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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



ROYAL NORTH LANCASHIRE SOCIETY. 



MEETING AT BURNLEY. 



This flourishing society had of course very little to 

 expect from Burnley on the score of weather, and the 

 town on Thursday, Aug. 30, was as true to its rain charter 

 as ever. In fact, we seldom remember such an uncom- 

 fortable day, and the show ground gradually became such 

 a complete morass, that it was no small exertion for the 

 more plethoric of the shorthorns to wade from their 

 stalls into the ring. 



The society was established in 1846, and has twice 

 before held its meeting at Burnley. In spite of the 

 gratuitous irruption of the sixpenny Goths over the 

 palings at Blackburn in 1859, the take at the gates was 

 £260, or the highest on record up to that date ; but 

 this year it rose to ^307. The implements entered, as 

 compared with those in the highest of the previous years, 

 were 429 against 390 , the cattle 1 03 against 126, the horses 

 121 against 142, the sheep 183 against 183, and the 

 pigs 24 against 40. Still, if the present show had not 

 quantity on its side, it had abundance of quality in the 

 four great classes of stock, and more especially in the 

 shorthorns. Mr. Booth and Mr. Ambler were wanting, 

 it is true, to make up the serried array, but Colonel 

 Towneley was in great force, and Captain Gunter's trio 

 of Duchesses arrived, with not a few other crack repre- 

 sentatives of the leading herds. Royal Butterfly 1st and 

 Bow Bearer 2nd was the first slice of luck for Towneley 

 Park in the Aged Bull class ; while Fairy King, the 

 Ulverstone victor, was highly commended, and won the 

 head Tenant-farmers' prize. Muscovite, bred by Mr. 

 Jonathan Peel, and Lord Beaumont, the property of 

 Mrs. Ellen Waterhouse, were the other commendations. 

 In the Yearling Bull class, Duke of Holland, an own 

 brother to Prince of Prussia, took double first honours, 

 and as Malachite, the Royal winner, was in the second 

 place, Mr. Dickenson rather regrets that he did not meet 

 him at Canterbury. "Duke" is a nice sort of ahull, but 

 perhaps rather lacks masculine character about his fore- 

 hand. Sir Charles Tempest's Prince Frederick, the Ponte- 

 fract winner, was highly commended, thus reversing the 

 Yorkshire decision between him and Malachite, and 

 setting up the Canterbury one once more. In the Bull- 

 calf class. Colonel Towneley came to the front with a 

 Royal Butterfly from Vestris 5th, beating Mr. Marjori- 

 bank's Tally-ho by Great Mogul. This wasa some- 

 what motley class, as one of the competitors had attained 

 the mature age of 1 month and 9 days. The Cow class 

 struggle, beiween Moss Rose, Emma, Rosette, and 

 Duchess of Glo'ster, was a very interesting one, but the 

 latter was soon out of itj and although the judges, 

 Messrs. Unthank, Stratton, and Clarke of Long Sutton, 

 hung very affectionately over the massive but not very 

 even Moss Rose, they soon reduced it to a question be- 

 tween Mr. Eastwood's cow and Emma, and the more 

 beautiful proportions of the latter, whose side view is all 



but perfection, carried the day. Duchess of Glo'ster 

 was commended, and Moss Rose was highly commended 

 and secured a first among the numberless prizes which 

 Mr. Atherton won in the Tenant-farmers' classes. 

 Rosette has a heifer-calf to Royal Butterfly, and was 

 served again by him on the very morning of the show. 



In the Two-year-old Heifer class. Duchess 77th de- 

 feated her half-sisters once more ; and again, for the fifth 

 time this year, the white twin was preferred for second 

 honours to the roan, who shared the H. C.'s with 

 Harmless and Mr. Atherton's Cherry Blossom. Stanley 

 Rose and Empress of Hindostan were quite in the ruck 

 this time ; but we trust that better success is in store 

 for The Branches' herd with its young Queen of Athel- 

 stane. 



Frederick's Grand Daughter (who got transformed 

 into Frederick's Giant Daughter, by the Pontefract prin- 

 ter) followed in the footsteps of Emma, whom she very 

 much resembles, except in the head, which, as it struck 

 us, rather lacks finish and expression. Mr. Peel took 

 the second place in this Yearling Heifer class with his 

 Bounteous, a red daughter of Grand Duke 3rd, and 

 with a great deal of very gay Batess character about her 

 to counteract one or two weak places. Young Butter- 

 fly was highly commended, and so was Mr. Atherton's 

 Nannie, a daughter of Sixth Duke of Oxford. The 

 Speke herd also brought out a most wonderfully matured 

 first prize winner. Wild Eyes 19th, by Lablache, in the 

 Calf class. Her neck-vein, and handling were espe- 

 cially good, but her back rather told tales, and Mr. 

 Atherton will be a lucky man, if he can keep her in 

 form for next year. Mr. Marjoribanks's Joyful was 

 second, and Mr. Eastwood's Ruby, a clever red daugh- 

 ter of Moleskin and Rosa, was commended. The 

 extra stock took up their stand, heavily sheeted, under 

 an ash tree ; and when we got up to them, we found that 

 they consisted of two massive whites, -which turned out 

 to be nothing more nor less than our old friend Beauty's 

 Butterfly and Precious Stone, both of them heiresses 

 of the departed Master Butterfly. His son Royal But- 

 terfly did not keep the crowd very long in suspense, 

 when he was marched into the ring for the Bull Chal- 

 lenge Cup, for which he had such a memorable tussle 

 last year with Prince of Prussia, from whom thousands of 

 miles of sea now divide him, at the Society's meeting at 

 Blackburn. On that occasion Mr. Douglas held out 

 against the three other judges, but he quite acquiesced 

 in the Canterbury decision, wheu he saw the pair con- 

 fronted nine months after. The excitement was very 

 different when the cup for females was decided, and 

 every movement of the judges was scanned, as they went 

 restlessly backwards and forwards, between Duchess 

 77th and Emma, first tape-lining them, and then con- 

 sulting, and then comparing point by point again, 



