nearly £200 over the sum subscribed by the Belfast committee last year. Of the prize money thus specified, £134 were allocated to shorthorns, horses £400, sheep £195, swine £60, with equally inviting prizes in the departments of poultry, farm and dairy produce. There are also prizes offered by the South-West Agricultural Society-the dairy cows prizes, the first being 25 sovs., and the second 10 sovs., for the best lot of five dairy cows of any age or breed which have been bona fide milked in a regular dairy establishment in the season of 1862. The same society offer the Fitzwilliam Walsh Challenge Cup, value £50, to be competed for by its own members for the best animal in the neat cattle classes, which, in the opinion of the judges, possesses most merit. There is also the Fitzgerald Challenge Cup, the Croker Challenge Cup, value £50, for the best weight-carrying thoroughbred stallion, the Cork Challenge Cup, of equal value, for the best shearling rams in classes F and G, and the Farmers' Gazette Challenge Cup, value £50, for the most useful and varied collection of agricultural implements.

As usual, the shorthorns formed the chief feature in the live stock department. The perfection to which this valuable class of farm animals has been brought was more than illustrated to those who gave a retrospective glance at the type of animals of the same class exhibited at Limerick in the year 1846, on which occasion the Royal Agricultural Society held the fifth show of its formation in that city. Amongst the magnificent animals exhibited on the present occasion are Soubadar, Lord John Russell, Sir Colin, and Little Wonder, Soubadar takes all the honours open for competition in his class. He is well known as the champion of the Irish shows, inasmuch as he has never been beaten wherever exhibited. He is an animal of spotless lineage and symmetry, and deserving of all the trophies which on this and on other occasions have been awarded him. He was calved in February, 1859, and is by the Prince of Warlaby, dam Lily by Baron Warlaby.

Lord John Russell, the winner at Belfast last year, and commended at Leeds, was here passed over unnoticed; as was Sir Colin, though at the show in Cork in 1860, as well as at one of the shows of the Royal Dublin Society, he occupied the proud position which has this year been occupied by Soubadar. The second prize in this section was, after considerable and careful deliberations on the part of the judges, awarded to Little Wonder, the property of Mr. F. W. Low, Co. Tipperary. The first prize in the yearling shorthorn bulls fell also to a descendant of Soubadar, -Jemindar, calved in April, 1861, bred by and in the possession of Mr. William Coppinger, Carrigtowkel, Cork.

The judges, in awarding the gold medal for the best of all the prize bulls in the yard, experienced considerable hesitation ere deciding between the individual points of merit in sire and son as to which the palm ought to be adjudged, and we understand the decision in Soubadar's favour was ultimately agreed upon, on the ground that the sire of so promising and majestic a progeny, had established the bes: proof of his own excellence, and that this circumstance, which is a very reasonable one, influenced the award made.

In the section of two-year-old bulls the competition was more formidable, though the entries were comparatively few. The well-known character of the herds of the Marquis of Waterford, Lord Talbot-de-Malahide, Mr. Thomas Barnes (Moynalty), and Captain Ball, was creditably represented, and the competing animals bought out to the very best advantage. The first prize in this section fell to the lot of Victor Emmanuel-a splendid roan of respectable lineage, and numbers amongst his ancestors the well-known bull Prince Duke

the 2nd. His colour is much in his favour, his shape uniformly good, he handles mellow, and on the whole is a promising and useful bull.

Lord of Athelstane, the property of Lord Clarina, to whom the Fitzgerald Challenge Cup was adjudged, as being the best bull entered for that prize, is a very stylish animal, descended from the Lamp of Lothian, and bred by Mr. Crosbie, of the County Kerry.

The bull calves, though few in number, maintain their position for excellence and purity, and form a very interesting adjunct in connection with the show.

Passing from the male to the female class we come to some animals of established fame, and of the choicest pedigree. First in this lot Recherché becomes conspicuous, not because of the many prizes awarded her, but of her matchless beauty in every particular. She was calved in June 1859, and produced a live calf in January last. Her laurels on this occasion consist of ten sovereigns, as being the best female animal in her class; the gold medal, as being the best of all the prize cows; and the Fitzwilliam Walsh Challange Cup (value £50), as being the best cow suited for dairy purposes within the district. Last year she occupied a similar position in Belfast, as well as at the Royal Dublin Society's show in April last. Captain Ball, the owner and breeder of this valuable animal, has been equally successful in obtaining several first prizes in the various Shorthorn departments of the exhibition, viz. 1st, in the section of bull calves; 2nd, in the heifer calves; and three first prizes for his aged heifers in calf or giving milk.

