DURHAM COUNTY SHOW.

The twenty-first annual meeting of the Durham County | was declared to be that of Mr. Ambler, called Gamester, Agricultural Society was held at Sedgefield, on Thursday, shown, we believe, at Leeds last year. Next to him, and July 24. The catalogue comprised 61 entries of Shorthorns, taking the second prize, was Duke of Tyne, a very good ani21 sheep, 23 of pigs, 186 of horses, and 17 stands of imple- mal, belonging to Mr. Wilson, of Woodhorn, near Morpeth, ments. The weather, which in the early part of the day Master Annandale, the property of Mr. Lambert, was highly was of a murky and drizzly character, interfered pecu- commended; this beast, at the Northumberland show last niarily with the success of the show, although the attend- year, was in remarkably good condition, and was placed over ance of the country gentry and agriculturists was some- Messrs. Browell of Apperley's Coeur-de-Lion, although a what considerable. few days before the latter beat the former at Darlington, and at the Cleveland show the same season was beaten by Mr. Wood of Stanwick's Champion, an animal which on Thursday last was passed over unnoticed. Such is the fickleness of fortune, the result of negligence, or the incompetence of judges

ascribe it to what you will. Besides Champion, others were never mentioned-Sir Walter Trevelyan's Gipsey Prince, for instance, the Duke of Montrose's Victor Royal, Mr. Thornton of Stapleton's British Yeoman, Mr. Bulmer's Earl Derby 2nd, Mr. Wiley of Brandby's Sir Charles, and Mr. Harrison of Newbiggen's Prince Albert. Lady Pigot's one-year-old heifer Rosedale, which took the principal honour in her class, was considered second only in the yard to Mr. Booth's Queen of the Ocean. With the wonderful loins of old Belleville and the shoulders of Windsor, she looks a remarkably strong and compact beast, and is undoubtedly

a credit of no mean significance to her breeder Mr. Carr, of whom, before she was actually calved, she was bought for 160 guineas, by Lady Pigot. Queen of the May 2nd, which in her class was first at Battersea, had here to succumb to certainly a superior animal, as we think her owner, Mr. Booth, will fairly admit, in Rosedale. Mr. Marjoribank's Winning Witch received high commendation amongst one-year-old heifers, and other exhibitors in the class were Mr. Booth, with Royal Bridesmaid, Mr. Thornton, and Mr. J. W. Pease, of Woodlands, Darlington. Lady Pigot and Mr. Ambler were respectively first and second in bull calves, with Pan by Prince Alfred, and Chinaman-two very sweet, well-made animals. Her ladyship was likewise equally successful with her heifer calf Castianira, which failed not to attract notice at the Royal. The other prizes for shorthorn cattle were taken principally by local exhibiters. This department of the Show constituted a great attraction.

