488 AVISCOXSIN AGEICULTDRE. 



impossibility. One — it may be — esteeming size and weight ; 

 another, fineness with the muscle of the blood horse ; another, 

 symmetry with the beautifully turned points of the Durham, as 

 the sine qua non of a Devon bull ; each of which ideal animals 

 was represented in the select specimens before us. 



From experience and observation the writer doubts much the 

 expediency of employing the same committee on more than 

 one breed of cattle ; because when the different breeds are as 

 fully represented as they ought to be, the time allowed is inade- 

 quate to examine every animal -with that minuteness and care 

 which is due to the exhibitor. And the fact of a man possessing 

 a correct knowledge of, and an ardent enthusiasm for one breed 

 of cattle, by no means qualifies him as a competent judge of 

 another breed, as the chief merits of the one may not be the 

 characteristics of the other. 



Of Herefords there were btit three (bulls) on exhibition, which 

 led your committee to express "the opinion that the entries of 

 Hereford cattle being so very few, it is undesirable to offer the 

 same amount of premiums to them as is offered for those breeds 

 which are so much better represented." This opinion if correct 

 would apply with almost equal force to the Devon, and thus ap- 

 plied would be esteemed unjust. The Hereford in Wisconsin is 

 as yet an experiment^ and judging from the handling qualities of 

 at least one of those on exhibition, the experiment may prove 

 not quite so doubtful as some of us imagine* We all require 

 the hest breed, to the attainment of which experiments must be 

 made and the claims of different breeds tested ; a sufficient rea- 

 son why the State Agricultural Society should patronise and 

 foster every breed which claims the use of the prefix best. The 

 Durham has already become so well established as to be regard- 

 ed in the light of a fixed fact, one of our institutions, and as 

 such would undoubtedly make headway even if ignored by the 

 State Agricultural Society, a fact conclusive that a majority of 

 cattle exhibitors are deeply interested in the breed and threfore 

 it deserves the hearty patronage of the Society. Whilst other 

 breeds which have been introduced at great exj^ense by enter- 

 prising individuals with a desire to add to our agricultural 



