70 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



The awards in the cattle classes having been read, the 

 Chairman gave the liealths of the gentlemen who had acted 

 as iudges in that department. 



Capt. Daw responded, and in a brief but telling 

 address observed that if one was inclined to speak, one 

 would feel entirely " shiit up" in coming to Norfolk, aad 

 especially on coming into the presence of a gentleman on 

 his riglit (Mr. Hudson), who had been described as the 

 "farmer king." Ho hoped the decisions of the judgfs had 

 given satisfaction, but he was one of those independent 

 fellows who did not care much whether they iiad or not. 

 He and his colleague had come to unanimous decisions: 

 they had had no discord or disagreement, and in their 

 judgment the animals to which they had awarded the prizes 

 were the best in their respective classes. He had often 

 heard of the Norfolk polled cattle, but he never saw much 

 of them till that day ; and all he could say was, that they 

 ■were not so famous in breeding the Norfolk polled cattle as 

 in their farming. It was to be hoped that the breed would 

 be improved, for there was plenty of room for it. In the 

 county from which he came they liked the best beef; they 

 suffered a good deal from toothache, their gums were tender, 

 and they did not like to eat so much sinew and muscle. 

 They endeavoured to produce those animals which gave the 

 most beef in the most valuable parts, and if Norfolk gentle- 

 men who bred this kind of animals would allow him to 

 make a remark, he would suggest that they should get them 

 a little thicker in the fore-quarters ; and if they could 

 make them abou*^ hree feet through instead of eighteen 

 inches, it would be all the better. The noble Earl who had 

 done so much for the agriculture of this county, and Eng- 

 land generally, came down into the West Country— to his 

 father, relatives, and neighbours— and brought back to this 

 county the foundation, if he might presume to u>e the 

 word,, of that noble herd of which England had heard so 

 much at Holkham. He might, therefore, perhaps be per- 

 mitted to make one remark, and he would humbly suggest 

 to those gentlemen who bred Norfolk polled beasts, whether 

 they might not improve them by judicious crosses with the 

 Devons, increasing their beef-producing qualities without 

 decreasing their milk. It would be for others to work this 

 out, but he should be happy to state his ideas on the subject 

 in private conversation. He had come into Norfolk hoping 

 to carry away some information, and he intended to keep 

 his eyes and ears open as much as possible ; but although 

 he should pick up a few notes, he should not print them 

 although he might profit bj' them. (Applause). 



The Chairman said, after the rather uncomplimentary 

 account they had received of their beef, he hoped they should 

 get on better with their mutton. 



The Earl of Albemarle : Lord Townshend h^pes we shall 

 save our bacon (laughter). 



The awards for sheep having been read, the toast of the 

 " Judges" followed. 



Mr. Carpenter responded very briefly, observmg that the 

 true character of the Cotswold sheep were shown in the two- 

 shear sheep exhibited by Mr. Sexton. 



Mr. Sexton, as one of the successful candidates, said he 

 should not rest upon his oars, but endeavour to produce better 

 sheep than he had yet turned out. 



The "Judges of Horses." 



Mr. Spooner, iu reply, said he could not venture to follow 

 the worthy gentleman beside him (Capt. Davy) ; for, not having 

 taken lessons from Mr. Rarey, he could not accomplish the 

 feat performed by that gentleman, who, ia speaking of a polled 

 breed, had boldly taken the bull by the horns (laughter and 

 applause). In respect to the class which he had bad the 

 honour of judging that day, they would be aware, from the 

 list read by the secretary, that their labours had not been very 

 light. They had had a good mauy animals to examine; but 

 fortunately, although there were but two judges, they had 

 been able to get through their task with very little difference 

 of opinion, and on only two occasions had they found it neces- 

 sary to call in au umpire. It was very possible, or rather very 

 likely, that some of the decisions at which they had arrived 

 might be scrutinized and criticized by gentlemen who had 

 passed round the field and examined the animals. This had 

 occurred before, it would occur again, and they were neither 

 surprised nor displeased that such should be the case. Every 

 man had a right to exercise his own judgment ; but he could 



explain one reason why a differetcs frequently arose between 

 the decisions of the judges, and the opiuioua of the hystauders. 