This exhibition derived its chief interest from the fact that the Shorthorns comprised several of the Battersea competitors; and, in looking over the decisions of the judges, we are in some measure taken aback to find that the relative positions of the competing animals in the prize list of the Royal have been reversed. For instance, Whipper-in, the property of Mr. Stewart Marjoribanks, which at Battersea beat Mr. Ambler's Windsor Augustus, was placed second in the class for two-year-old bulls, the chief honour being awarded to the latter. Competing in the same class were Mr. Lambert, of Elrington Hall, Stocksfield, Northumberland; Mr. G. Atkinson, of The Hall Farm, Seaham; Mr. W. Harrison, of Newbiggen, Darlington; Mr. Ambler, with Rifle Prince; and Mr. John Atkinson, of Bywell Hall Farm, Stocksfield. Captain Gunter entered his three illustrious Duchesses 77th, 78th, and 79th in the cow class; only one, the 78th, was noticed, and that simply with "high commendation," although at Durham, as elsewhere, they have previously greatly distinguished themselves. At the last show, if we mistake not, they reached the summit of their proud throne; and the year before, at Bishop Auckland, the 77th was declared to be the best breeder in the yard. They were beaten on Thursday by Mr. Booth's Queen of the Ocean, which, in addition to the first prize in her class at Battersea, carried off the Gold Medal as the best female, and the same gentleman's Queen of the Vale. Lady Pigot's Pride of Southwick, like Captain Gunter's Duchess 78th, was highly commended. Soldier's Bride was also entered, but did not put in an appearance. The gold cup for the best breeding animal in the yard, which in 1860 was won by Capt. Gunter's 77th Duchess, and in 1861 by Mr. Booth's Soldier's Bride, was awarded to Queen of the Ocean; the silver cup to Mr. George Atkinson's Snowdrop. This latter honour, specially confined to tenant farmers, is for the best breeder; and last year at Darlington, as the year before at Bishop Auckland, was carried off by Mr. Jeffrey Bulmer, of Yarm, in the one case with Princess Royal 2nd, in the other with Earl of Derby 2nd. This gentleman endeavoured again to secure the trophy; had he succeeded, it would, according to the conditions, have become his property absolutely. His animal was a fine twoyear-old heifer named Princess Alice 3rd, exceedingly good in condition, and unexceptionable in contour, but she was simply commended in her class, the first and second prizes being awarded respectively to Mr. George Atkinson's Snowdrop and Lady Pigot's Victoria 35th. For the silver cup, of course her ladyship was debarred from entering the lists, and therefore Mr. Bulmer had only to contend with Mr. Atkinson, against whom, we understand, he took exception as being a boná-fide tenant-farmer, from the fact of the farm upon which he is situated being part his property. The best bull of any ageneral satisfaction.

The sheep, horses, and pigs were exceedingly good. Mr. Simpson and Mr. Wiley, as usual, won certain of the prizes amongst sheep. Although, however, both these gentlemen showed shearling rams, it is worthy of notice that they were beaten by a local exhibitor, Mr. James Newhouse, of Caldwell, near Darlington. The chief pig prizes were swamped by Mr. Wainman again. He was first with boars and sows of both large and small breeds. The exhibitors of horses had more fair-play. Mr. Anthony Holburn, of Wolviston, won the first prize of £20, for blood stallions, with Motley by Touchstone, d. Caroline by Lanercost-a lineage of no mean repute. Bondholder, a horse which finds general favour in the district, the property of Mr. Hymers, of Burhope near Stockton, by Flatcatcher, was highly commended. The list comprised eight entries. There were all the celebrities of the district, the progenitors of a numerous, hardy, and useful race-Lancewood, Wingenund, Lammas Day, Farnham, Young Voltigeur, &c. Messrs. Reed, of Beamish, with England's Glory, won the cart stallion prize of £20. A better show of these animals could not well be brought together in any other district. Mr. B. Harrison, of Sadberge, got the £10 prize for hunters. The entire show and the proceedings of the day gave ge

THE BRITISH NORTH AMERICAN COLONIES AS REPRESENTED AT THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

The British North American Colonies have made a noble display of their products at the International Exhibition, and have quite thrown into the shade the United States. Few persons who have not visited our possessions on the other side of the Atlantic could have given them credit for the skill, enterprise, and ingenuity displayed in the various mechanical contrivances and manufactured articles, of which they have sent specimens. But it is not with these that we would deal on the present occasion. We desire rather to call attention to their agricultural products and capabilities, and shall touch upon those of the Lower Provinces, leaving Canada for subsequent notice. It is the first International competition in which the four Colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland have taken part.

The province of New Brunswick we have noticed on some former occasions. The Commissioners of the Colony have sent home very fine specimens of its cereals, pulse, maize, flour, and meals, with agricultural implements made and used in the Colonysuch as mould-board ploughs, horse rakes, and harrows. There is also a good collection of its timber shown rough and manufactured. The amount of land cultivated in New Brunswick does not yet produce anything like a sufficiency of food for the maintenance of the population. This has not been because agriculture | has not been remunerative, but because of the apparently greater inducements held out to the mass of the people by other branches of industry. Lumbering and ship-building, however, are giving place yearly in a greater degree to agriculture. The number of farmers is rapidly on the increase, and a determination seems to have taken hold of every branch of society to leave no efforts untried for the development of this most important this greatest branch of industry.

be better suited for growing the valuable cereals than another, yet everywhere, except on the barrens or in the swamps, fair crops of these may be raised. But no matter where the farmer settles down, if he is careful, industrious, and persevering, he will meet with an ample return for his labour. If the district in which he resides does not produce wheat as abundantly as he may wish, it will yield a good crop of corn; or failing this, buckwheat may be the most remunerative; if neither of these, it will produce potatoes or turnips, or vegetables of some kind in such quantities as will leave him no cause for complaint. In many places crops of all kinds may be raised to great advantage.