Mr. Welsted, of Ballywater, Co. Cork, exhibits three pure shorthorn heifers, calved in 1861, which do credit to his skill and judgment as a breeder, as well as proving remunerative to his enterprise as an exhibitor. British Queen and Aunt Anne, shown by this gentleman, though awarded only 2nd and 3rd places of merit, would be often entitled to higher and more substantial recognitions. In this section the first prize is awarded to Pride of Munster, an animal defective in some points, which are better and more evenly developed than in the 2nd prize beast, and in this opinion we are justified by the testimony of some acknowledged judges of shorthorns. In this adjudication, as well as in the Ayrshire class, section 17, there are many established breeders, who would be differently guided by the characteristic points from which the judges differed in making their awards in these two instances.

Of the remainder of the horned-stock classes no particular comment need be offered further than that the exhibitor. entries were few, in some cases confined to the same

Mr.

character of the exhibition, as did also the display of The show of sheep formed a redeeming feature in the horses, which was an exceedingly creditable one. George Turner, late of Barton, must have been well repaid for his trip from his success with the Leicesters; and Mr. Beale Browne's Cotswolds were again in force in Ireland. W. Hamilton had it all his own way, he having In the Shropshire Downs Mr. Charles nearly all the prizes in the sections in which he comon this, as well as on many previous occasions, obtained peted. Sheep-farming in Ireland has been rapidly increasing, and the individual merits, constitutional fitness, and general superiority of the various breeds of sheep are subjects engaging the greatest amount of interest amongst sheep-farmers. On this branch of rural industry, as on many others pertaining to Irish farming, a division of opinion prevails as to the peculiar adaptation of any particular breed or crosses to the soil, climate, and other circumstances; and in these days, when the shepherd's crook takes the place of the ploughshare, graziers would do well to investigate the indivi

dual suitability of the many classes of the fleecy flocks now introduced to their notice, and from which they purpose selecting costly animals for the purpose of improving those already in their possession.

Though the show of horses was not so numerically strong as at Belfast last year, yet the principal prize animals of the Belfast show stand here in precisely the same order of merit and success as that occupied by them at the National Show in Belfast last year. Mr. Forshaw, of Loftus Hall, Lancashire, sent over his Welsh bred agricultural stallion, Brown Stout, who wins the 1st prize of 25 BOVS. and the Society's cup value 50 sovereigns, the second prize falling to the cob Lord Clyde, the property of Mr. John Mills, co. Dublin. The Croker challenge cup, value 50 sovereigns, for the best weight-carrying thorough-bred stallion, was adjudged to a four-year-old, Young Captain, belonging to Mr. Lane, co. Cork.

The exhibition of pigs was, as regards numbers, considerably under the average; but of the general excellence of the Windsors, Yorkshires, and coloured breeds, with which the styes were tenanted, there can be no question.

The implement show was quite adjacent to the cattle yards-communicating passages leading from one to the other. There was no public trial of implements held, nor were the grounds on which they were displayed very largely frequented, owing to its surface being so much torn up from the combined effects of heavy rains and traffic. There were 50 exhibitors in this class, and altogether the items, in extent, quality, and workmanship, were of the highest order of merit. Every conceivable appliance purporting to expedite and economise farm labour was shown, and farmers requiring to purchase implements suited to their wants and requirements could experience little difficulty in making a selection. These were mowers, reapers, steam and horse power thrashing machines, rakes, tedders, steam engines, ploughs, grubbers, harrows, rollers, hay, straw, and chaff cutters, furze, bone, cake, and grain mills, with innumerable other descriptions of modern inventions too numerous to specify and too tedious to detail.

The fifty-guinea challenge cup offered by the Messrs. Purdon, proprietors of the Irish Farmers' Gazette, for the "largest and most useful collection of farm implements," whether shown by maker or agent, was awarded to Messrs. M'Kenzie, of Cork, for a collection consisting of 98 distinct items. Competition for this cup is open to all comers, whether inventors or agents, provided the simple conditions under which it is now offered are complied with.

The Society also offer six silver medals, to be awarded by the judges, for any new or highly improved implements that may be brought under their notice, and which may be considered by them as deserving of some special marks of commendation.

(C

Cows in-Calf or in-Milk.-First prize £10, to J. Christy (Queen of Beauty). Second £5, to J. Christy (Jenny Jenkins).

Heifer In-Calf or In-Milk, not exceeding Three Years Old.-First prize £10, to Thomas Ball (Récherché). Second £5, to Sir Robert Paul, Bart. (Evening).

