[Illustration: "_Two hundred tuns of wine! That is better than a
Temperance Hotel._"]
I am impressed by the energy displayed by the agriculturists of the
district in sending such satisfactory exhibits. At the same time, you
must not fancy yourselves quite too grand at the present day,
because, if you read history you will find that during the siege of
Caerphilly Castle, some 400 or 500 years ago--when the castle was
taken--there were 2,000 oxen, 12,000 cows, 20,000 sheep, 600 horses,
2,000 pigs and 200 tuns of wine inside the Castle walls. Two hundred
tuns of wine! That is better than a Temperance Hotel.... If you walk
round this show you will not see one single sign of depression. It
grows larger every year. Cattle grow better, the horses better, the
women grow prettier, and the men grow fatter.
_East Glamorgan Agricultural Show, Caerphilly,
September 7th, 1899._