rA 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



not send her nominations j and Mr. Stratton did a 

 deal, though not as much as usual, for the remainder. 

 In the three-year-old bulls he found no competition. 

 Hickory Nut and Mr. Cozen's beast being the only 

 entries. The two-year-olds were a far better lot; and 

 Duke Humphrey, a clever young animal, with but a 

 middling head, was in more congenial company. Both 

 Mr. Hewer's and Mr. Holland's young bulls deserved 

 their distinction, and each has something to trace back 

 to. Mr. Hewer'sisasonof Boi'rowby Lad, the prize aged 

 bull of this season, and the Duke of Cambridge of an- 

 other Duke of Cambridge, who held similar honours at 

 Barnstaple. Amongst the local men Mr. Josiah Hill 

 was pre-eminent for his pair of heifers, both bred by 

 himself. Still the breed does not take so muchin Dorset- 

 shire, as was instanced by a sale Mr. Strafford had ad- 

 joining the Show-yard on Thursday. He here offered 

 the entire herd of Mr. Whitehead, " carefully selected 

 from the stocks of Earl de Grey, Sir Charles Knightley, 

 and other eminent breeders;" and five-and-twenty 

 guineas, even with all his influence and ability, was the 

 highest figure he could get to. At this price Mr. 

 Adkins bought a two-year-old bull. The weather was 

 very unpropitious, as it rained hard at the time ; but 

 still the stock were not thought to come up to their 

 character. 



The Herefords are in far more favour here. They 

 furnished, in fact, the strong point of the exhibition. 

 And it was not Hereford men merely who did this. 

 Indeed, the best of the breed, if not the best animal in 

 the yard, was the three -year- old heifer shown by anew 

 man, or rather by two brothers, the Messrs. James, 

 who hail from near Blandford. With a sweet head, an 

 almost perfect forehand, rare girth, and very grand 

 over the loin, this heifer came in for continual com- 

 mendation. Xeither was she the only success; for Mr. 

 Coate had a nearly equally good cow in the class above 

 her, and one that was also bred in the county. Of 

 those from the more classic land of the Herefords, Mr. 

 Williams held the first place with his well-known 

 prize bull, Sir Colin, a magnificent specimen of his 

 kind, but now, as it would seem, utterly ruined by 

 over- feeding. During the whole of Wednesday he lay 

 on his side in the greatest distress, and with every sign of 

 sufTocation. The Judges, however, very properly awarded 

 the prize " conditionally" on his proving of any further 

 use, which docs not seem probable. In the next class, 

 Mr. Edwards' handsome bull, "Leominster," took 

 another step, being the best three-year-old this year, as 

 he was the first two-year-old at Barnstaple. But Mr. 

 Duckham beat Lord Bateraan for second with an ani- 

 mal undistinguished last season. He begins badly, 

 with not quite the character of a bull's head, but is 

 otherwise a serviceable animal. There was the like 

 upsetting of previous decrees in the next division, where 

 Mr. Perry had his roven,:e on their Worships of 

 Warwick. " Cov.arn," that ••fis nowhere at the Royal 

 Meeting, is placed first here ; and the Prince Consort's 

 " Maximus," the preferred of all there, is in turn no- 

 where now. Good, though, great indeed, as we might 

 rpcord this display of Herefords, it lacked the support 



of one of the most successful exhibitors of them — Mr. 

 Price, of Pembridge. His entries were not sent, and 

 will never more be seen in our show-yards. Only last 

 week he was formally excluded from the Herefordshire 

 Agricultural Society ; and on the vei*y day the Dor- 

 chester Meeting opened, he was prohibited from com- 

 peting for any more of the Royal Agricultural Society's 

 premiums. This lamentable afiair is traceable to 

 the career of a Hereford heifer, a winner 

 during last season at Barnstaple, Warwick, and Here- 

 ford. She was called indifierently Well-a-Day or 

 Wisdom, and was entered as of all soi-ts of ages but 

 her proper one. It is seldom, in short, that a more 

 clumsy business has been unravelled, as it has been 

 mainly through an investigation of the Herd-book. 

 Mr. Price declai-es that, strangely enough for so cele- 

 brated a breeder, he never kept a private register of 

 his own stock, and hence the error — a very serious one 

 when we see an animal only aging nine months in the 

 twelve. However, Mr. Price has been promptly and 

 properly dealt with ; but what is the Council of the 

 Royal Agricultural Society doing with the Scotch- 

 man and his barren beast ? If he does not care to 

 take up his own ease, they should go into it without 

 him. It is time it was settled ; and the public looks 

 for something decisive one way or the other. Or, why 

 such haste with Mr. Price, and such delay with Mr. 

 Tod? 



The Devons only stood in the next degree to the 

 Herefords; if, in the opinion of the judges who took the 

 two breeds, they did not altogether excel them. As 

 will be seen, they were far more liberal with their 

 Commendations in the one than the othei*. With every 

 justice they paid this compliment to the whole class of 

 cows, nine in number, as well as to the eleven heifers 

 which composed the next division. Mr. George Turner 

 had the best of this distinguished company, as he took 

 the first prize in either. His success altogether was 

 remarkable, for including cattle, sheep, and pigs, 

 Devons, Leicestei's, and Essex, he made thirteen entries 

 and had thirteen prizes. This must come as a capital 

 prologue to the approaching sale at Barton in the 

 autumn. Turner and Barton we had thought to be 

 inseparable ; but they are to be divided by Michaelmas 

 twelvemonth, and hence the anticipated dispersion of 

 much of the famous stock bred in such association. 

 Vandine has now grown into the prettiest of cows, 

 while Mr. Popo with three, IMr. Farthing, Mr. Halse, 

 Mr. Smith of Bradford Pevcril with two, and the Re- 

 verend Cecil Smith furnished her followers. It is 

 rarely at any meeting that so good a lot of cows have 

 been seen together. Of the heifers, beyond Mr. Tur- 

 ner's and Rlr. Mildoa's prizes, Mr. Buller, Lord 

 Eldon, Mr. Dommett, Mr. Bradford, Mr. Hambro, 

 Mr. Newberry, .Mr. Pope, and the Prince Consort 

 made up the show. Of all these, as every one has 

 his fancy, ours went to the Pi'ince's lovely-looking 

 " Lovelia." Never surely was there a truer out- 

 line, a finer head, or a more thorough-bred look. 

 But we were clearly wrong it seems. The Devon 

 Judges, and there were at Je^st two devotees out of 