Heifers not exceeding Two Years Old.-First prize £10, to Thomas Ball (Pride of Adare). Second £5, to James Anderson (Avenel).

Heifers under Two Years Old.-First prize £15, to Thomas Ball (Queen of Beauty 3rd). Second £10, to Richard Welsted (British Queen). Third £5, to Richard Welsted (Aunt Anne).

Heifers under One-year-old.-First prize £5, to Thomas Ball (Wood Flower). Second £2, to Thomas Ball (Pink of Fashion).

PRIZE LIST.

SHORTHORNS.

JUDGES.-T. Parkinson, Hexgreave, Southwell. W. Sanday, Holmepierrepont, Notts. Bulls above Two Years Old-First prize £10, to Wm. Coppinger, Co. Cork (Soubadar). Second £5, to Francis Low (Little Wonder).

Bulls not exceeding Two Years Old.-First prize £10, to Lord Talbot (Victor Emmanuel). Second £5, to Marquis of Waterford (King of Hearts).

Bulls not exceeding One-Year-Old.-First prize £10, to William Coppinger (Jemindar). Second £5, to the Marquis of Waterford (Field Marshal 2nd).

Bulls under One-year-old-First prize £5, to Thomas Ball, Malahide (Royal Ranger). Second £2, to Richard Welsted (Ethelred).

OTHER BREEDS.

JUDGES.-Seymour Mowbray.

M. Murray.

G. Hewson.

Yearling Rams. First prize £15, to George Turner, Exeter. Second £10, to M. Longfield, Co. Cork. Third £5, to William Owen, Blessinton,

Rams of any other age.-First prize £10, to George Tur: ner. Second £5, to William Owen, Third £3, to W. Meade.

Five Shearling Ewes.-First prize £10, to Thomas Morris, Lincolnshire. Second £5, to W. Meade, Co. Cork. Five Lambs.-First prize £5, to Livingston Thompson, Co. Wicklow,

SMALL BREED.

Boars under eighteen months.-First prize £5, to George Langtry (Yorkshire). Second £3, no merit. Boars over eighteen months.-No merit.

Breeding Sows.-First prize £4, to Commissioners of National Education (Windsor). Second £2, to George Langtry (Windsor).

Breeding Sows over eighteen months, First prize £3,
to Thomas Franks (Windsor), Second £2, no merit.
DAIRY PRODUCE.
JUDGES. J. Byrne,

W. Fetherstonhaugh,
J. McDonald.

BUTTER,

Forrest.
Firkins of Butter above 65lbs.-First prize £4, to Thos.
Thomas Forrest.
Second £3, to Daniel Driscoll, Third £2, to

CHEESE. Cheeses over 20lb.-First prize £4, to Robert Gordon. Second £2, to S. D. Stuart.

Mill-scutched Flax in bundles over 161b.-First prize £3, to David Patten, Second £2 to E. Smyth,

IMPLEMENTS.
JUDGES, D. A. Milward,
R. C. Wade,

The Irish Farmers' Gazelle challenge cup for the best collection of implements, to T. McKenzie, Cork. Highly commended, Gray, Belfast.

SILVER MEDALS TO

J. Walsh, Stedolt, for furze bruiser. Barrett, Exall, & Andrewes, Reading, for corn elevator. O'Neill, Athy, for Clayton's corn elevator. implements (not in competition). Commended Garrett, Leiston, Suffolk, for stand of

THE DINNER,

Nearly three hundred members guests, exhibitors, and others interested in the welfare of the Society-dined together on the evening of the day of the show, The speeches delivered on the occasion were of the usual routine character. How ever, his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant, who attended at the banquet as the guest of the Society, and who had minutely examined the general produce of the show, made the following observations in reply to the toast of his health in connection with the prosperity of Ireland: "I believei n the show of this year there is very much to approve and to applaud, except, indeed, in point of weather (Hear). I believe, too, that with respect to the number of cattle exhibited, a county with which I am connected, the county of York, may have had some share in diminishing the numbers exhibited on this occasion; the show in that county, which has great attractions for all the

