THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



61 



ESSEX AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 

 MEETlNCi AT CHELMSFORD, 



If any proof were yet wanting of the permanent good 

 effected by the country meetings of the Royal Agricul- 

 tural Society, we have it in the establishment of this 

 kindred institution. Without the national society 

 there would have been no such district society. De- 

 spite the number of public men, who flourish in the 

 county — notwithstanding the lead so many of them 

 take in matters agricultural — their practice has so far 

 had no home exposition. You associate their sayings 

 and doings rather with the proceedings in Hanover 

 Square ; or, more still, with the meetings of the London 

 Club. They even break ground into the adjoining 

 counties, and figure occasionally at both the Norfolk 

 and Suffolk gatherings. The increasing success, how- 

 ever, of either of these, was not sufficient to prompt 

 Essex to originate such a high day of her own. The 

 master-hand was needed, and from it alone was the 

 time taken. The first County meeting at Chelmsford 

 in 'fifty-eight is solely a consequence of the Great 

 National one in 'fifty-six. 



It is only fair to say that the signal having been once 

 given, every one appears to have done his best to an- 

 swer it. There have been few opening meetings held 

 under more encouraging auspices. It afforded a 

 first lesson that is sure to be remembered. Perhaps, 

 there never was a more uneven show. Each ex- 

 hibitor, no doubt, sent the best he could. Many 

 of these entries were of the very best, while some 

 were almost as palpably bad. It is sometimes 

 said that Essex is not a stock district ; but such an 

 argument in these days can really mean little or 

 nothing. If a farmer intends to hold his own he 

 must keep good animals in place of bad, let him live 

 where he will. It is only men like Mr. Mechi that can 

 afford to pass over a well-bred beast as the mere play- 

 thing of agriculture. But Essex does not need the 

 excuse some of her friends would make for her. There 

 was ample evidence on Tuesday of how much good 

 material there is in the county, as well as of how 

 ready those adjoining are to still further improve 

 it. The Society offered two "all England" pre- 

 miums — for the best stallion, and fur the best bull. Mr. 

 Jonas Webb sent a short-horn from Cambridgeshire, 

 and Mr. Badham a horse from Suffolk. They were 

 either well worthy of the distinction they claimed. 

 The two, in fact, were the lions of the show-field. 



In a really very commendable entry of Shorthorns, 

 Mr. Webb's bull still held a place and rank far above 

 all others. For his age, two years and a-half, he is an 

 extraordinary animal; already beautifully developed, 

 and with some of the finest points of his kind. He 

 has great breadth of back, stands wide in front, is very 

 kindly in handling, and has a capital head — with all 

 the properties of the male animal, wanting only that 



defiant look we find in some of them. To show how 

 strongly this red bull took, wo may add that, in the 

 opinion of one of the judges, he was " nearly equal to 

 Master Butterfly." But this is high praise we are 

 scarcely prepared to endorse, at least to its full amount. 

 Mr. Baker, of Writtle, showed another young bull, the 

 first of his class, also much admired, and remarkable 

 for the fair unprepared condition in which he was ex- 

 hibited. The credit of breeding him is, we be- 

 lieve, due to Mr. Bramston, who sent some most use- 

 ful, roomy, well-bred cows; while Mr. Fisher Hobbs, 

 Mr. C. Sturgeon, Mr. Barnard, and Mr. Long- 

 bourne, had also some well-merited distinction in these 

 classes. Mr. Hobbs, indeed, was, for its general fea- 

 ture", the chief supporter of the show. He entered 

 Shorthorn, Hereford, and Alderney cattle; Dorking 

 chicken ; and once more his own celebrated breed of 

 pigs. With all, too, he was more or less success- 

 ful. His Alderney heifer was quite a picked sample 

 of the sort ; and his Hereford prize cow, neat and 

 pretty in appearance, was only to be complained of 

 for the over-fed state she had been brought to. As it 

 was, of course some of the sufferers sunk under the 

 effects of their preparation. A pig we can certify to, 

 and one or two more animals we heard of, died upon 

 the field. Does not this kind of thing approach very 

 closely upon cruelty to animals ? 



We have said the exhibition was an uneven one. 

 There were some of the Shorthorns, for instance, their 

 breeders will never think of showing again as prize 

 beasts ; while the specimens of the Devons were quite 

 marvellous to look on. One Devon breeder who was 

 present could scarcely contain himself. Where did Lord 

 Rayleigh get them from ? Or, what could his lordship or 

 his man be about, to show such animals ? Certainly such 

 bony, narrow, scraggy, wretched-looking things were 

 never seen before, and by this argument the breed does 

 not prosper in Essex. Amongst the other sorts Lady 

 Pigott sent a West Highland bull— a novelty at any 

 rate to many present, and by no means a bad little ani- 

 mal. The few Alderneys, however, had by far the best 

 of the less prominent races. 



As with the cattle, the horse-show was of anything but 

 general excellence. Indeed, the entries of hacks and 

 hunters looked more like horses ranged for sale in a fair, 

 rather than as selected for prize purposes. The pick of 

 them was a long low, hack mare, bred by Lord Lonsdale, 

 and shown by Mr. Hutley. She stood about fourteen two, 

 with a most beautiful wicked head, bloodlike neck, and 

 fine shoulder. Had she but a httle more "style" 

 throughout, there is no saying what, with her action, 

 such an animal might fetch. There were one or two 

 large roomy hunting mares, although we can hardly 

 identify them at this date, and four or five thorough- 



