Christian, K.G., Earl Cawdor, Mr. H. Chandos-Pole-Gell, the Earl of Coventry, the Earl of Feversham, Lord Moreton, Sir Jacob Wilson.

Other Members of Council.--Mr. J. H. Arkwright, Mr. Alfred Ashworth, Mr. R. C. Assheton, Viscount Baring, Mr. George Blake, Mr. J. BowenJones, Lord Brougham and Vaux, Lord Arthur Cecil, Mr. F. S. W. Cornwallis, M.P., Mr. Percy Crutchley, Lieut.-Colonel Curtis-Hayward, Mr. J. Marshall Dugdale, Mr. W. Frankish, Mr. Hugh Gorringe, Mr. R. Neville Grenville, Mr. James Hornsby, the Earl of Jersey, G.C.M.G., Captain W. S. B. Levett, Mr. C. S. Mainwaring, Mr. Joseph Martin, Mr. T. H. Miller, the Hon. Cecil T. Parker, Mr. Dan. Pidgeon, Mr. J. E. Ransome, Mr. Frederick Reynard, Mr. C. C. Rogers, Mr. Howard P. Ryland, Mr. G. H. Sanday, Mr. Alfred J. Smith, Mr. E. W. Stanyforth, Mr. Martin J. Sutton, Mr. Garrett Taylor, Mr. J. P. Terry, Mr. R. A. Warren, Mr. E. V. V. Wheeler, Mr. J. C. Williams.

Officers.-Sir Ernest Clarke, Secretary; Dr. Fream, Editor of the Journal; Dr. J. Augustus Voelcker, Consulting Chemist; Mr. J. E. Compton-Bracebridge, Assistant DiVOL. X. T. S.-40.

rector; Mr. R. S. Burgess, Superintendent of the Showyard.

Professor Sir George Brown, C.B., Professor McFadyean.

The following members of the York Local Committee were also present:-The Lord Mayor of York (Mr. Alderman Border), the Sheriff of York (Mr. J. J. Hunt), Mr. Alderman J. S. Rymer, Mr. Francis E. Walker, and Mr. G. A. Eason Wilkin

son.

Apologies for non-attendance were received from Mr. Victor C. W. Cavendish, M.P., Mr. A. E. W. Darby, Mr. Henry D. Marshall, Mr. A. E. Pease, M.P., Mr. Albert Pell, Mr. S. Rowlandson, Mr. Henry Smith, and Mr. Charles Whitehead.

Election of New Members.

The Minutes of the last Ordinary Meeting of the Council, held on July 26th, 1899, having been taken as read and approved, the election of the following thirty members was proceeded with:

ARNOTT, G. W. Campbell..27 William Street,
New York.

BARNETT, Walter.. Bilton Hall, Rugby.
BASSET, A. F... Tehidy, Camborne, Cornwall.
BEACH, M. H. Hicks..Coln St. Aldwyns, Fair-
ford.

BORLAND, John K...Hermitage, Fordoun,
N.B.

CHRISTY, William M... Watergate, Emsworth, Hants.

CLOETE, Henry, C.M.G...Alphen, Wymberg, Cape of Good Hope.

DALE, James..Green End, Broughton Hall,
Chester.

FENWICK, H. G... Birtley, Chester-le-Street.
HAVELOCK-ALLAN, Sir Henry S. M., Bart...
Blackwell Grange, Darlington.
HUNT, Sidney W...Station Road, Harrow.

n

Hoathly, Sussex.

East

KING, Humphrey.. High Street, Tewkesbury.
MELOTTE, Jules..Remicourt, Belgium.
MILDMAY, G. St. John.. Taplins, Winchfield.
MILN, George P... Milnholme, Chester.
MITCHELL, R. A. H... Eton College, Windsor.
PRENTICE, W. Henry..Stowmarket.
RAWBONE, James.. Broadlands, Sir Lowry
Pass, Cape Colony.

ROBERTS, Malcolm, R.A... Glassenbury, Cranbrook, Kent.

ROBINSON, Arthur M... Thrum Hall, Rochdale.

ROBINSON, Charles J... Falinge Lawn, Rochdale.

ROBINSON, Miss E. J... Quedgeley House, near Gloucester.

RODDAM, J. W...Newtown, Stanhope, R.S.O., Durham.

SCOTT, F. W. A... Rydale, Weybridge.

