56 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



creditable to the breeder, Mr. Halse ; he is of excellent 

 quality, and deep in frame, but across the rump he is 

 too high, and his loin looks, consequently, low. Mr. 

 Farthing's first prize steer is a capital type of the Devon 

 breed : he possesses an astonishing loin, a good fore- 

 quarter, great depth of frame, and is of excellent quality : 

 but he has a slight deflex in the middle of his back. Mr. 

 Dunning's second prize steer is a very handsome animal, 

 with a deep cylindrical frame, and beautiful quality of 

 flesh. Mr. Heath's third prize steer is a highly com- 

 mendable animal, and well worthy his position. Mr. 

 Farthing's No. 7 in this class is a good character. In 

 class 2 Mr. Farquharson's steer received the first prize 

 and silver medal : he is deep in chest, good girth, long 

 and large in frame, but his hind points are not good. 

 His Royal Highness the Prince Consort takes the second 

 prize with the steer which took the first prize at Bir- 

 mingham : he is a very neatly-formed animal, thick and 

 full frame, not high standing, beautifully fed, flesh 

 firm, and of exceedingly good quality. Mr. Heath again 

 takes third prize with a very good Devon, having a deep 

 full forequarter, but not evenly fed. Mr. Overman's 

 steer is in excellent form, and full in frame. 



The third class of Devon heifers exhibited several 

 great beauties, as did also the fourth class — Devon cows. 

 Mr. Heath's is a surprising animal of the breed, level 

 and full-framed throughout. Mr. Cootes' cow was ra- 

 ther less firm in hand, but of nice frame. It is seldom 

 that so many Devons of such excellence have been ex- 

 hibited. They are a very interesting part of the show, 

 and were greatly admired by dense crowds of visitors, 

 who generally throng that avenue to inconvenience. 



The Hereford classes are not numerously filled : we 

 have never feen so small a show. There are, however, 

 some splendid specimens of the breed. Mr. Heath's 

 deep-framed ox is surpassingly good ; a little more no- 

 bility of character and appearance would have carried 

 the gold medal. He has capital fore-quarters; his 

 breast, shoulder, and chine are first-rate in form ; his 

 flank, thigh, and underneath parts are extraordinarily 

 good ; his back, rumps, ribs, are all good, and well 

 throughout ; perhaps he is rather too short in frame and 

 in his legs. Mr. R. Shirley's steer, which takes the 

 gold medal, is quite a first-class animal ; he is nearly a 

 perfect type of the breed ; he has beautiful looks and 

 fine contour of head, and he possesses a deep level frame, 

 of large development and cylindrical form ; all his points 

 are good, and in right keeping ; his underneath parts are 

 extraordinary ; his purse is very large, but it is rather too 

 forward, and his neck is too thin, otherwise he is nearly 

 faultless at his age, only 2 years 6 months 27 days, 

 and his girth 8 ft. 6-7 in. Mr. Naylor's cow and Lady 

 Emily Foley's cow appear here as at Birmingham, and 

 take the same positions (see our remarks of last week). 

 Mr. Hill showed a very good heifer, the only one in the 

 class, for which he was awarded the first prize. 



The Shorthorns are great in number, and fair 

 in character. They are a little in excess of former 

 years as to number, and, by Colonel Towneley's 

 heifer, also in excess as to quality and excellence. 

 There are many splendid specimens of this valuable 

 breed. It would occupy too much of our space to 

 attempt to describe individual animals ; bat we cannot 

 refrain from trying our pen upon Beauty's Butterfly, 

 the most splendid representative of the Shorthorn 

 cow we have ever seen ; her looks are as placid and 

 calm as can well be conceived ; she has a handsome 

 countenance, her head and face look rather fatty, 

 but are finely formed ; she has fine waxy, nicely 

 turned horns; altogether it is "a lovely head;" 

