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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



mny be added that the theu best of all the animals 

 was only the best of her class here — Mr. Douglas' 

 The Rose of Athelstane, who took the first prize for 

 cows. She was still beaten for " the best of all" by 

 one of her own herd, and a half-sister — the now famous 

 Queen of Trumps. The latter was again side by side 

 with Venus dcMedicis, and the vexed question as to the 

 pick of the pair was decided in confirmation of the 

 Chester award. In fact, the Queen of Trunjps appears 

 to have improved even since then, and it is diffi- 

 cult now to imagine how the white heifer could 

 have ever had the advantage of her. Tlie 

 quality of either is excellent ; but her majesty 

 is the more roomy and broader, of a better colour, 

 with a better head, and certainly with the preference 

 in point of general appearance. But they are both 

 extraordinary animals, and should be painted — as they 

 so often have stood — together. Mr. Douglas thus wins 

 the new Purcell challeuge-cup for the second year in 

 succession, and it looks more than probable that ho 

 may follow Colonel Towneley's example, and secure it 

 during the next. He also wins the gold medal with 

 the Queen of Trumps as the best cow; while his 

 especial success does not even end here. The London- 

 derry meeting inaugurated another challenge-cup for 

 the best three horned animals shown in the same sec- 

 tion, and the master of Athelstanoford claimed this 

 also with three beautiful heifers, all of his own breed- 

 ing. So generally good were they, that in a remark- 

 ably superior class of over thirty, they were only just 

 separated. One took the first pi-ize, and the other two 

 were highly commended. Mr. Barnes' heifer, which 

 interfered, and had second honours, was a great fa- 

 vourite with the judges. She is sure to go on improv- 

 ing, and in another year will be a very formidable 

 opponent. Her touch is peculiarly fine, and she has 

 Bomc other capital "points" that only require further 

 developing. Captain Ball made a good fight for the 

 Waterford cup with four heifers, all home-bred ; three 

 of which were commended. Under ordinary circan- 

 stances he might have fully expected to take it; I: at to 

 beat Mr. Douglas is now to beat the world. 'We are 

 soiTy to say that the latter, although in Londonderry, 

 was too ill to appear on the show-ground. 



The meeting received another considerable accession 

 of strength from Scotland in Mr. Tod, of Elphinstone, 

 who had the best aged bull and the second-best 

 cow. His bull is a long, square, but by no means 

 perfect beast. Although we cannot say why, the 

 Irish shows are never very good in male animals. 

 The old bulls were quite a secondary lot, with one 

 or two very inferior animals amongst them. But 

 the repute of the neeting was saved by the twenty 

 yearlings, all bred in Le country, and almost every one 

 a credit to it. Nothing speaks more to the establish- 

 ment of the breed in the sister-kingdom than such 

 lieifers as Captain Ball could show, backed by such 

 young bulls as tliosc of Mr. Challoner, Mr. Barcroft, 

 Mr. Gildowny, and Mr. Tynte. The last-named gen- 

 tleman's yenrllng deservedly took the gold medal as 

 the beet of »U the bulls. He i* very handsome, of a 



fashionable colour, and as he drops to his leg will be a 

 grand framed animal. Perhaps the advance of the sort 

 could not be better proved than by these classes. The 

 two-year-old bulls were much better than their seniors, 

 and the yearlings, again, far better than cither. The 

 only shorthorn sent by an Englishman was a two- 

 year-old by the Fourth Duke of Oxford. Mr. Browne, 

 of Swindon, risked the voyage with him, in company 

 with one or two good coarsish Hampshire Downs. 

 They had evidently stood the trip better than the 

 young bull who looked " picked," tucked up, and 

 leggy. 



Our Hibernian friends are apparently quite satisfied 

 with the good sort of beast thiy have now got so firm 

 a hold of. The Ilerefords they cannot understand or 

 appreciate, for never were there so poor a lot of cows, 

 and heifers more particularly, entered for public com- 

 petition. Ragged, narrow, and ugly, the Judges 

 positively refused to pass sentence on some of them. 

 Tiien the Devons are "bad milkers," they say, and 

 very few are cultivated ; but Lord Charlemont has 

 some fine specimens of tiiem, and none the worse for a 

 little more size than we see here. Another noble lord — 

 Talbot de Malahide — has a fancy for the black 

 Scotch polled cattle, and always shows them with 

 credit. A yet more fancy article is the Kerry ; 

 but beautiful indeed as are Sir Edmund 

 M'Donnell's miniatures, they are far too small 

 to make much head-way in these times. They 

 form an agreeable variety in the yard ; but 

 it would be rather stretching the argument to tell a far- 

 mer that is the sort of thing he should turn his at- 

 tention to. In short, the modern agriculturists of Ii"e- 

 landhave made a most judicious selection. When they 

 want good beef, and plenty of it, they apply to the 

 Shorthorn ; and when they want milk, they go to the 

 Ayrshire. The latter made almost as strong a show as 

 the other favoured race. It is seldom indeed that we 

 have seen better cows, with their beautiful detr heads, 

 fine necks, and grand udders. They look better here, 

 too, than they do in Scotland, and have not that bony, 

 wretched frame so frequently associated with a good 

 milker. Sir F. Heygate and Messrs. Boyd, Harrison, and 

 Alexander have done much for Ireland in this respect, 

 and the specimens from their herds they entered at Lon- 

 donderry would hold their own anywhere. An Ayrshire 

 or an Aldernoy bull must bo a difiicult animal to judge; 

 but we believe there is a scale of points to which, no 

 doubt, the canny gentleman had referred, when he pre- 

 pared his stock for the Glasgow Meeting. 



With sheep, Ireland is becoming yet more and more 

 select. There is in reality only one breed now in favour 

 here, and that is the Leicester. — A sort we have been 

 rather prone of late to consider as going out of date, 

 althoiigli Mr. Sanday's average is the highest of the 

 year. The use they turn him to, across the channel, is 

 in the improvement of a great coarse animal known as 

 the Connaught sheep, that comes in its thousands and 

 tens of tliousands to the fair of Ballianasloe. Let him 

 alone, and this native would not arrive at maturity 

 until three yeai's old. Messrs. Owen and Roberts, how 