*SHERSTON, T. P. D...Tyddynlan, Corwen, Merioneth.

SMYTHE, Captain E. W...Acton Burnell Park, Shrewsbury.

TREHANE, James..Sacombe Bury, near Ware, YOUNG, Charles F...The Moat, Melbourn, Cambs.

* Reinstated under Bye-Law 12.

The Reports of the various Standing Committees were then presented, and adopted, as below:

Finance.

Sir NIGEL KINGSCOTE (Chairman) reported that the accounts for the three months ended October 28, as certified by the Society's accountants, showed total receipts amounting to 16,3327. 198. 1d., and expenditure 13,7487. 128. 11d. Accounts amounting in all to 1,9567. 28. 9d. had been passed and were recommended for payment. The quarterly statement of subscriptions, arrears, and property, to September 30, 1899, had been laid upon the table. The draft Balance Sheet for the Maidstone Meeting had been submitted by the Secretary and ordered to be laid before the Auditors for their approval. The Committee regretted to have to report that the net loss to the Society on the Maidstone Meeting was 6,3821.

Financial Results of the Maidstone Meeting.

Sir NIGEL KINGSCOTE, in presenting this report, said he thought the Council would wish to know at once what was the general outcome of the Maidstone Show-which, he

was sorry to say, was a loss to the Society of 6,3821.

The chief item of expenditure connected with the show was, of course, the erection of the sheds and buildings and preparation of the site for the purposes of a showyard. This cost the Society at Maidstone 8,1827. There was, as the Council would understand, a very large indispensable expenditure which had annually to be incurred by the Society under this head, whether the show were large or small; but, of course, the cost of the building of the Maidstone showyard was less than that of the two large shows at Manchester and Birmingham in 1897 and 1898. Timber was now dearer than it used to be, and the price of Jabour was going up. Moreover, the Society was now under the necessity of laying water-pipes throughout the showyard, which was formerly undertaken and paid for by the Local Committee.

The Society had to employ a skilled clerical staff at Hanover Square throughout the year to conduct the correspondence relating to the Show, to deal with the entries, prepare the catalogue, and transact other administrative business connected with the show; and this staff had to be largely ang mented at the time of the Show

by stewards, assistant stewards, money-takers, ticket-sellers, foremen, grooms, yardmen, door- and gatekeepers, dairy assistants, veterinary surgeons, engineers, and police (which last item alone accounted at Maidstone for 6027.). The total expense for staff and administration was this year 4,3271. The Society disbursed 4,7917. in prizes, 6741. for forage for the animals, 9617. for the expenses of the judges, 1,1757. for printing (including catalogues), 7097. for advertisements, and 3137. for band, ambulance, implement trials, and miscellaneous expenses.

These were large figures, yet they took no account of the expenditure of the Maidstone Local Committee, amounting to no less than 8,2007. in providing and preparing the site, supply of water, local prizes, expenses, and the like. The Society having once pledged itself to the holding of the

show, had practically to expend, or make itself responsible for, the whole of the items above referred to, amounting in all to 21,1327., before it opened the doors of the show to the public. It had received towards this expenditure, 2,000l. from the Local Committee, 4,5067. for fees from the implement exhibitors, 1,6487. from entries of live stock, 2407. from other entries, and 2167. from various sources. These items only amounted to 8,610., and for the balance. (12,5227.) of its total expenditure, the Society had nothing but the admissions of the paying public to look to. Only 68,576 persons, however, passed the gates (the lowest for twenty-five years), and as these visitors only paid--including purchases of catalogues-6,1407., there was a debit balance of 6,3821. which had to fall on the Society's general funds.

As the average takings of the previous six years had been 12,100, this was, of course, a very serious disappointment, both to the Society and to the Maidstone Local Commitee, who had worked so hard and had raised so considerable a fund in the county of Kent for the local expenses of the show. But for the kindness of several friends and wellwishers of the Society, who had been so good as to take up some of the Society's holding of Harewood House Debenture Stock, the amount of the Society's liquid assets in the shape of Consols would have been very dangerously depleted.

