage
him greatly in those efforts which he has long been making
t.i encourage both among his otn tenants, and generally for
the improvement of agriculture. He thought it worth while
to mention that the colt, for which one of the prizes had
been awarded, was not, as might be inferred from what had
been said by Mr. Crisp, of the Suffolk breed, but was one of
the grey Clydesdale breed, and had been fortunate enough,
though only two years old, to be a winner of prizes before,
and believed this to be the third prize he had carried off.
(Applause.) He could only hope that his merits would in-
crease with his age, and that he (Lord Stanley) might have
the pleasure of seeing him go on, till at last, with that kind
feeling and respect which their judges had so generously paid
to old age to their report just read, it would be classed
among the old animals which were generally commended.
(Laughter and applause.)
The CHAIRMAN said the next toast he had to propose was
the healths of the winners in class 9—the class of pigs ; and
the:only class, he was sorry to say, of which their president
had any practical knowledge. (Laughter.) He proposed
the healths of Mr. Umbers, of Darlaston Hall, and Mr.
Barnard, of Gosford Hall (or Gosfield Hall), Essex.
The next toast was the healths of Mr. John Forrest, of
Stretford, near Manchester, and Mr. Charles Tempest, of
Broughton Hall, near Skipton, Yorkshire. (Drank with
applause.)
The CHAIRMAN said the last list placed in his hands was
the list of prizes for agricultural implements. It was a diffi-
cult task to select the names of those who most deserved
their thanks on this occasion, but he must observe that there
was no fitter name to he selected from it than that of Lord
Ducie—(applause)—who, he regretted.to say, had been pre-
vented by severe illness from being present. That nobleman
had done much for the improvement of agriculture by direct-
ing the attention of his tenantry to the improvement of agri-
culture. His lordship not being present, he should select
the names of the gentlemen who appeared most often on the
list—the names of the oldest firm of agricultural implement
makers in this country. H e begged to propose the healths
of Messrs. Ransome, of Ipswich. (Cheers.)
Mr. ALLEN RANSOME briefly acknowledged the compli-
ment, expressing his gratification that'mechanics in agricul-
ture was beginning to be more generally appreciated.
Lord STANLEY again rose, and was received with pro-
tracted rounds of applause. He begged to assure Lord Spen-
cer and the gentlemen that, whilst he could not refrain from
expressing his grateful thanks for the flattering manner in
which they had received him in the presence of so many stran-
gers, as also in the presence of so many more gentlemen of
his own county and neighbourhood, he felt he should not be
making a just return for their kindness were he to obtrude
himself upon their notice in speaking upon a subject which he
felt his own incompetence to handle.; but he had some right
—if an acquaintance of upwards of thirty-three years could
confirm such a right, to propose the next toast, the health of
his honourable friend who sat on his right,—the chairman.
(Hear, hear, and loud cheers.) But while that long acquain-
tance gave him some right and some cause to speak of him in
terms which lie dared not then use—his (the chairman's) pre-
sence making him refrain from using terms he otherwise
might—it was some relief to know that any terms of praise in
such a company was unnecessary. (Applause.) To most
of them he was well known. (Applause.) They had wit-
nessed the perseverance, the unwearied diligence, and the
zeal with which he had devoted himself to the promotion of
practical science, and the interests of English agriculture ge-
nerally. They had seen him a most active fellow-labourer in
that field in which they were severally labouring ; they had
witnessed his exertions in the cause of agriculture ; they had
witnessed the peculiar, quiet, unassuming, and gentlemanly
demeanour with which he had always conducted himself in
carrying on the business of the evening as their president.
(Applause.) I n their hands, therefore, he felt he might justly
leave his honourable friend, and without a word more he
begged to propose to them the health of their president, and
he proposed that it be given with three-times-three cheers.
The cheers were heartily given, his lordship giving the "hips."
