THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



213 



this brcedei' show much in his favour : we like to sec 

 the same character kept up fioin year to year ; and if a 

 little improved in size, all the better, providing the 

 fine form and firm quality of hand be retained. 

 Mr. R. W. Creswell, of Ravenstone, Leicester, takes 

 the second prize with No. 420, with an animal of great 

 credit, of wliich his breeder may be proud. The Judges 

 were very wary in awarding a high commendation : 

 they would not have greatly transgressed had tbey done 

 so ; but Mr. Pawlett did receive a commendation with 

 No. 394, Mr. John Borton, of Barton House, Malton, 

 with No. 404, and Lieutenant-Colonel Inge, of Thorpe- 

 Constanline, Tamworth, with No. 412. Mr. Barton's 

 sheep possess larger proportions than any other Leices- 

 ters exhibited, and have excellent hand and fineness 

 of offal, with good looks and plenty of wool. We were 

 given to understand that he had a successful day, whicii 

 confirms our hint expressed above. Mr. Geo. Turner, 

 of Barton, Exeter, showed his usual quality and pro- 

 portions, quite in character with rather large Leicesters 

 with lengthy frames. Mr. Wiley's are good useful 

 sheep ; and Mr. Simpson, Mr. Creswell, Mr. Wat- 

 kins, and Mr. Spencer fully sustain the excellent 

 character of the class. Colonel Inge's lot are quite 

 first-class animals. 



Class 2. Leicester Rams of any other age. — Here, 

 again, Mr. Pawlett takes the £20 with No. 430; 

 Mr. Spencer, of Claybrook Magna, Lutterworth, 

 taking the £^10 with No. 450. Mr. Creswell receives 

 a high commendation with No. 447 ; Mr. Pawlett a 

 commendation with No. 431 ; Mr. S. Umbers, of 

 Wappenbury, Leamington, with No. 433 ; Mr. John 

 Borton with No. 438 ; and Mr. George Turner with 

 No. 440. This was a splendid class of Leicesters, and 

 will do much to keep up their long-established credit, 

 which we confess we thought to be somewhat on the 

 wane. We missed Mr. Sanday's celebrated animals ; 

 they have generally won our high approval. 



Class 3. — The Shearling Ewe class. — Lieutenant- 

 Colonel Inge takes the £20 with No. 455, a very good 

 lot; and Mr. Samuel Wiley, of Brandsby, York, takes 

 the £10 with No. 459, a lot highly creditable. This 

 class we did not think equal to former days, though 

 possessing several excellent pens of first-class animals. 



SOUTHDOWNS. 



Class 1, Shearling Rams. — The first prize of £^20 

 was awarded to Mr. Wm. Rigden, of Hove, Brighton, 

 for his No. 461 ; and the second of .£10 to the Duke of 

 Richmond, for his No. 472 ; and thus the prize list dis- 

 poses of this class — a very short and summary course, 

 which we do not remember ever to have seen adopted 

 before. No high commendation; nor even a com- 

 mendation. These are such usual matters-of-course, 

 that, when done, no one observes the thing, 

 but it passes on without remark or comment. But 

 when we refer to our prize list, and see all passed over 

 in silence, and without the slightest notice, every pro- 

 fessed breeder or amateur becomes a judge, and asking, 

 how is this? proceeds to criticise. We should do it 

 ourselves. We did do it; and our first observation 

 was : Look at those splendid animals of Lord Walsing- 

 ham's ! What, are none of them entitled to a commenda- 

 tion ? Why are they to be unnoticed ? Then look at 

 those beautiful sheep, the property of his Grace of Good- 

 wood : they are rather liner in frame, but denote some- 

 what lengthy proportions, their beauty being unsur- 

 passed. Or, again, examine the Duke of Manchester's, 

 the Duke of Beaufort's, Mr. Lloyd's, and Mr. Long- 

 bourne's — all highly creditable to their class. Then why 

 is it that no credit is given to them ? Surely com- 

 mendations are cheap enough ! However, the taste has 

 long been set. Mr. Jonas Webb has set it, Mr. Rigden 



has upheld it, Mr. Lugar has fostered it, Mr. Grantham 

 and Mr. Ellman have sanctioned it, the Duke of Rich- 

 mond has abetted it ; and so it has become a fact. 