 Bystanders looked through a telescope for good points, while 

 the judges by the aid of a microscope sought to find out 

 defects. By means of the instrument which bystanders used, 

 virtues were sometimes greatly magLified— so magnified, 

 indeed, as altogether to put from view those defects which it 

 was the business of the judges to discover and appreciate, and 

 if necessary to condemn. The judges held that they did more 

 service by pointing out defects than by praising and prizing 

 the most admirable points. He could not pretend to say, not 

 having officiated in the class here before, whether the present 

 show was superior to former exhibitions ; but taking it as a 

 local show, and speakiug of the class of horses aloue, it was a 

 highly respectable oue. The judges had had the pleasure of 

 examining mauy noble auiuals. Impericctions had been 

 found, and he was sorry to say they were neither few nor far 

 between ; but at the same time they found many excellences, 

 and they trusted that on some future occasion a few 

 years hence, if they were spared to officiate as judges in the 

 same class again, they might see all the virtues which they had 

 witnessed on the present occasion, and that some of the 

 blemishes would have disappeared. There was one particular 

 class of horses to which a noble lord at the head of the table 

 had called attention : the class of trotting horses, of which, as 

 a south-countrjman — never having acted as judge at any of 

 the Norfolk shows before — he had certainly expected to find 

 some. If there were any of that celebrated trotting breed ex- 

 isting in some of the distant nooks of the county, let them 

 not he dormant. He used the word " dormant " advisedly, 

 because if such an animal, having powers of propagation, were 

 not sliowu at the society's meetings, he was asleep, or, at any 

 rate, his master was (laughter). He trusted that the breed 

 had not entirely disappeared. Such horses, which had been 

 heard of elsewhere, had been greatly prized ; and if those pre- 

 sent would listen to a word of advice, he would say to them, 

 " Cherish what remains of this breed as you would that you 

 prize and value most highly ;" because, if the good fore-quar- 

 ters, fore-legs, and action of the Norfolk trotter were once lost, 

 they could never be restored. What remained of the breed 

 should be propagated to the utmost extent. In conclusion, 

 Mr. Spooner tendered his best thanks to the Committee and 

 Stewards [who, by their excellent arrangements had enabled 

 his colleague and himself to complete their awards in conve- 

 nieut time. 



Lord Sondes proposed the health of the noble Chairman, 

 which was very cordially received. 



The Chairman, in the course of hia reply, expressed the 

 pleasure with which he met so numerous a party of Norfolk 

 agriculturists. His Lordship also referred to the service ren- 

 dered to agriculture by one of his ancestors, styled " Turnip 

 Townshend," who introduced the turnip into England, and 

 who in doing so conferred a greater benefit on his country 

 than all he did during several years of official empbymeut as 

 ambassador at the Hague, &c. (laughter). 



" The Royal Agricultural Society of England " (applause). 



Capt. Seymour said that, although bis name had been 

 coupled with the toast, he should take the liberty of associating 

 it with a name of European reputation — John Hudson (ap- 

 plause). 



Mr. Hudson responded, and observed that he bad been a 

 member of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society for 

 some few years. He had been returned (for the members of the 

 Council were eligible for re-election) six times ; almost as 

 many times as bis excellent friend Mr. Bagg was returned as 

 member for Norfolk (applause). He hoped the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society had done some good in regard to the production 

 of food for the increasing population of these islands. It bad 

 offered prizes for the best breeds of cattle aud sheep, and for 

 the best implements that could be produced. Witliout those 

 implements, he thought the agriculturists of England would 

 now be in a very poor place. The youth of the country were 

 gone to fight its battles, but mechanical aid had come to their 

 assistance, and he was sure that they would be able, by the 

 blessing of Providence, to gather in the harvest; which he 

 hoped would be a most productive one, if it was not put down 

 by too much wet. He hoped, with ttie assistauce of the new 

 machines which had been brought out, ecru would be cut ex- 

 ceedinglj' well ; and he trusted those present would not be 

 afraid of these implements. He had used them more than a 