The CHAIRMAN,—Lord Spencer and gentlemen, it would
be really superfluous in me to return you my deepest and
most heartfelt thanks for the honour you have done me, be-
cause it is so obvious that, for a private gentleman, of no
claims whatever, to be placed at the head of the agricultural
body of England, is an honour which cannot be too deeply
appreciated. (Applause.) Our endeavour, gentlemen, ac-
cording to the motto proposed to us by Lord Spencer, is to
" unite practice with science." All I can say is, that I be-
lieve during the three years in which we have existed as a
body, we have acted strictly upon that principle. (Loud
cheers.) And lam satisfied that that principle was thorough-
ly answered. (Hear, hear.) When we were first formed
there were many subjects of inquiry which they proposed for
themselves to • s,.ue; they had steadily pursued them, and
there was not of them, he believed, on which they had
not either ma ,s',.ome important improvement or on which,
as the next best thing they could do, they had not sought to
ascertain, from the best sources, the means of making some
improvement. (Hear, hear.) If he might be allowed to go
back to the modes of inquiry they professed to themselves in
the first instance, he might say that they went to the root of
the matter—the improvement of the soil itself. They were sa-
tisfied that unless they brought that soil to a healthy condition
—unless they drained off the superfluous waters.—(hear,
hear)—it was in vain for the utmost skill of British hus-
bandry to be expended on it. "(Hear, hear, and greet cheer-
ing.) They were indebted to a gentleman of a sister part of
that empire , whom they had the pleasure of seeing among
them—Mr. Smith, of Deanstown—(great applause)—for
calling the attention of the cultivator to the importance of
that improvement. (Applause.) While the condition of the
soil has been attended to, modes of tillage have also been dis-
covered—modes of tillage in themselves expensive, and which
are difficult in pursuit—by which we may double the produce
of the soil. (Hear.) In his journey to this place he travel-
led over a large tract of country, and he could not but see
that while the best skill of the husbandman was bestowed
upon the soil in its present state, with the assistance of his
landlord lie might be able to do much more. (Great ap-
plause.) They were practical men—that was the character of
their society—and therefore he was not afraid of tiring them
by going into details. In passing along the railway he ob-
served narrow ridges, with very excellent crops upon the top
of the ridge—(hear, hear)—but very little in the furrows ; and
those furrows occurring frequently—(hear, hear)—and exci-
ting the attention of the agent of his noble friend on his left
(Lord Stanley), he had come to the conclusion that the pre-
sent crop was about fifteen bushels to the acre, and that, if
fairly drained, there would be no difficulty in making the
same land produce upwards of thirty bushels. (Hear, and
cheers.) Now this brought him to one of the best practical
improiements this society had discovered—he alluded to the
discovery made by a gentleman from Huntingdonshire, by
which the price of draining tiles had been reduced, so as to
enable draining, which would before have cost 40s. per acre,
to be done for 225. He was glad to find the farmers of Hun-
tingdon had appreciated the value of this discovery, and were
giving the inventor a public dinner as a reward for his meri-
torious labours. (Hear, hear.) It was unnecessary for him
to state to them the importance of such a discovery as that.
Then when they had brought the state of the soil to a healthy
condition, the next object was to plough it up well. His
friend Mr. Handley—than whom no one, he might venture
to say, deserved more of the farmers of England—(hear,
hear,)—in his experiments upon the subject of ploughing,
was led to believe that those guided by wheels were superior
after all to the swing plough. (Hear.) It was said that the
wheels made lazy ploughmen, but after all, if the work was
done it mattered little to the farmer that the men had not to
work so hard. He (the chairman) was led to pursue the
same experiments himself, and he found the difference of
draught as the difference between 14 and 21—or in other
words of two horses and three. (Hear, hear.) His noble
friend (Lord Stanley) knew the difference between 11b. and
81b. on another sort of horse—(laughter)—he left them to
judge the difference between two and three hundred weight.
(Hear, hear.) When the soil was tilled the next thing was to
sow the seed, and they all knew that there was some con-
nexion between that and the produce of wheat. (Hear.) He
had been told that as the yielding quantity of wheat increased
the mewling quality decreased,- but it was well known that
the decrease of the latter was not in proportion to the
former, and therefore this was important. (Hear, hear.)
He would now pass to land agriculture, and they all knew
that an important chemical experiment—the application of
nitrate of soda—was now making. That experiment, in its
results, had hitherto been very doubtful—on some lands
being not very successful, on others being altogether a failure.
The experiment ought. to be fairly tried. If he were to go
through all the branches of agriculture, he thought he would
show that this society had done all that was practicable ; and
with regard to the diseases which applied to plants, they all
knew that these diseases were well enough known, but little
was known of the remedy. (Hear, hear.) Some important
inquiries were in progress to ascertain this information.
There were many other beanches of the subject on which he
might dilate, and he trusted on another occasion they should
be able to show what that society had been able to effect, as.
well as what it was likely to do. They had enlisted in their
ranks men of established character and reputation—men who
stood high in the estimation•of their country. If they went
, to Oxford they found that there a professorship of agriculture
had been instituted—and who more fitting to fill such a seat
than Dr. Daubeney • (Applause.) They had also the plea-
sure of seeing among them one of the leading lights in that
university that night; they had rendered it unnecessary for
him to mention the name of Dr. Buckland. At Cambridge,
professor of botany, Professor Ilenslow—
as well known through the society's jour-
nals: while in the new University(tchheeyerhoa—d
wthheo
of Durham they were
enabled to rank among them Professor Johnson, who devoted
his talents to lecturing on agriculture, and to sound practical
knowledge, adding the wonderful facility he possessed of
rendering what he taught easily understood. (Tremendous
applause.) If they went to Scotland they had Dr. Playfaire,
who had translated the work of the first chemist of the age
English agriculturist ; • and he had no doubt
wentse of fotnh ,e
leeryv use
ent to
and kept practice in view, and made science
msiffouerbtinst the
before thep
m.ractice, they had a long career of improve-
Nothing would give him greater pleasure
than to see science revealing its secrets on one side, and
nature hers on the other, and those united being brought to
bear on the condition of the English farmer, and with him
improving the condition also of all other members of society.
(Cheers.)
Mr. HANDLEY, late M.P. for Lincolnshire, was then called
on by the chairman to read the report of Professor Sewell on
the recent epidemic which had made such destruction in cat-
tle throughout the country. The report was formed on about
600 communications from different parts of the country