Enemy Aliens Spread Foot & Mouth, 30th June 1915

The Royal Show, an agricultural fair, was held at Wollaton Hall on 30th June 1915. The Duke of Portland (pictured) spoke of the importance of preserving the nation's food supply. Another speaker blamed outbreaks of foot and mouth on enemy aliens.

“NATIONAL FOOD SUPPLY.

“DUKE OF PORTLAND AND THE WAR.

“There was a distinguished attendance at the meeting of governors and members in the large tent. The Duke of Portland presided, and was supported by Earl Manvers, Lord Galway, Lord Middleton, Lord Northbrook, the Right Hon. Sir Ailwyn Fellowes, Sir Gilbert Greenall, the Mayor (Ald. J. H. Gregg), and the Sheriff (Mr. J. G. Small).

“The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, paid a warm tribute to the generosity of Lord Middleton, in whose charming park the show was being held. Lord Middleton had twice been president of the society, the last occasion being at Doncaster three years ago. The duke made a timely reference to the war, declaring that there was no need for despondency. We were determined to be victorious, but every man must do his best, for the war would one of long duration. We had every reason to hope, however, that we should wear our enemy down. There was no room for slackers, and agriculturists especially must do all they could to conserve the nation’s food, whether it consisted in cereals or livestock.

“I am glad this show has been held,” went on his Grace. “Until a few years ago Nottingham had the record for one day’s attendance, but, owing to exceptional circumstances, we cannot hope to establish a record this year. We may congratulate ourselves, however, on what is, under the circumstances, a fine number of exhibits. The class of animals is very high, and that is a more important result than having a very large number of entries.

“The Duke also touched upon the King’s interest in the show, which was indicated by the 38 exhibits sent by his Majesty, included amongst them being his champion heifer, Windsor Gem. They were also glad to see the name of the Prince of Wales for the first time amongst the exhibitors, and trusted that he would become closely identified with the affairs of the society, as his ancestors had been.

“The Duke concluded by commending the Agricultural Relief Allies’ Fund, for which collections are being made on the ground.

“Hearty recognition of the assistance which the Mayor and Corporation have lent to the show was paid by Lord Northbrook, who also congratulated the sheriff on his milk scheme. A writer said the other day that milk was the dirtiest article which could be drunk, but this competition showed that Nottingham was more fortunate.

“Sir Ailwyn Fellowes, in seconding the vote of thanks to the Corporation, said that in these exceptional times no body of men could have done more help the show than the city and county of Nottingham during the last two years.

“The Mayor, who responded, declared that the farmer who produced the greatest amount of food he could was doing as much for his country as any munition manufacturer.

“The Nottingham local committee was also thanked the proposition of Sir Gilbert Greenall, who mentioned that Mr. Bradwell had raised a sum of nearly £700 as a present to the society.

“Before the meeting closed, Mr. T. Nesbitt, of Cambridge, urged the council to put pressure on the Board of Agriculture to conserve the food supplies for cattle by stopping their export to Rotterdam. Since war broke out. Holland had become a very large buyer of foodstuffs, which probably went to the enemy. Malt chives, for instance, had gone up by 18 per cent. this year.

“DISEASES SPREAD BY ENEMIES.

“A striking statement was made at a meeting of the Shorthorn Society by Major Pinder, of Newstead. near Stamford. Speaking of the difficulty of obtaining access to the Argentine ports, he said that if we could only keep alien enemies out of this country we should have very few outbreaks of foot and mouth disease amongst cattle. He was convinced — and his opinion was shared by others — that most outbreaks were planned by our enemies and were not spontaneous.”

'Nottingham Evening Post', 30th June 1915.