THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



41 



four legs on the point of a'pole, he was " all of a heap," 

 with his back set up, and his head and tail down. No 

 doubt he would look far better out. There were some 

 other good Herefords, more especially amongst the 

 steers, but the general class of them ran rather into " all 

 sorts", and the orthodox red coat broke out into grey, 

 white, or even one of " many colours." 



There are manywho will expect to find the merits ofthe 

 Gold Medal beasts at Birmingham as signally confirmed 

 this week at the Smithfield Club. And, certainly, as 

 far as the cows are concerned, this would seem to be in- 

 sured. It is rarely, indeed, that any animal has united 

 such size and weight with so much style and quality as 

 is to be seen in Beauty's Butterfly. At three years and- 

 a-half old she measures nine feet and one inch round the 

 girth, is very heavily fleshed, and as evenly fed. Then 

 she has a lovely head, an extraordinary back, and a beau- 

 tiful touch. In a word, no one animal ever 

 showed so well for the Uses and Graces, and 

 the only regret will be to see her prepared 

 so early for tbe sacrifice. As her name indicates, by 

 the famous Master Butterfly, and herself of such pro- 

 mise, the natural question is, how was it that as early 

 as the summer of this season she stood merely as a fat 

 beast at the Yorkshire Show ? The answer is that the 

 Beauty, although not a free martin, has never evinced 

 any sign or disposition to breed, and hence her early doom. 

 Another cow of the Colonel's, The Rose of Towneley, 

 the first of her class here, and little over four years old, 

 accompanies her to the shambles, and Mr. Stratton 

 yields up a Matchless to the same inexorable fate. 

 This cow had once the credit of beating her half-sister, 

 the Warwick prize cow, although the award was thought 

 to be a mistake. Still, good as she is, the credit of the 

 Hinton herd rests again on the Smithfield Club Gold 

 Medal steer of last Christmas, and the first of his class 

 then, as now at Birmingham. Magnificent m his points 

 as this beast still continues, he has hardly fulfilled 

 the promise made for him, neither does he handle quite 

 as kindly as might be. In fact, the more we see of 

 this fashion of preparing an animal over and over again, 

 the less we are inclined to uphold it. Some two or 

 three Christmases back, a Devon turned up at Bingley 

 Hall, after one or two years' absence, during which he 

 had been training on as a fat animal, and figuring 

 both in England and France, but with anything 

 but uninterrupted success. He was, in fact, as most 

 fat animals will be, all the worse for keeping, 

 and we spoke strongly, at the time, of the 

 absurdity of the system, and the questionable policy 

 of encouraging it. It is a weak place in the direction 

 of the Midland Counties' Meeting ; and the sooner they 

 assimilate their standing orders with the Smithfield 

 Club rule — that an animal shall be exhibited but once 

 —the more will the Society be in character with the 

 great national object and intention. It is even doubtful 

 whether Colonel Towneley 's beautiful heifer, though 

 now so ripe, may not return to her stall. If so, could 

 she continue taking the Gold Medal here for the next 

 year or two ? — In the cow class, for instance, next 

 time ? Mr. Stratton, however, did sell his ox in 

 Baker-street for £"'70, but he was back again at Hinton 

 in a fortnight for £bO, having been seized with dis- 

 temper almost immediately after leaving the yard. So 

 far, moreover, was he recovered, that the Shorthorn 

 Judge long stood out for him as the Gold Medal ox, 

 but he was eventually oxitvoted. The second prize in 

 this class, Mr. Hewer's ox, was remarkable as a short- 

 horn with a decidedly lonff horn. But steers occa- 

 sionally run to such lengths, and with Booth blood on 

 one side, and Bates on the other, there should be nothing 

 amiss in his character. Still this was not an animal of 

 pouch appearance; and it must have been his touch 



that carried his place for him. Mr. Lovell Cowley 

 had unmistakably the best of the Shorthorn steers, 

 and Lord Spencer, Mr. Overman, and Mrs. Dunk- 

 ley had some fair, but by no means first-class 

 slock in this section. The Prince Consort also showed 

 a Shorthorn, the second he has ever yet exhibited, but 

 without his customary success. As usual. His Royal 

 Highness was more fortunate with the Devons^ although 

 a mistake in the entry was nearly depriving him of the 

 credit of breeding his own steer. The show of this 

 sort was even less than usual, but Mr. Heath pro- 

 mises to maintain its repute in London with an ox, that 

 is to beat Mr. Shirley's for the Medal. 



The two or three Longhorns were better and broader 

 than we have ever yet seen them. There were in all 

 two Welsh cattle, with rather more Scotch, Mr. 

 M'Combie himself upholding the black polled, and the 

 Duke of Beaufort again supporting the Highlanders. 

 The crosses were as interesting as ever ; but in this place, 

 the catalogue, for a wonder, is weak. Of course the 

 whole value of a cross rests upon the way in which it is 

 achieved, and the entry of such description of stock 

 cannot be considered perfect without these particulars. 

 As to seeking information from a herdsman, he fre- 

 quently either does not or will not know. We were 

 calmly assured that one beast entered as a " cross" was 

 got by a Shorthorn bull out of a Shorthorn cow ! And 

 the man, though previously civil enough, was rather 

 indignant when we ventured to doubt so legitimate 

 a means for obtaining half-bred produce ! 



The attractions of the sheep show centered this season 

 more than ever over the Shropshires. They had for 

 the first time a distinct class to themselves, while a 

 movement was commenced to obtain a similar recogni- 

 tion of their rights at the meetings of the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society. The convocation on Monday resulted 

 in the adoption of the following resolutions, which tell 

 their own story : " That in the opinion of this meeting 

 the time has arrived when it is most desirable that some 

 united efforts should be made for the purpose of inducing 

 the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England 

 to open separate classes for the Shropshire sheep at the 

 annual country meetings of that society." 



" That in order to carry out the foregoing resolution, 

 the subjoined memorial to the Council of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society of England be adopted by this 

 meeting, and signed by the Chairman; and that*the 

 Chairman, the Earl of Dartmouth, the Earl of Ayles- 

 ford, Edward Holland, Esq., M.P., and William Orme 

 Foster, Esq,, M.P., be and are hereby respectfully re- 

 quested to obtain an interview with the Council when 

 the prize lists for the Canterbury Meeting are under 

 consideration, to present such memorial, and to support 

 the prayer thereof:" 



To THE Council of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society of England. 

 The Memorial of Breeders of Shropshire Sheep, assem- 

 bled at Birmingham, this 28th day of November, 

 1859— 



Showeth, — That in the opinion of your memoriahsta, the 

 claims of the Shropshire Sheep to be considered a pure breed 

 have now been fully established. 



That the Shropshire Sheep have been exhibited in consider- 

 able numbers at some of the Country Meetings of your 

 Society, and especially at Gloucester, Chester, and Warwick; the 

 entries for the latter place being not less than one huudred 

 and twenty-five pens, exceeding the number of entries of any 

 other breed at the same meeting. 



That successive Stewards of Stock at the Meetings of your 

 Society have declared their appreciation of the value of the 

 Shropshire breed of Sheep ; and that in one instance, namely, 

 in the report on the stock exhibited at Gloucester, the Steward 

 acting on the occasion expressed a hope that the Society would 

 in future recognize them as a distinct breed. 



