TtlE?FARMliR\S MAUAZliNE. 



139 



farmers take little or no pains with them. The land- 

 lords, however, are setting them an excellent example ; 

 and something must come of it. 



The Sheep-show was the weakest division of the 

 Stock Classes. Tlie Lcicesters, still declining, were 

 very inferior, although Mr, Paulett came to the 

 rescue with some good rams. But where was 

 Mr. Sanday ? Neither judge nor steward, the class 

 could certainly not afford his absence. Then Mr. Jonas 

 Webb does not show Downs ; and Mr. Sainsbury does 

 not show Downs, and Mr. Overman does not show 

 Downs — ergo, the Southdowns were not numerically 

 what they had been. Thanks, however, to the Duke of 

 Richmond and Mr. Higden, we had some beautiful 

 finely -bred sheep to look at ; and as the judges went 

 all for quality, the honours were divided between them, 

 Mr. Rigden taking the better half. Lord Walsingham 

 has had some recent mishaps with his flock, and one 

 ram was shown with a bad cut across the eye, a better 

 having been lefc at home. Useful sheep, as his lord- 

 ship's are, it would have been a difhcult thing to alter 

 the Chester edict. 



If some of the best men amongst the Lci- 

 cesters and Downs did not exhibit, the great 

 breeders of the Cotswolds did. The consequence was that 

 the pick of the fair was to be found here. We were 

 assured, indeed, at Cardiff that the comparatively inferior 

 exhibition of Cotswolds in South Wales would be consi- 

 derably amended in the North. And so it was. The 

 Lanes, Hewers, and Games had evidently been reserving 

 themselves, and a better show of Cotswolds has rarely 

 been known. They stood out in strong pre-eminence to 

 the other sorts; and Mr. Hewer'spenof ewes was deser- 

 vedly one of " the sights" of the show — such beau- 

 tiful heads, grand forms, wide chests, and fine fleeces. 

 Beyond this, the French savans say that the Cotswold is 

 the very best eating ; and so really, Mr. Webb 

 and Mr. Sanday, you had better make haste back 

 again, or we shall have these Wiltshire people 

 going yet more to the fore. Mr. Beale Browne, in such 

 company, could get no higher than a commendation ; 

 and the thousand-pounds challenge — accepted by Mr. 

 Hewer— has ended in a forfeit. Mr. Browne paid five 

 hundred to be " off" on Saturday last — a most discreet 

 proceeding. Shropshire and West-country Downs stood 

 deservedly high amongst other kinds ; and Mountain 

 Sheep, both Welsh and Scotch, formed another appro- 

 priate feature in the local character of the Show. 



One of the " extraordinary " facts of the meeting — 

 we use the Judges' own words — was the exhibition of 

 small Pigs. All were generally good, but the small 

 sows especially were remarkable for the number of good 

 ones amongst them. It is said eight were " called out " 

 for the first prize, and no less than ten were 

 altogether distinguished either by prizes, " special" 

 or high commendations. Colonel Towneley faired better 

 here than with the Short-horns, as he took the local as 

 well as the Society's premium with the same sow. And 

 here it must be said that many an animal contended for 

 both classes of premiums, and often with success. This 

 caused some little confusion to the spectator, as well as 



i it will to the reader, but we have endeavoured to 

 [ identify every animal as closely as possible — either by 

 name, breed , or colour. With the pigs the latter ran 

 all for white. With the sole exception cf one or two 

 Berkshires, none of the darker shades were in fashion. 

 Amongst the larger kinds, there were one or two animals 

 of immense size and weight, apparently so helplessly 

 fat, that their value for "use" would seem like an 

 absurdity. 



The horses, again, were entered in all sorts of ways ; 

 and the best of one division was often enough the second 

 for another. Or, a winner in the national did not con- 

 tend for the local prize, which of course went to some- 

 thing beneath him. There was altogether a very large 

 display of agricultural and dray horses, with some capi- 

 tal specimens amongst them ; but, like most horse 

 shows, it was a very uneven one. The call went chiefly 

 for Suffolks and Clydesdales, notwithstanding there were 

 comparatively but few on the ground. This is the more 

 creditable, as neither of the judges were Scotch nor 

 eastern counties men. Mr. Badliam's Suffolk has now 

 corrected the Bury oversight, the only time he was ever 

 beaten. His other performances are very good. At 

 three years old he took the first prize of his class, and 

 the second amongst the aged horses at Ipswich, 

 where there was one of the best lots of Suffolks 

 we ever saw. At four years old, that is during this 

 summer, he won the All England prize at Chelmsford on 

 a Wednesday, and a similar one at Norwich on the 

 Friday following. Often as we have met " Emperor," 

 'ere this, we never saw him look so well as at Chester. 

 He appeared, as it were, to feel his own triumph, and 

 to display himself to the best advantage. lie is cer^ 

 tainly a very handsome horse— a beautifully topped one, 

 with a good head, rare neck and crest, plenty of middle 

 piece, and better behind in the thighs and gaskins than 

 many of them are. His weak points are that he is a 

 little light below the knee, has a small but still good 

 foot, and is perhaps a trifle confined in the shoulder. 

 Then, Mr. Crisp well supported him with another 

 Suffolk Emperor — not Ploughboy, as printed in 

 the catalogue — who took not only the first prize 

 of the Society, but with it the local one, so 

 thai Shropshire and Cheshire will have a 

 good opportunity of fairly trying the breed when Em- 

 peror " number two" comes on his travels amongst 

 them next year. Another commended Suffolk, Mr. 

 Wilsoi 's Salisbury horse, was sold on the ground, to 

 go to Australia, whither he is bound with two or three 

 more of his countrymen. Those at Chester have of 

 course c'tcn met before at home meetings, and with 

 varied su':cess, but their ups and downs are scarcely 

 worth tracing here. The second prizes in these two 

 classes went to a good-looking black Leicester horse, 

 and to a twi-year-old by that great horse, England's 

 Glory. The young one is quite worthy of him. Then the 

 Clydes had a turn, and the mares began with one 

 of the most perfect ever sent into a Show-yard. 

 She was better all over than the North Country 

 nags generally, and was really as splendid a cart 

 mare as need be asked for. If she bad a fault. 