 On the contrary, Lord Walsingham has aimed at larger 

 proportions, Mr. Overman and others at more substance 

 and more wool. A prize is to them an accidental occur- 

 rence — it does not accord with the established taste. 

 But we see a change in the public mind : larger animals 

 are sought for everywhere : more wool is required : 

 cross-bred sheep are universally prevailing, and why ? 

 Because more wool and mutton is obtained than the 

 pure breeds afford. The price of pure Down wool and 

 mutton does not to any extent exceed that of cross- 

 breeds. The art of breeding warrants this course ; it is 

 consequent from the improvement of both large and 

 small breeds : combined tliey are more profitable. We 

 caution the breeders of pure-bred animals of small size 

 of any kind. They are getting behind the times in which 

 we live. Even the mountain sheep are growing large : 

 witness those shown at Cardiff. We caution our 

 leaders to look ahead. We caution all their followers 

 to aim at more substance, and keep their quality ; 

 others are doing it, have done it, and will soon take the 

 lead. We do not say these classes are fully equal to 

 some former exhibitions, but they are very good. We 

 undoubtedly missed Mr. Jonas Webb's, Mr. Scott Hay- 

 watd's, Mr. Ellman's, Mr. Overman's rams, and some 

 others which contributed at Salisbury to form such a 

 splendid show ; but that is no reason for passing over 

 splendid animals so silently or with scarcely a remark 

 — only one commendation marking the real opinion of 

 the judges. 



Class 2 — Rams of anyother age— is passed over pre- 

 cisely in the same way, Mr. Rigden taking the first prize 

 of .£^20 with No. 461, and the Duke of Richmond the 

 second prize of £10 with No. 472. 



Class 3 — Shearling Ewes — was well sustained and 

 the Duke of Marlborough's beautiful pen extorted a 

 high commendation, but as before, Mr.W. Rigden took 

 the first prize of £20, and the Duke of Richmond the 

 second prize of i,'10 ; thus thrice repeating the same 

 story. And here we would remark that we thought 

 the judges scarcely kept to their taste in this clase, for 

 they passed his Grace's favourites, and gave the prize to 

 the second lot. We thought the first lot a pattern of 

 Southdown beauty, Mr. Rigden's and Lord Walsing- 

 ham's fine animals either of them deserving commenda- 

 tion. 



LONG-WOOLLED SHEEP. 

 (not leicesters). 



Class 1. Shearling Rams. — There was an admi- 

 rable competition in this class ; but the almost un- 

 conquerable Mr. W. Lane, of Broadfield Farm, carried 

 off the palm, winning the first prize with No. 542, and 

 the second with No. 543, both of them superb sheep, of 

 immense proportions and beauty, and, what is better for 

 this class of animals, of excelleut hand and quality. Mr. 

 Porter's No. 530 and Mr. Robert Game's 540 received 

 high commendations ; and Mr. Geo. Fletcher's No. 521, 

 Mr. Thos. Porter's No. 532, and Mr. W. Hewer's No. 

 547 received commendations. The class was a splendid 

 exhibition of Cotswolds, and fully supports the great 

 celebrity and value of the breed. The early maturity 

 of such animals is astonishing, and the extraordinary 

 weights arrived at by these sheep at 16 months are almost 

 past belief. This must be the breed to feed the multi- 

 tude. Sheep that can attain to 40 or 50 lbs, per quarter 

 in 16 months, and yielding a heavy fleece of good wool, 

 are calculated to win the palm from all others as service- 

 able animals for a country's good. In class 2 several 

 most astonishing sheep were shown ; the one exhibited 

 by Mr. W, Lane measured 6 feet in girth, but did not 



