been received for the prizes, amounting to 60%, offered by the Society for cream separators, the trials of which will commence on Wednesday, June 14, in the Dairy in the Showyard. Seven entries have been received for the prize of 50l. offered by the Society for the best machine for washing hops with liquid insecticides, the trials of which will take place in a hop garden in the neighbourhood of Maidstone on Friday, June 16. No entry has been received for the prize offered by the Maidstone Local Committee for the best machine for the evaporation of fruit and vegetables. Six entries have been made for the two prizes of 5l. for the best package for the carriage of hard and soft fruit respectively, also offered by the Local Committee. A total of 49 "New Implements" have been entered for the Society's Silver Medals. 8. In the live-stock department there are 1,885 entries, as compared with 2,323 at Birmingham last year, 2,688 at Manchester in 1897, and 1,883 at Leicester in 1896. At the Maidstone Meeting there will be 424 entries of horses, as compared with 709 at Birmingham last year; 683 cattle, as compared with 792; 631 sheep, as compared with 624; and 147 pigs, as compared with 198 at Birmingham. 9. In the other departments of the Maidstone Meeting, there are 669 entries of poultry, 121 of butter, 74 of cheese, 104 of cider and perry, 62 of hops, 6 of preserved fruit and vegetables, and 258 of hives, honey, &c. The Judging of the Poultry and Produce will take place on Saturday, June 17; but the Poultry and Produce Sheds will not be opened to the public until Monday, June 19. There will be daily demonstrations in the Showyard by Mr. Edward Brown of the housing, feeding, plucking, and trussing of poultry for the table. Daily demonstrations of butter and cream and fancy cheese making will also be made by Miss F. Coward in the Dairy. For the prizes offered for shoeing light and heavy horses, open to shoeing-smiths in any part of the United Kingdom, 55 entries have been received. 10. As already mentioned, the Country Meeting of 1900 will be held on the Knavesmire, in the city of York; and the Council are happy to announce that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has graciously added to his many favours to the Society by consenting to be placed in nomination for the Presidency of that year, "in order to show the great interest which he takes in everything relating to agriculture.' 11. For the Meeting of 1901 (which will be held in District F, consisting of the counties of Gloucester, Hereford, Monmouth, Salop, Stafford, Warwick, Worcester, and of South Wales) an invitation has already been received from the Mayor and Corporation of Cardiff, and such invitation will shortly receive the formal consideration of the Council. 12. In their December report, mention was made by the Council of a further letter addressed by them to the Local Government Board, urging the importance of issuing without delay Model Regulations as to Dairies and Cowsheds which should carry into effect the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Tuberculosis, and thus place this very important question upon a more satisfactory basis. The Model Regulations on the subject, prepared by the Local Government Board, have now been issued to District Councils, and it is highly satisfactory to the Council that a differentiation has been made by the Board between the requirements as to cubic air-space in cowsheds in towns and cowsheds in the country. But, as they have pointed out to the Board, there are considerable areas included in Urban districts which are to all intents and purposes in the country, and the cowsheds in which are occupied by cows that "are habitually grazed on grass land during the greater part of the year, and when not so grazed are habitually turned out during a portion of each day"-this being in effect the distinction between town and country drawn by the Board in the Model Regulations. 13. In many districts, regulations are already in force which are unnecessary and unduly restrictive in the case of rural cowsheds occupied by cows turned out as above; notwithstanding which, such cowsheds are subject to the same restrictions as town cowsheds by reason of being included in the area of an urban district. In the Board's Circular of March 11 last, Local Authorities were invited to consider the new Model Clauses "in connection with any fresh Regulations or amendment of the existing code which the District Council may propose to make." But unless some further action were taken by the Board, it appeared to the Council that considerable hardship might be caused to farmers living in districts technically urban where Regulations now exist imposing upon every cowshed, wherever situated, the necessity of an uniform minimum cubic air-space per cow. The Council therefore suggested to the Board that it should be made clear to Local Authorities, by means of a further circular or otherwise, that in the opinion of the Board the power which Local Authorities possess of making regulations as to dairies, cowsheds, and milkshops, under Article 13 of the Order of 1885, should be regarded as subject to the limitations contained in the Board's Circular of March 11, 1899; and that if regulations are now in force in any district which are in excess of the requirements laid down in the recent Circular, the District Council should be invited to bring its local regulations into harmony with the new Model Regulations of the Local Government Board. 14. The Local Government Board have expressed their inability to undertake to issue such a circular; but have pointed out that "if the existing Regulations in any particular district were felt to be onerous, it would be open to the dairy farmers to approach the Local Authority on the subject, with a view to their considering the question of modifying the Regulations on the lines of the Board's Model Code." Under these circumstances, it does not appear that any useful purpose would be served by the Society again addressing the Local Government Board on the subject; but with reference to the paragraph quoted above from the final letter of the Board, the Council think the attention of landlords, dairy farmers, and others may well be directed to Section 14 (3) of the Order in Council of June 15, 1885, under which : If at any time the Local Government Board are satisfied on inquiry, with respect to any regulation, that the same is of too restrictive a character, or otherwise objectionable, and direct the revocation thereof, the same shall not come into operation, or shall thereupon cease to operate, as the case may be. If, therefore, in any particular case the owner or occupier of a rural cowshed considers that the existing Regulations of the Local Authority are too restrictive in character in their application to his own cowshed, it appears to be open to him to appeal to the Local Government Board for an inquiry, with a view to the revocation of such by-law or the exemption of his cowshed from its operation. 