With reference to agriculture, there is one thing that, in justice to the soil of North America, or its climate, or both, should not fail to be mentioned. In no matter what part of the country a piece of land may be situated, or how poor it may be, it is capable, by a little labour judiciously disposed, of being brought to a high state of agricultural perfection. As an example, the State of New Hampshire may be cited, justly termed the "Granite State," in consequence of the predominance of granite, which seems to cover its entire surface. Here, upon the solid rock, as it were, are farms that in appearance and productiveness can compare admirably with those of more favoured climes. The "hanging gardens" of Eastern romance are not more marvellous than those apparently bare rocks teeming with vegetable life. This productive power, which the most barren soil in America seems to possess, may be due more to the skill of man than either of the causes mentioned above. It is certain, however, if it does not really exist in the soil, it is capable of being introduced into it.

The province of Nova Scotia, which makes its first appearance in European competition this year, has spared no expense whatever in bringing its resources and products before the general public. Its court, looking at the extent and resource of the colony, contains one of the finest colonial collections in the Exhibition building, every article being well displayed and arranged. The fish, the wood, the minerals, the hor ticultural produce, the animals, are all beautifully shown, and the great moose standing at the entrance is an indication of its whereabouts. Its gold fields have lately brought the colony into more prominent notice; and with regard to expense in exhibiting, the provincial government have given Messrs. Baring Bro

In each county of the Province there is an agricultural society-in some counties more than one-and there has lately been established a Provincial Board of Agriculture, for the purpose of watching and protecting the interests of the farmers generally. The annual reports of these societies speak in high terms of the increase that is taking place in the number of farmers; the improvements made in the qualities of crops, and the interest that is being manifested amongst the farmers; and there is every reason to hope that hundreds and thousands of persons will be induced in a few years to enter upon the valuable lands now lying waste, and improve them; thereby enriching them-thers, the official agents of the colony, carte blanche. selves and benefiting the country.

The farmers of New Brunswick are all, so to speak, in good circumstances. Many of them are rich, and are now enjoying the fruits of their labour of former years. The majority of them are men who commenced life twenty or thirty years ago with literally nothing. They went into the woods; the first clearing they made was of a few yards whereon to build a hut; that done, their clearing has gone on extending year after year (the hut being replaced by a commodious frame house), until now it counts a goodly number of broad acres, whose fertility enables their owner to live in plenty, oblivious of the trials that surrounded his early life, and rejoicing in the prosperity Providence has bestowed upon him through his own exertions.

Although the soils vary, and one kind of land may

Nova Scotia is peculiarly adapted for an agricultural country. The best lands are alluvial, or "dyked marsh," and "intervale." The former are formed by the deposit left by the rapid tides of the Bay of Fundy, which rise in some places to a height of sixty feet.

The fertility of the "dyked marsh" is, it is believed, quite unparalleled. Some of it, such as the Grand Pre (the scene of Longfellow's "Evangeline"), was reclaimed by the Acadian French about two hundred years ago; and there are instances of this species of land having been cultivated for a century without any manure. Uplands top-dressed with this alluvial deposit may be cultivated for twenty years without any manure. "Intervale" land is formed by the deposit of fresh-water rivers, &c., and is exceedingly productive.

Potatoes in Nova Scotia will yield, on an average,

I

DRYING GRAIN.-1856 AND 1862.

