THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



21 



pared to do so at some pclf-sacrificc. It is the same 

 witli an iustitution ; and this one, we repeat, doserves 

 every credit lor its passage into Wales. If there bo any 

 to blame — as, moreover, any to suffer, for a short 

 show at Cardiff, it will be those, who in their 

 absence, conduced to such a result. A man 

 whoso name is not continually before the public 

 is soon forgotten ; while nothing tells stronger than 

 a first impression. Hero, then, was the opportunity 

 for opening a new connection, and for the further 

 advertisement of " a good article." And it all ended 

 in this wise : — The show of »Shorthorns was moderately 

 good; that of Devoiis decidedly inferior; and the entry 

 of Herefords, with what it often has been, very good 

 indeed. Perhaps this was to bo expected. Still the 

 great moral ot such a meeting is lost by the other 

 breeds not being sent in greater force. The Welsh 

 farmer will go home again convinced there is nothing 

 to beat his old favourite, the Hereford, after all. And 

 by the experience of this week he is right. Whereas there 

 are many parts of Wales in which the Devon might be 

 introduced witli every promise ol'success. But the great 

 men do not care about this. Neither Mr. Quartley nor 

 Mr. Turner had an animal on the ground, and it is 

 thought some who did send, liad better beasts at home. 

 What has helped to make the fame of the Shorthorn ? 

 The system by which he has been pushed on from 

 one district to another. It will never pay to keejj 

 all the best at home. 



Still there were some beautiful Devons at Cardiff, and 

 conspicuous amongst these stood those in the name of a 

 new exhibitor, Mr. Merson, of Brinsworthy. His two- 

 year-old bull was the pride of the entry; fine 

 in quality, thoroughbred in appearance, and a very 

 model for the mould in form. His prize cow, 

 again, headed a class that, as a whole, was 

 far better. It is indeed difficult to speak dispara- 

 gingly of a Devon cow, and the sjiectators at Cardiff were 

 quite willing to allow them all the merit their good looks 

 entitled them to. Captain Davey, and a namesake, Mr. 

 Davey of Flitton, stood also more or less distinguished 

 here. The latter was thought to have been hardly used 

 in the heifer class ; his entry being generally considered 

 the first, and not as placed, only the second prize. It is 

 bad taste, however, not to say dangerous work, quarrel- 

 ling with the judges; and we have heard of an instance 

 during the week where an exhibitor personally abused 

 the one j udge of the three who had long stood out in 

 favour of his own beast ! Of course the one did not 

 know this when he was venting his wrath, and the 

 other had too high a feeling to tell him. It shows, 

 though, how unwarrantable such attacks are. As Mr. 

 Smith truly said at the dinner, the judges see the stock 

 under many other circumstances to what the public 

 do, and there is scarcely an animal of any kind but 

 that shows very different out and in. Some stand "all 

 of a heap," and others, like a dealer's horse or a well- 

 drilled man, make the most of themselves anywhere. 



If the Welsh should have aleaning for anything beyond 

 their own mountain breeds, or white-faced neighbours, 

 it should be for the Shorthorn, and for this reason — 



Adjacent to both Cardiff and Newport lives Sir Charles 

 Morgan, who occupies a somewhat similar rank in the 

 South to what Sir Watkin Wynne does in North Wales. 

 Every year there is a very good meeting at Tredegar, 

 prominent at which gatherings are the baronet's own 

 well-cultivated Shorthorns. Strange as it may sound, 

 Sir Charles was not, wo believe, at Cardiff during the 

 week, nor does he appear to have taken much interest 

 in what was going on there. He certainly entered a 

 few cows, but these were, of course, at the mercy of 

 Mr. Stratton, in whom the shorthorn show of the West 

 of England Society is coming more and more to 

 centre. His second-prize cow at Newton — second to 

 her own mother — was the first here ; while a roan, 

 that stood beside her as second, was thought to be 

 almost as good in appearance, and is certainly so in 

 pedigree ; for the two are out of the same cow. They 

 were a magnificent pair ; and as specimens of the sort, 

 ranked well with Mr. Perry's couple of Herefords, 

 which stood equally distinguished. Next, if not su- 

 perior to these in excellence amongst the Shorthorns, 

 were the shown-in-pair heifers, also from the Hintoa 

 Herd. The red heifer, " Bee," was taken with Lord 

 Bateman's Hereford bull, Mr. Merson's Devon, and 

 Mr. Blakemore's pony, as the lions of the show. 

 But even Mr. Stratton's own name is not enough 

 here. Mr. Starkey's second-prize cow is of his 

 blood, and many of the other commended animals 

 as directly related to his sort. Without being precisely 

 able to say why, the Durham cows are as a rule better 

 at these meetings than the bulls, and it was so on this 

 occasion. The latter appear to want altogether more 

 style. There were many of them creditable animals, 

 but few quite up to the stamp of a prize Shorthorn. 



It was only last week we had to speak to the way in 

 which a show beast is sometimes got-up. Lord Bate- 

 man sent a well-known Hereford bull to Cardiff, not 

 improved, but positively disfigured with fat. A finer 

 beast, if in anything like proper condition, it would be 

 difficult to meet with. He has all the grand points of 

 the Hereford, with at the same time a certain compact- 

 ness of frame not always so characteristic of the kind. 

 Butj he had unsightly wells in the back from mere fat; he 

 had ugly patches of it here and there. Mr. Gant would 

 have fainted at the sight of his obesity, while the less 

 initiated laughed at, rather than admired as they should 

 have done, an admirable animal, in all "the splendid 

 misery" of having lived not wisely but too well. To 

 the excellence of Mr. Perry's cows we have already 

 spoken, and there were a pair of yearlings by the prize 

 bull, that made one only the more regret the state he 

 had been brought to. It will be observed that many 

 of the more local exhibitors distinguished themselves 

 as breeders of Herefords, and very deservedly so, too. 

 It is not often one sees so generally a good show of 

 them. The district so far, by no means broke the word 

 of promise. 



Another little treat here, and one we are less accus- 

 tomed to, was to be a show of ponies. Everyone 

 knows the Welsh pony, at least by repute— his safe 

 action, wear-and-tear constitution, good shape, and 



