40 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



Uuckwortli's second-prize West Highland is also very- 

 good, and another of his black West Highlands is also 

 an uncommonly good beast. Jlrs. Delap's dun West 

 Highland, bred by Lord Abinger, has very great size ; 

 but the ribs are flat, and the frame, therefore, too nar- 

 row. The Marquis of Downshire has also a good 

 heifer in this class. The Duke of Beaufort's light-red 

 West Highland heifer is very good in form, and of su- 

 perior quality. Mr. Naylor'p, though of great propor- 

 tionate length, is low, small, and not straight enough 

 to show much symmetry. 



Of the only three Scotch Polled Oxen exhibited, Mr. 

 Heath's and Mr. M'Combie's got prizes, and Mr. 

 Oakley's Galloway was commended. Mr. Heath's is 

 magnificent for the breed, which is the Aberdeen ; 

 having not only great length and depth, but widely- 

 expanded chest and fore quarters, ribs well arched, and 

 uncommonly good hind-quarters and rump. This is 

 the animal which was disqualified by the French Go- 

 vernment at Poissy, because the Scotch exhibitors 

 protested that he had been falsely entered ;is pure-bred, 

 although (as they asserted) tha breeder had declared to 

 Mr. Htath that the bullock was a cross from a shorthorn 

 and Sent. Mr. Heath was not suffered to explain or 

 defend himself from such a gross charge ; but, owing to 

 the interference of Mr. Fisher Ilobbs, who would not 

 quietly see bis countryman treated in so underhand 

 and unfair a manner, the documents and evidences 

 brought forward by these prolestors Tvere obtained. A 

 correspondence took place between Mr. Heath, Mr. 

 Longmore the breeder, and the gentlemen who had 

 offered their testimony to the cross breed of the ox ; and 

 this has just been published in a pamphlet, from which 

 it would appear that the Scotch gentlemen have either 

 retracted or been shamed to silence ; while Mr. Heath 

 has been fully cleared of the calumnious accusation made 

 against him. At the present show he has carried off 

 the first prize for his bullock, the judges being thoroughly 

 satisfied about the correctness of its breed. 

 No Irish beasts have arrived. 



In the Welsh classes every one admired Colonel Pen- 

 nant's ox, which gained the first prize, and also Mr. 

 Williamson's second-prize younger beast. Mr. Heath's 

 black and white Welsh ox is of extraordinary size, his 

 depth and girth being great, and his back exceedingly 

 good. 



In the cross or mixed-breed classes, the Earl of P^ad- 

 nor takes the first prize for a very compact and well- 

 fed Hereford and Shorthorn steer ; Colonel Towneley 

 the second prize ; and Mr. Hare's Suffolk and Short- 

 horn poll is a valuable animal of nice quality. Mr. 

 Thomas's Shorthorn and Hereford ox shows the possi- 

 biUty of making a pretty good beast by intermixing two 

 breeds, each of which is perfect in its own way ; but we 

 cannot say we like the produce as much as the originals. 

 The Duke of Beaufort's prize West Highland and 

 Devon red heifer is an interesting and successful attempt 

 to combine the valuable qualities of amazingly distinct 

 breeds. She is a very compactly-formed, fine, and beau- 

 tiful little thing. 



We do not remember to have seen such a fine 

 Extra Stock class before; and the judges have de- 

 servedly given it a " general commendation." The sil- 

 ver medal is adjudicated to his Royal Highness, for a very 

 capital Devon steer ; but other judges would be quite as 

 likely to have awarded it in a different direction. In this 

 class we find Lord Walsingham's Shorthorn heifer, 

 which is fat, and uncommonly good ; the Marquis of 

 Exeter s white Shorthorn ox, which took the prize at 

 Oakham last week ; the Earl of Leicester's Devon ox, 

 handsome, fine, beautifully fed, long, yet symmetri- 

 cal, slightly detective about the hind-quarters; Sir 

 Thomas Whichcote's shorthorn co',v, level, deep-framed 

 snd good ; Mr. Brooke's enormously large Shorthorn 



ox; Lord Feversham's uncommonly fine, level, and 

 beautiful Shorthorn heifer,x'emarkable for her wide hips 

 and good rump of beef; Mr. Game's good Shorthorn 

 cow; Mr. Minton's very good and compact Shorihora 

 heifer; Mr. Williamson's large-horned Welsh ox, very 

 meritorious indeed : and Mr. Pertwee's Hereford, which 

 is a picture. 