There has rarely been a season of harvest in Scotland more calculated than the present to excite the anxiety of the farmer, or to put into peril the interests of the consumer of grain, and it has been difficult to look at the crops of wheat and barley, drenched by the rains in the last days of September and in the commencement of October, and in the best parts of Scotland, without asking the question, whether no means can be found to prevent the food of man being destroyed to such an extent, and the just hopes of the best farmers disappointed? The quality of all grain crops must necessarily depend primarily on the season and sunshine by which they have been ripened; but it rarely happens that the quality and sample would be seriously deficient, if the moment the crops have ripened they could be secured against the subsequent risks of the season. After the period of ripening has come, it may be asked, to what amount of deterioration is the crop liable? It is to be feared that in Scotland, at least in the present year, that amount is very serious. It may be assumed that the quarter of wheat in perfect condition is worth, at the present time, 70s. Its possible deterioration from such a harvest as we have lately had, may be taken at any sum varying from 18. to 30s. a quarter; indeed, if the wheat has sprouted in the field, it is lost as the material of bread, and is saleable only at a low rate for other purposes.

land in the present year, the answer no doubt must be, that over a wide extent, the actual loss incurred far exceeds the cost of the remedy proposed.

It may be stated that an excellent and powerful beating apparatus may be erected for about £40. The cost of separating the corn from the straw is taken at 8s. per acre (assuming five quarters of grain), the probability is, that in practice it would cost less money. I have a strong persuasion that the whole operation would be practically accomplished for less rather than more money than has been estimated, and the larger the scale, the smaller must be the cost of the drying process at all events, something between 4d. and 6d. per bush. Another consideration arises from the successful adoption of this scheme; the present system of thrashing out the wheat crop would be no longer applicable, the process of thrashing would be applied to the ears alone, the straw would no longer pass through the thrashing machine, and consequently a much smaller machine would be required, and much less power to work it. Inasmuch as power and labour are the equivalents of expense, so the discontinuance of powerful machinery and labour implies an important economy in this respect. There would be saved a costly machine, and a costly power of steam or horees, that of water being more rare. The manual labour would be much less, from the less bulky nature of the material to be dealt with; a very light machine would separate the grain from the husk and clear it of the chaff. Here, therefore, would be an important saving to set against the assumed ex tra expense of 3s. 2d. per quarter, or 5d. per bushel. The result or object to be gained seems to be, to place the wheat crop, after it has ripened, in circumstances of certainty and security, independent of all weather, and to secure its quality and sample at the highest standard to which the season may have matured it. There would be no waiting for dry weather to commence the cutting down of the crop-it would be a matter of indifference whether it rained or not during harvest, except as regarded the comfort of persons employed; a new class of labourers would be introduced into the opera tions of harvest, it would no longer be necessary to have the 0 80 most able bodied at bigh wages, the labour would be comparatively light, and could be performed by the weaker and more numerous, without fatigue aud at moderate wages, although, no doubt, the principle of contract would be introduced with advantage, and good wages might and ought to be earned, and 0 80 vigour and despatch secured.

The question is, whether at a cost which it is reasonable to incur, the wheat crop can be saved from the risks of the season, and its quality preserved at that standard of excellence to which the season may have matured it. It is similar to a case of insurance-a sum to be paid to cover a risk-uncertain in its degree, but the insurance certain to cover the loss, whatever it may be. My belief is, that such a system is attainable, and if it be, it ought to have a fair trial. It seems to me that it might consist in the following scheme of operations :1. A field of wheat to be cut the moment it is ripe,

irrespective of the state of the weather, it being immaterial, so far as the crop is concerned, whether it rains or does not rain-to be cut by the scythe, and at a cost of about 8s. per

acre..

2. Each scythe to be followed by about 8 women or
young persons, whose duty it shall be, by
means of a short knife, as the grain falls from
the scythe, to separate the ears from the straw
at the cost of about 8s. per acre
3. The ears of wheat to be immediately put into
sacks or carts properly fitted for the purpose,
and at once carried to a drying house at the
farm buildings.

4. The drying house to be a barn or other building, properly fitted with an apparatus for heating it with currents of dry air, of a temperature of about 120° or 130°. This temperature would expel all water and moisture from the ears of wheat, in four, five, or six hours, according to circumstances, create a condition in which the grain would keep in the husk in the best manner, the sample being the best which the season had produced. All risk is from that moment at an end. The cost of the fuel required for this process could, in no case, it is believed, exceed 1s. per quarter, in many cases only 6d., and labour 6d. or 1s. more; in all per quarter........