north of England, being held in this very week (Hear, hear). There can be no doubt that in point of quality there has been a most valuable exhibition of stock, and I believe it will be admitted on all sides that most just praise is due to the produce of your dairy farms, and your sheepfolds, too. During all my earlier visits to the meetings of the Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland, I have been enabled to use the almost unqualified language of gratulation and hopefulness. Seasons had been favourable, produce had been on the increase, and crime was greatly diminished. The Ireland of the present seems scarcely to be the same as the Ireland of the past, and there were hardly any limits to the glowing anticipations we might form respecting the Ireland of the future. In many points on this occasion I am compelled to take a soberer and more chastened view, especially with reference to one topic, which I cannot omit to mention; but having done which, I will at once dismiss, both because it is the most painful of all, and one which has only an indirect connection with the object of the present meeting. I allude to the reappearance of crime. Old crimes, which we had fondly flattered ourselves had been nearly extinguished and well nigh forgotten, have showed their horrid front again amongst our rural population. Even the soil of this county has been reddened with blood. Though in this county it has been happily avenged-perhaps happily' was not the word to use-I will say rightfully avenged (applause). I need not point out to you that agrarian crime, if suffered to remain unchecked, would prove a worse enemy to the progress of agriculture, even in its strict and narrower sense, than either blight, or drought, or rain, or storm, or the worst enemy of the seasons (laughter). Of the enmity of the seasons there has no doubt been of late no lack. From the year 1852 to 1858 there have been in Ireland a series of remarkably favourable seasons. Since 1858 we have suffered from a series entirely the reverse. In 1859, we suffered from drought. In 1860-61, and up to the 6th August, 1862, we are suffering from deluge (Hear). Now, these fluctuations of the season we have always been liable to in Ireland, and always, I fear, must be. They are mainly owing to the geographical position of the country, which we cannot hope to shift or change (laughter). I am aware that fault has been found with me once and again for dwelling upon the superior adaptation of the country to purposes of pasture and the rearing of cattle, and so seeming by implication to discourage tillage and the growth of crops. Now, no one could refuse to give to tillage and the growth of crops their proper opportunity and their proper sphere; but, surely, it is the part of a prudent man to take things as they are, and to follow the indisputable law of nature. It is undoubtedly true that for a late season or two there has been a material falling-off in what may be termed the general agricultural income of the country; but it is as

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true, and can he proved from authentic documents, that this decrease has fallen upon tillage and crops, whereas the value of stock has actually increased (Hear). I am sure you will excuse me for pointing your attention to this subject, which does seem to be entitled to your most serious attention; and it appears to me to establish incontrovertibly that in Ireland stock is the most steady and permanent part of our rural income (cheers), I think we should be quite wrong to consider that the increase of cattle necessarily leads to the decrease of tillage (renewed applause). Modern husbandry has introduced stall-feeding-stall-feeding increases manure, which is the surest staple of tillage (Hear); and I believe it to be true, notwithstanding the decrease for the last few years in the value of crops, still, that all the processes and methods of agriculture in Ireland are exhibiting continued improvement (Hear). Much capital has been devoted to drainage; and whether we consider the character of the crops, the soil, or the climate, there is no doubt that agricultural speculation could not take a more beneficial direction. Now this process of drainage naturally gives room for the introduction of improved implements, such as we saw with pleasure at the showyard today (Hear, hear), by which, being enabled to conduct all the operations of agriculture more rapidly, we may render ourselves less dependent on climate or weather (Hear, hear); or, in the literal words of the old proverb, we may be thus enabled to "make hay while the sun shines" (cheers). I am aware to what disadvantage the cutting of hay and corn, and the stacking of turf, must be exposed in some of the rainy seasons with which we are so often visited, but I cannot help thinking that by a more vigilant and determined attention to such opportunities as present themselves, even in the most untoward seasons, a great deal of that which is now lost might be made comparatively safe (cheers). I have admitted, then, that there is certainly something of gloom in the circumstances which have of late surrounded us; but I feel sure that every lesson borrowed both from past, the present, and the future, warns us against giving way to despondency (Hear). Even now, in many crops and in many districts, there are manifest signs of progress and improvement (applause). I earnestly trust that a fine autumn may give us a turning-point in the character of the late seasons (Hear). There are some, though I cannot pretend to dive into their mysteries, who, from magnetic and electrical observations, feel justified in assuming that they will be able to ascertain more accurately those general laws which regulate the character of the seasons and the weather; but I trust that, in any case, the agriculturists of Ireland will profit by experience in the same way in which they so largely did after the disastrous period which intervened from 1845 to 1849,"

looking bull, but with not the best of backs, won the first prize against Mr. Wilson's Golden Horn, and a weak lot; and if Mr. Simpson beat Mr. Wiley with his shearling and aged rams, the veteran had his revenge with a capital pen of gimmers. "The Tenant Farmers'" entries as a whole did no credit to Cleveland, and it was strange how some of them could ever have been sent into the yard at all. The fowls were middling; but the winning lot of twelve eggs were perfectly wonderful for their size and texture.