As he had said at the last Council meeting on July 26, it might be frankly admitted that Maidstone was hardly the place at which the Society, had it been actuated only by monetary considerations, would have pitched its showyard during the present year. But it was in accordance with the present scheme of rotation of districts that there should be a show this year in the South of England; and as the Society had not visited Kent for thirty-nine years, that county had a special claim upon their consideration. The Society had received a very cordial welcome from Kent and its capital town, and everything possible was done by the local authorities to make the meeting a

success--which, indeed, in every respect but the financial, it undoubtedly was. The Council had already decided to remit to a Special Committee consisting of the Chairmen of the several permanent committees concerned in the administration of the shows, with the Honorary Director and three unofficial members of the Council to be nominated by the Committee, the question of any modifications or alterations in the. present show system which they might consider desirable after the present rotation was completed in 1902; and that Committee would, no doubt, give its careful and deliberate attention to the problem of minimising as far as possible the financial risks to this Society incurred by the holding of shows under the present system.

The Hon. CECIL T. PARKER said, with reference to the last part of Sir Nigel Kingscote's speech, that the Special Committee had had a preliminary meeting yesterday, and had co-opted Sir Walter Gilbey, Mr. Marshall, and Mr. Stanyforth as members of the Committee. They would be extremely glad to receive from members of Council, or others, any suggestions for the better adminis tration of the shows in future, so that the Committee might carefully consider them at their first formal meeting to be held on December 4.

House.

Sir NIGEL KINGSCOTE (Chairman) reported that various accounts in connection with the house had been passed, and other details considered.

Journal.

Sir JOHN THOROLD (Chairman) reported that the September number of the Journal had been duly pubIlished and issued to Governors and Members. He also laid upon the table copies in pamphlet form of an article on the " Making of the Land in England," by Mr. Albert Pell, which had appeared in the Journal.. Various accounts for printing, contributions, &c., had been passed for payment, and the Committee recommended that the hearty

thanks of the Society should be sent to Mr. Whitehead for his able article on the "Agriculture of Kent" in the current number of the Journal. A letter had been received from the Société des Agriculteurs de France as to the preparation of a Memoir of British Agriculture by this Society for the Paris Exhibition of 1900, but the Committee were unable to recommend the necessarily large expenditure involved in the production of a Report such as that contemplated by the French Society. The contents of the next number of the Journal had been carefully considered, and directions as to suggestions for articles and notes had been given to the Editor. The Committee had requested the Secretary to prepare a Memoir of Mr. Philip Pusey, one of the Founders of the Society, and the first Editor of the Journal, for inclusion in the number of the Society's Journal for March, 1900.

Chemical and Woburn.

Mr. STANYFORTH (Chairman) reported that the Committee had decided that the analysis of cream should be added to Members' privileges of chemical analysis, the fee chargeable therefor to be the same as that charged for analysis of milk, viz. 58. per sample. Dr. Voelcker and Professor MacFadyean had been requested, on behalf of the Society, to attend the Departmental Committee appointed by the Local Government Board to inquire into the use of preservatives and colouring matters in food. The Committee gave notice that at the next meeting of the Council they would move for a renewal of the grant of 2001. for the Pot Culture station for 1900. Dr. Voelcker had submitted his proposals for feeding experiments at Woburn during the forthcoming season, and had presented the following report on cases of adulteration:

REPORT OF CONSULTING CHEMIST.
Inferior Quality of Basic Slag.

It is still very necessary to exercise caution in buying Basic Slag, and to check deliveries by analysis. A member of the Society bought, through a firm of local merchants, Basic Slag which had been guaranteed to him as containing 38 to 45 per cent. of phosphates,

Inferior Compound Feeding-cakes.

The following are instances of what is unfortunately not of uncommon occurrence, that compound cakes are of quality inferior to what they are represented as being, or contain ingredients of an unsound, unsuitable, or worthless nature.

It is well in this connection to bear in mind that the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act expressly provides against the inclusion in any "food for cattle " of ingredients deleterious to cattle, or of any which are worthless for feeding purposes," if these latter have not been disclosed at the time of sale.

1. Mr. F. Elwess, of Scawthorpe Grange, York Road, Doncaster, sent me for analysis on September 12 a sample of feeding-cake, sold as "a compound of linseed, cotton-seed, and grain, cooked in treacle." Mr. Elwess had in June purchased 6 tons of this cake at 61. per ton delivered: 4 tons had been already received, and the sample sent for analysis was taken from the next lot, delivered on September 9. With the cake was given the following guarantee of analysis: oil, 8 per cent.: albuminoids, 18 per cent.; carbohydrates, 50 per cent. My report on the sample sent me was :