 her neck is full and is gracefully set to her head, shoul- 

 ders, and chest, forming one of the finest fronts ever 

 seen in any of her kind ; her breast end is prominent, 



broad, and full, her shoulders well thrown out, her 

 chine is very broad, and the rotundity and equability of 

 her immense girth is astonishingly even and great, mea- 

 suring 9 ft. 1 in. — in fact her frame is a very large and 

 perfect cylinder in form, and of great length ; her depth 

 is wonderful, and the even level firmness of her sides, 

 without protuberance in any part, is excedingly good ; 

 her hips lie very wide, and are most evenly fed, without 

 damaging her shape in the least ; her back is of extraor- 

 dinary width, and is a perfect level ; her underneath 

 parts are all in equal proportion, and add to her beauty. 

 The only slight imperfection we can discover yet is in her 

 somewhat short rump and tut ; and possibly her thighs 

 and twist are scarcely full enough to her other immense 

 proportions. She is a beautiful white without a speck. 

 Her touch or hand is all that can be desired to en- 

 hance her quality. As we intimated last week, she re- 

 turns to Towneley. 



The classes of this breed are all well-sustained. We 

 have many superior cows and heifers, but ^one to ap- 

 proach the favourite Beauty's Butterfly. Mr. Aid- 

 worth's is an exceedingly good heifer, as is that shown 

 by Sir Thomas Whichcote, and another shown by Mr. 

 GrifFen. In the cow class Colonel Towneley is again 

 triumphant, with a magnificent cow, which also is to 

 return home, although whether for more feeding or 

 breeding is not known. Mr. R. Stratton shows an ex- 

 traordinary animal in this class, as does Mr. R. L. 

 Bradshaw. Lord Howe has also a beautiful heifer in 

 the extra-stock. 



The classes of Shorthorn steers and oxen are always 

 interesting. The Marquis of Exeter takes the front 

 rank, with a most noble ox — so good and great, that, 

 did time and limit permit, we should like to stay 

 and portray him ; it suffices for this time to say 

 that he is a splendid specimen of his kind, and does 

 honour to his classes, and is a redeeming point in the 

 show. Mr. Swingler's ox is a good type, but his 

 growth is not great ; his general proportions are fair 

 and good. Mr. Driffield's ox deserves especial notice, 

 but we must pass on. There are several animals in this 

 class highly worthy of notice. Mr. Wortley's ox has 

 the largest girth of any in the yard, 9 ft. 6 in. Mr. 

 Noakes' ox girths well, and is in good form and cha- 

 racter. Mr. Cowley's is a capital beast, and Mr. 

 Hewer's very heavy and well fed. 



We are decided advocates for the breeds attaining 

 to the earliest maturity, provided it is not attained at 

 too great a cost. Shorthorn steers are not only rapid 

 growers, but they continue their growth a long time. 

 This militates against early maturity; and the question 

 arises as to the profitable growth of the animal. 

 Shall he be forced unnaturally ? or shall he be left to 

 grow and thrive upon common ordinary food ? This 

 is another of those queries that deserves almost equal 

 consideration with that relative to aiming more at 

 symmetry and beauty in breeding, rather than at 

 size and lean flesh. The young Shorthorn steer can be 

 as readily forced into premature ripeness as those of 

 other breeds, and in this class we have some notable 

 examples of it. Mr. Frost's 2 years 11 months and 2 

 weeks old steer has astonishing size and proportions ; his 

 girth is 8 ft. 2 in. He has attained to a very heavy 

 weight at an early age. Mr. Maxwell's at 2 yrs. 10 

 months, is a still heavier steer ; he is not so evenly fed, but 

 has a deep, long frame, and capital rump-thighs, and 

 hind-quarter good. Mr. John Overman's steer is 

 another specimen of early ripeness, and stands in good 

 competition with the above. This is a good class. 



The Sussex oxen were shown in better character and 

 numbers than usual. The ox exhibited by Mr. Shoo- 

 smith is a fine animal, and well formed ; and Mr. Mon- 

 tefiore's ox is of good character and frame throughout. 