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considerable time to judge, and Mr. Percy Williams lent his assistance to the bench, which consisted of Messrs. Oldaker of London, Hutchinson of Catterick, and Bradshaw of Ganthorpe. We believe that a finer array of hunters than these 42 has seldom if ever been in one show-yard, and the hedge and timber jumps were a great feature in the afternoon's entertainment, and made people quite forget the rain of the last two hours. In the four year-old-class the York decision was reversed, and the white card was given to Mr. John Booth's Beechwood, but with nothing for Mr. Hall's bay gelding. This is the seventh prize that Beechwood won, including that for the three-year-old hunter at the Leeds Royal, but he was not noticed at Battersea, Two chesnuts, Mr. George Pearson's Shamrock and Mr. Jewison's First Whip, contended very closely in the next class, but the leaping of Shamrock, who was beautifully ridden by his owner, decided the point in his favour. Captain Hankey's Stainburn (bred we believe by Mr. Dalzell, the coursing judge), and the

has

SIR,-We hear very much now-a-days about the use and necessity of agricultural statistics, but I cannot think the acreage of the crops grown will be of much service to the country provided some system be not adopted for ascertaining the yield per acre.

There having been such a system employed on this farm for many years by my predecessor, Mr. G. W. Baker, and carried on by myself, I think, were it wider known, that it would be of some little service to farmers themselves, did they like to take the small amount of trouble entailed upon them by it, and by that means they would themselves know how their crops were, and also form some opinion as to future range of prices.

Should ever agricultural statistics be the law of the land, and a few farmers in each district adopt this plan, I think we might then arrive at some just conclusion as to what quantity of corn the previous harvest may have produced; but without some means of ascertaining the produce per acre, I do not think the mere returns of the acreage of each crop will be of any service.

The modus operandi is as follows: In harvest during the cutting of the wheat I am very particular, and have all the shocks or stooks made of the same size, that is, they consist of the same number of sheaves, generally 10; and just before the crop is ready for carting I go round (myself generally), or send a trusty man, and stick upon each "hundredth" shock a bough or something else to distinguish it from the rest, so that when the corn is carted these shocks are easily seen by the men and left behind, to be carried and put in a barn or hovel by themselves.

They are then after harvest thrashed and dressed separately, and give the "one hundredth" part of the whole crop, which the returns given below of the last 12 years will show have been sometimes marvellously

near.

Hon. Mr. Duncombe's Easby and Gorsehill were the three last in for the aged class, and when Stainburn, whose leaping was worthy of his cool handling, had been marked for first, it was some time before the judges finally fixed their affections on Gorsehill (bred by Sir Tatton Sykes, and well known on the turf in his day) for second. The Clevelands were very creditable to the district from which they derive their name, aud Mr. Holmes's Polly the second at Battersea defeated a good field of brood mares. Mr. Hymers won in the three-yearold hunting gelding class with “ Soapy Sam" by Bondholder, whose stock were successful in several classes; Mr. Manfield had a promising first prize yearling coaching gelding by his Spencer; and the hunting foal prize went to one of the five Farnhams amongst its twenty-three youngsters. We must not forget to add that at the luncheon, Mr. Tom Parrington was presented by the Society with a timepiece, in acknowledgment of his eleven years' arduous service as secretary.

The harvest of 1856, Mr. Baker writes me, never could be accounted for; but there was, he says, evidently some error somewhere. That of 1860 being as most farmers know "the wet" harvest, the shocks had to be moved three or four times, and therefore became irregular-hence the deficiency; but for the remaining 10 years I think the returns made will prove to any man, who may wish to know the yield of his wheat crop, that it can be done without costing him one shilling extra.

The average error of the whole 12 years amounts to 1 bushel 24 pecks per acre, and 6 years out of the time the estimate was not 1 bushel per acre out.

I can take no credit to myself for this system, as I found it here 4 years ago, but I believe to Mr. Baker is due the credit of having first employed it. I intend taking particular pains with the crop of this year, and will let you know the result as soon after harvest as possible, and should any of my brother-farmers in corn-growing districts think proper to take the trouble to test the forthcoming wheat crop, I shall be very glad to give them any other information upon the subject that they may require, and hope it may be found of a little use to them. I am, sir, yours truly, Woburn Park Farm, Aug. 1, 1862. ESTIMATED

JOHN COLEMAN.

AND ACTUAL QUANTITIES OF WHEAT, FROM 1850 TO 1861.