JuEGiNG Cattle ix the Siiow-Eixg. 15 



4th. A system of awarding prizes which will insure justice to 

 the individual exhibitor, and at the same time furnish to him and 

 the public the reasons leading to giving or withholding an award. 



5th. An expert to award the prizes who shall be required to 

 remain one-half day after the work is completed to meet disap- 

 pointed exhibitors. 



6th. A blackboard on which the sectional values shall be placed 

 as given by the expert, where all who desire can follow the work 

 in detail, and be led to question the decisions. 



Breeders are sharp and shrewd, looking after their own inter- 

 ests, but they are reasonable men all the while, and if they ques- 

 tion an item in the score, the expert, if he be worthy the place, 

 will, by pointing out the defect, satisfy the owner or correct a 

 mistake. The greater the publicity the less cause for criticism 

 after awards are made. 



If the object be to promote agriculture, stimulate love for 

 better stock, and strengthen purpose to procure the same, then 

 the show ring becomes the one great object lesson of the year, 

 and the system of judging the educating influence. I assume that 

 we have passed out of the old custom of appointing a committee 

 of three, and recognize the certainty that a single judge in a 

 class insures more satisfactory results, providing the full record 

 of his work is secured for the exhibitors. We are discussing 

 animals, not owners, and the awards should be so placed that the 

 cry of favoritism cannot be raised. 



Two systems of awarding premiums are before us, the compara- 

 tive and the mathematical. The advantages of the former are 

 that the work can be more rapidly performed, the ribbons placed 

 in less time, and expenses reduced. The disadvantages are that 

 no evidence is furnished as to the reasons for giving or withhold- 

 ing, that there can be nothing educative under such methods, and 

 it is impossible to prevent the charge of favoritism. 



The advantages of the scale of points and score card are not 

 that the awards are placed more equitably, but that the full evi- 

 dence is on record, part by part, a copy to be furnished the exhib- 

 itor, for each animal scored, that the study of parts thus stimu- 