SHEEP. 



There has been a considerable growth in the exhi- 

 bition of good mutton, the number last year and this 

 being as follows : 



1856. 1857. 



Long-wools ..>. 40 .. 35 



Cross-breeds 18 .. 32 



Short-wools 38 .. 62 



Here we see at a p^iance that, while the Long-wools — or 

 more properly the Leicesters — have slightly diminished 

 in number, the crossbreeds and Southdowns, and other 

 Short- wools have nearly doubled their entries in a single 

 year. The great feature of the sheep-classes (just as 

 at Birmingham) is the gieat advance made, and the size 

 and superior quality attained, in a few years, by the 

 crossbreeds, the long and short-wool half-breds being 

 now some of the most profitable sheep we possess. 



Class thirty-three includes some very great shear- 

 lings, as M ■:. Hine's Leicester and Downs, and Mr. C. 

 Howard's Oxfordshire Downs. It is a pity that the 

 first prize sheep, good as they are, present the appear- 

 ance of far wider backs to the eye than they actually re- 

 veal to the hand. Mr. Keep's second-prize Southdown 

 and Cotswolds are very large, of great width and sub- 

 stance, thick necks, and have beautiful mutton and a good 

 quantity of fair wool ; their rumps rather defective. 

 Mr. Hitchman's are goor?, and Mr. Stevens's have un- 

 commonly good backs. Mr. John Overman's com- 

 mended Southdown and Leicesters are very great, broad, 

 and good ; Mr. Edmonds's highly-commended ^Oxford- 

 shire Downs not equally meritorious. 



The next class — in which the sheep do not 

 exceed 2"201bs. live weight — is very good. Mr. 

 Overman's prize Southdown and Leicesters are beauties, 

 and their quality first-rate. Mr. C. Howard's second- 

 prize Oxfordshire Downs are only slightly inferior ; and 

 the Earl of Leicester's, Mr. Hint's, andj\lr. Twitchell's 

 pens are all of exceeding good character. 



The " Extra Stock" of crossbreds is a large class. 

 Mr. Keep's extremely good Cotswold and Southdown 

 wether gains the silver medal ; Mr. John Overman's 

 highly-commended Southdown and Leicester wether is 

 very well formed, wide, and meritorious ; Mr. Hine's 

 Leicester and Down wether very handsome ; Mr. 

 Twitchell's, and the Earl of Leicester's, both describing 

 their commendations ; and Mr. Hemming's Cotswold 

 and Sussex Down wether is noticeable for its tremen- 

 dous frame and proportions. 



The short-woolled breeds are honoured with a gold 

 medal, which has been fairly won by his Grace the Duke 

 of Richmond, for a pen of Southdowns of his well- 

 known character. The Earl of Radnor's Southdowns 

 are very fine, meriting their second prize. Mr. Kent 

 exhibits Downs of splendid form, which would have 

 certainly gained a prize had they been more judiciously 

 fed. The tiiird prize is awarded to Mr. Rigden, and a 

 high commendation to Lord Walsinghiim: but we do 

 not concur in the decision here, his lordship's being 

 much broader, better-formed, and handsomer than the 

 others, and not far below them in quality. What a 

 pity it is that exhihiters often leave so much to their 

 shepherds ! for were they to hand their shetp a little 

 before sending off to the show, they would detect 

 some two inches' thickness of wool en the shoulder and 

 not one inch on the ioin, v.rhich (we may inform them) 

 has the effect of displaying an even, perfectly -shapetl 



