284 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



dred, and so on. Two half-bred yearlings 

 made more recently a hundred and twenty, and 

 a brown mare entered at the last Yorkshire show 

 a couple of hundred. Not only all the Lincoln- 

 shire men, but the Manchester people, were equally 

 »taunch to him. In the five years Mr. Snaith had 

 him, the horse served 508 mares. He was a very 

 Bure stock-getter; but though his famous brother 

 Euclid was a chesnut, Theon never got anything 

 but dark bays or browns, excepting only to a grey 

 mare, when the foals would come the same colour. 

 The young ones were all natural jumpers, and 

 as stout as they generally were handsome. 



Theon's own performances by no means ended 

 with what he did on the turf. He was long de- 

 servedly distinguished as a show horse ; and we 

 well remember the sensation he made at the Salis- 

 bury meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society in 

 1857. Hobbie Noble, however, was there pre- 

 ferred to him J but as a stallion for getting hun- 

 ters, he took the first prize of the Yorkshire So- 

 ciety, the first prize of the North Lincolnshire, and 

 another first at the Weatherby meeting. He was, 

 indeed, a wonderful horse to display himself, and 

 really appeared to enjoy the admiration he com- 

 manded. To see the old horse come out of his 

 box, arching his neck, and " snaking" his beautiful 

 wicked head — with his velvetty coat, and his rich, 

 dark colour— his light, springy action, and corky 

 look — was such a sight as a sportsman seldom wit- 



nesses, and never forgets. He would have walked 

 on cobwebs without breaking them ; and had 

 Darius ever owned such a horse, they must have 

 made him king at once, without even waiting for 

 the cheerful neigh that proclaimed him. On 

 market-day at Horncastle or Spalding, everybody 

 turned to have another glance at " old Theon ;" 

 and when an excursion-train came into Boston, 

 one continual levee was held round his box. As 

 for Mr. Snaith himself, his aflfection for his horse 

 was more like that of the Arab of the Desert for 

 his steed, than anything the cold, phlegmatic En- 

 glishman could be supposed to feel, even for such 

 an animal. He talked of him and dreamed of 

 him, and did everything for him but physic him. 

 Though Mr. Snaith be himself a chemist, " Theon 

 never had any, in any shape. Oats, bran, and 

 bread, made of the finest wheat-flour, with carrots 

 when in season, were what he lived on ; and no 

 horse ever got so many foals as he did in five 

 years." At two o'clock every morning during the 

 season did his owner himself turn out, to give his 

 horse a bread-loaf; and during the three days the 

 poor old horse was dying, the veterinary surgeon was 

 never allowed to leave him. Even now that he is 

 gone, long will his prowess live in the Fens and 

 Shires, and many a story will the sober citizens of 

 Boston have to tell of his triumphs. He was a 

 good horse, with a good master ; and let this 

 eulogy be his epitaph. 



SHROPSHIRE DOWNS, 



PRIZE SHEEP, 



THE PROPERTY OF MR. HENRY SMITH, JUN., OF KEW HOUSE, SUTTON MADDOCK. 



These sheep were bred and exhibited by Mr. 

 Henry Smith, long known as a breeder of Shrop- 

 shires. The ram took the first prize at the Liverpool 

 Meeting of the Liverpool and Manchester Agri- 

 cultural Society, in September, 1859; and the 

 three ewes, as a pen, were first, both at Liverpool 

 and Ludlow, last year. Again, during the present 

 season, Mr. Smith has taken no less than five 

 first prizes for his sheep at the Bolton Meeting of 

 the Lancashire Association ; while year after year, 

 his fat wethers have now for some time received 

 the silver medal at Birmingham. Mr. Smith of 

 course exhibited on the establishment of the new 

 " Royal " class at Canterbury, but in so strong an 

 entry he reached no higher than a commendation. 

 He has an annual sale of rams and ewes at Shrews- 

 bury in August, and his flock is in deservedly high 

 repute, both with his own friends and neighbours, as 

 well as with customers from more distant quarters. 



Mr. Spooner, in the Journal of the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society, and Mr. Charles Howard at the 

 Farmers' Club, have very recently testified to the 

 worth of the Shropshire Downs; while in our 

 own reports of the diflferent meetings, we have long 

 upheld the useful excellence of the new class. Their 

 points, however, have been thus summed up by 

 one whose experience and success make him an 

 authority ; — Hardihood of constitution, and adap- 

 tation to variety of soil and climate; size, and 

 weight-making properties; natural productiveness; 

 early maturity ; aptitude to fatten, and comparative 

 lightness of offal ; beauty of form ; excellence of 

 quality ; and weight, staple, and value of wool. 



The Shropshire Downs are now spreading not 

 only in England and Ireland, where we saw some 

 very good specimens this summer, but to Aus- 

 tralia, America, and other lands. 