15. In view of the great public interest which is at present displayed in the subject of the prevention of Tuberculosis, the Council have thought it desirable to issue a leaflet on Tuberculosis in Dairy Stock, some 12,000 copies of which have already been circulated amongst farmers, land agents, veterinary surgeons, County Council authorities, and others. A Welsh edition of this leaflet has also been put into circulation. A further leaflet has been issued on the subject of Quarter Evil, or Symptomatic Anthrax, and the existing leaflet dealing with Epizootic Abortion in Cows has been revised. Copies of any of these leaflets will be forwarded post free on application to the Secretary. 16. During the last six months the outbreaks of Anthrax have been almost the same in number as during the corresponding period of 1897-98. There has been a sensible decline in the prevalence of Glanders, both in respect of the number of outbreaks and of animals attacked; but Swine Fever has increased rather than diminished. The most gratifying feature of the period has been the decline of Rabies, which the existing Regulations have apparently brought to the verge of extermination, only two cases having been notified since September 1898. Since the autumn of last year a remarkable epizootic disease has prevailed among the dogs in the South of England. Reports show that it has also made its appearance in several towns on the Continent of Europe. The disease is new to veterinary literature, but there are grounds for believing that it has been in existence for an indefinite time among dogs in India, and that it has been imported thence into Europe. 17. The number of morbid specimens forwarded during the past half-year to the Department of Comparative Pathology and Bacterio logy established at the Royal Veterinary College by the aid of a grant from the Society was 216, and during the same period 1,751 doses of mallein were supplied gratis to veterinary surgeons for use in the diagnosis of glanders. Some experiments regarding the curative effects of mallein and the possibility of rendering horses immune against glanders, and others regarding the cause of pneumonia in the horse, have been instituted and are still in progress. 18. The number of samples submitted by members for analysis by the Consulting Chemist has been somewhat less than last year. From December 1, 1898 to April 30, 1899, 425 samples have been sent, as against 510 in 1898 and 431 in 1897 for the same period. The reports issued from time to time by the Chemical Committee continue to bring out matters of considerable importance to members of the Society. 19. At the Woburn Farm, experiments have been conducted during the winter or the early feeding to bullocks of mangels in lieu of swedes, with the view of ascertaining what can best prevent the "scouring" effects attributable to mangolds if fed to stock before Christmas. An experiment on the use of gorse for fattening sheep has also been carried out. The corn crops of 1898 have been threshed and separately valued by experts, as was done last year. 20. The second year of the experiments at the Woburn "Pot Culture" Station has now been entered upon, and the investigations contemplated under the Hills' Bequest are being continued. Meteorological observations have been continuously made since October last, and the records duly returned to the Meteorological Office. 21. The Grass experiments instituted by the Society in different parts of the country are being carried on, certain changes in the manurial treatment at some of the stations having been made by the instructions of the Chemical Committee. 22. The quality of the seeds examined by the Consulting Botanist during the past half-year has been satisfactory. The fungal injuries to plants include the reappearance of Sclerotinia trifoliorum, which practically destroyed a field of red clover in the Midlands, but the attack of this fungus has not been so wide this season as was reported last. A fungus which has only recently been observed in Britain, Phoma beta, has done serious injury to mangel roots in some places in the South of England. Injuries to animals investigated have included the death of fowls from eating "seeds" containing a considerable proportion of corncockle, injury to horses from eating oats containing the seeds of a Lathyrus, and to calves from eating the leaves of rhododendron. 23. In October last the Zoologist was instructed to inspect and report upon a very severe attack of Aphis in swedes. Since that time as is usual during the winter months-no widespread insect attack has been brought to his notice, but various applications of local interest have been received and dealt with. Insects in stored grain, larch aphis, and the occurrence of the wood leopard-moth in an orchard, have been the subjects of inquiry. Advice has been asked, through members of the Society, with regard to certain foreign pests, notably an orchard beetle (Mylabris lunata) from South Africa, and a curious leaf-eating caterpillar from South America. 24. Forty-four entries were received for the Society's Examination in Agriculture, which took place from the 9th to the 13th instant. The replies of the candidates are now under the consideration of the Examiners, and the results will be announced as soon as possible. It is contemplated after the present year to hold an Examination. for a National Diploma in Agriculture, to be conducted conjointly by this Society and the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. The Regulations and Syllabus for such Examination are now under the consideration of the respective Councils. By Order of the Council, 13 Hanover Square, London, W. ERNEST CLARKE, Secretary. REPORT OF THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE ON THE RESULTS OF THE EXAMINATION IN AGRICULTURE, 1899. THE Committee have to report that for the Society's Examination in the Science and Practice of Agriculture, held from the 9th to the 13th of May, 1899, forty-four candidates entered, of whom fortytwo (the same number as last year) competed, and that twentyseven of the competitors have satisfied the Examiners. 2. The following twenty candidates, placed in order of merit, have gained the Society's Diploma in the Science and Practice of Agriculture. The first candidate (having obtained over threefourths of the maximum number of marks-1500) will also receive Life Membership of the Society and the Gold Medal. The next four candidates (having obtained over two-thirds of the maximum number of marks) will each receive the Life Membership of the Society and the Silver Medal, 1. JOSEPH HENRY HINCHCLIFF, Yorkshire College, Leeds.-(1200 marks.) Gold Medal and Life Membership of the Society. VOL. X. T. S.-38 Сс |