Total cost per acre

But from this sum falls to be deducted the cutting down of the crop in the ordinary way, say Total extra expense for 1 acre producing 5 quarters of wheat

Nearly 38. 2d. per qr., or 5d. per bushel.

0 10 0

6 0

0 16 0

It is to be observed that the process of drying by currents of pure and dry and heated air can have no injurious effect on the taste and delicacy of the flour. It is not a process similar to drying in a kiln, by which the taste of grain is affected-the processes are totally dissimilar, except that both produce dryness. In conclusion, I may remark that the agricultural world is at present in pursuit of the important object of reaping by a machine as a substitute for the sickle and scythe, and it seems nearly to be attained. When that object is fully attained, it would only harmonise with the end and object of the present statement. The separation of the ears of wheat from the straw would be readily effected as the crop was laid on the ground by the action of the reaping machine-its position would give every facility for the operation. The substitution of machinery for manual labour would liberate a greater number of persons for the various parts of a new system of harvest operations. The complete success of the reaping machine would only facilitate the success of the drying system, which I am desirous to bring under consideration. October, 1856.

A LANDLORD.

Since 1856 a vast progress has been made towards perfecting a reaping machine; indeed it may be said that it is an es0 10 0 tablished implement in farming. The object of drying grain by heated air seems, therefore, to have made an advance also. Can it not now make a still further progress? Can a reaper not be found to cut the ears off the crop without the intervention of manual labour, leaving the straw to be afterwards cut by the scythe? It seems to be a most important object to secure the highest quality of grain in all seasons, June, 1862,

This sum is to be placed against the possible deterioration in the quality and consequent money value of grain exposed to all the vicissitudes of weather. Is it reasonable to cover a risk and secure a certainty at this cost? In the case of Scot

SALE OF THE HOLME PIERREPONT RAMS.

The wo middle months of the great International year will always be memorable in farming annals, as having witnessed the first English congress of animals of all nations, and the dispersion of our finest flocks of Leicesters and Southdowns. We have not, however, the pleasure of recording that Mr. Sanday is only selling his celebrated flock with a view to establishing another herd of shorthorns. No new arrivals supply the places of the Fame and Garland tribes which Mr. Strafford dispersed in October; and the only remnant of that sale, an Old Foggathorpe heifer, died in calving during the Battersea week. The Leicester flock takes its departure in three divisions. Seventy-two rams were sold on Wednesday; thirty more, which were not quite forward enough to bring into a sale ring, and about 240 ewes, follow in the second week of September; and about 160 shearlings, ewes, and rams, a great portion of which are by the Battersea gold-medal sheep, complete the clearing out next summer: and then Mr. Sanday and "George" will be, in truth, a general and a colonel without the army with which they have fought and won such rich spoils in many a battle-royal.

Notts seems to have been pretty well favoured in its hay time; and although we encountered a heavy pourdown on our road, things promised well for the sale, both as regards weather and attendance, when we met the Yorkshire division at Grantham. It had been rumoured that Sir Tatton Sykes intended once more to revisit the spot where he purchased his first lot of ewes from Mr. Sanday's father, nearly seventy years ago, and to which for the first fifty years of the century he had been so constant each summer; but the venerable baronet did not appear in person, and it is not his custom to buy by proxy. Spain, however, furnished what Sledmere denied in the Marquis of Peralles and Don Constantius Ardanus, Director of Agriculture"; but we need hardly say that the rash and mysterious "nobleman," who makes expensive purchases, and never seems, either from lack of money or paternal acres, to take them home, did not deem it wise to confer his invisible presence on the assembly. Sixteen counties furnished their crack flockmasters for "a last word" with Mr. Strafford. Yorkshire sent ten, Nottinghamshire seven, Warwickshire four, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, and Devonshire three, and Northamptonshire and Cornwall two, and the rest one each. Mr. Thunder did not cross the Channel this July, but county Cork was embodied to some purpose in Messrs. Briscoe and Meade.

