BULLS. 285 



pany with his brethren of different blood. Besides, a full 

 blooded Alderney is an animal which has never been exhibited 

 at our show, and from the reputation of the stock, and the real 

 beauty of the animal, would have attracted much attention. 



Dr. Robinson, of West Newbury, entered a bull three years 

 old, one-quarter native, and three-fourths North Devon. This 

 bull was a very fine one, combining more good points than any 

 other upon the ground, and was backed up by two heifer calves 

 of his getting, which promise not only to be handsome animals, 

 but good milkers. This is the only certain evidence which can 

 be furnished a committee of the good qualities of a bull, and 

 we wish that in all cases, when a bull is offered for premium, 

 specimens of his stock would accompany him, — so that pre- 

 miums may be awarded more justly. 



A good looking bull was observed by the committee, or some 

 of them, the second day, which was not in the pens the first 

 day of the show, nor was any entry made of him with the sec- 

 retary. If he had been properly entered and exhibited, he 

 would have probably taken the second or third premium. 



The chairman of the committee desires to say a word or 

 two generally, in relation to the awarding of premiums for 

 bulls, in this county, which may in part as well apply to other 

 animals. 



At one time, a question of great difficulty, which occasioned 

 much discussion and antagonism among agricultural writers, 

 was this : " Whether the breed of live stock be susceptible of 

 the greatest improvement, from properties conspicuous in the 

 male, or from those conspicuous in the female parent ?" Prize 

 essays have been written, and the subject has been most 

 thoroughly discussed, until the unanimous verdict of both prac- 

 tical and scientific observers now is, that, other things being 

 equal, the male has far more influence than the female in fixing 

 the characteristics of the progeny. The greatly superior value 

 which the Bedouin of the desert, places upon his mare, over 

 his horse, has been frequently and triumphantly cited in oppo- 

 sition to this theory. But Abd-el-Kader, in his reply to Gen- 

 eral Daumas, who has just published a work entitled " The 

 Horse of the Desert," puts that matter at rest most naturally 

 and conclusively. The Arab Chief in reply to the French 