The ring was pitched on the same spot as that selected for the shorthorns; and "George," as master of the ceremonies, had brought down the two Battersea pens of theaves and some of his choicest flock matrons into the meadow, to give us a foretaste of September. One of them lay apart in splints, and, as capricious Fortune would have it, she proved to be the dam of the gold medal two-shear. Barring the absence of the shorthorn men, and about half the company of that day, the tent preliminaries differed in no way from those in October; and Mr. Torr, the president, was in as good form as the Nottingham Eleven, when they routed Cambridgeshire a week before, at Trent Bridge. In proposing Mr. Sanday's health, he well said that in his hands 66 the Leicesters of Burgess had lost none of their excel

lence or purity"; and in returning thanks for himself, he advised those who "thought it was so easy to breed rams to try and do it, and, when they had done it, to get other people to judge them."

It was nearly two o'clock before Mr. Strafford mounted his waggon and called for the first shearling, with the preliminary announcement that ten guineas in every case must be the opening bid. The third-prize "the waggoners" were uncommonly busy; and Mr. shearling at Battersea did not long lack a bidder, as Borton got him at 40 gs. In point of gaiety and form he was not equal to the first-prize one; but in quality of mutton and amount of fleece he decidedly beat him, and in the latter respect his 11 lbs. placed him at the head of the shearlings. Mr. Hall, jun., took the lead, and kept it, for No. 2 (25 gs.); and then "George" ushered in the prize shearling. Mr. Briscoe led off for him, and the bid rested with him at 30. Mr. Lees then put on another guinea; and scarcely had the last sand run out, when Mr. Briscoe, who (by a remarkable process of reasoning) ascribed his absence of mind to the tioneer, went up with a rush to 35. The disappointpresence of a grey body between himself and the aucmens did not seem to prey upon him much; and when "Mr. C. Wright, 24 gs.," and "Mr. G. Turner, jun., 20 gs.," had been entered against a couple, there was some sharp firing over Lot 6; but Mr. Hall's mind was made up, and "the G A dam by M Y" shearling of nice old character became his for 28 gs. The next lot brought out Mr. Beaseley, jun., who had the fullest scope, from his front position, for bidding by sight as well as sound; and he and Northamptonshire would not be shaken off. Mr. George Mann, brotherin-law to Mr. Sanday, took the next lot, "gr. g. d. by Burgess's Fatbeck," for 20 gs., to Scawsby; and then Mr. Singleton, after an escape "by a sand" of having his 26-guinea bid affirmed, got No. 9 at 2 gs. beyond it. There was nothing to mark Mr. G. Wood's 22-guinea closer for No. 10; but with No. 11 Spain-which stood in a cluster, leaning against the hurdles - showed her hand successfully at 18 gs. No. 12 was a great, good sheep, related through its grandam to "the 111guinea sheep ;" and "W. Hurlstone, 42 gs.," was the return of the struggle over it. After Lot 15, the average stood at about 26 gs. On went the bookentries-Scott 21 gs., Briscoe 16 gs. ("thick and cheap," as his friends assured him), Dester 15 gs.rather slowly, till a commended shearling, with remarkably good wool, was marched round the ring, and put in at 20 gs. Mr. Luke Borman was always handy for it; and at 45 gs. he had shaken off all his opponents, and gave in Mr. Torr's name as purchaser. Mr. Meade, of county Cork, then went in at 26 gs. The Spaniards followed twice in succession at 16 gs. and 13 gs.; and two more shearlings, each at 15 gs., completed their business for the day. Biddings, which had rather drooped, began in earnest at the sight of the last shearling (No. 30); but Mr. Hawkes, of Ratcliffe, stuck to his text, and the son of LX, dam by C S, will not go far from "the classic land" (we again quote the President)" of his birth, nurture, and disposal." So much for the shearlings; and the quickest calculators said, "Not quite 24 gs. for 30!"

With the two-shears matters mended, and Mr. Turner, jun., soon showed fight for No. 31, a very fat one at 20 gs. "He was let for 61 gs.," said Mr. Torr; "65 gs.," interposed George, "Mr. Hall had him,"