384 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



year alone amounted to £135 15s., but the record has 

 swelled with years into a green pamphlet, and the 

 " sum tottel " now stands at i;3,577 4s. in cash, ex- 

 clusive of eight gold and twenty-one silver medals. Of 

 this ^^80 and two gold medals were won in France, and 

 £360 and 24 gold and s-iker medals at Smithfield 

 and Birmingham. He did not try liis hand at the 

 Royal Agricultural until 1850, when the Society met at 

 Exeter, but Matchless 1st had to bow, along with Col. 

 Towneley's Alice and Beauty, to Mr. Wilson's far-famed 

 Beauty of Brawith, in the two-year-old heifer class. 



His ill-luck in the "land of red soil, red cattle, and 

 red cloaks," as the American minister termed it, did 

 not deter him from trying when the Society next came 

 into his district, and at Gloucester, in 1853, his Mantle 

 was second in the yearling heifer.class. With Brides- 

 maid and Rose of Summer in the cow class at Carlisle, 

 and Rose of Athelstane and Queen of May as the pick 

 of the yearling heifers at Salisbury, it is not surprising 

 that he should have failed to do more than return with 

 such cold comfort as an H. C. and 5 Cs. The inter- 

 vening year had, however, seen him second with his 

 cow Marcia 3rd to Victoria 2nd at Chelmsford ; two 

 years after, Chester placed Matchless IV second to Nec- 

 tarine Blossom, in a strong cow class, and there was a 

 sound dairy look about her, which silenced all opposi- 

 tion, when the white rosette was found over her number 

 at Warwick. Her daughter Matchless 6th was also 

 highly commended iu her class, and Magician got the 

 second bull-calf prize, but had to give it up in conse- 

 quence of an unfortunate mistake of a few days in his 

 age, to Colonel Towneley's Bowbearer. 



It is, however, as a breeder and feeder of Smithfield 

 steers, that Mr. Stratton has won his especial fame, and 

 the walls of his dining-room bear strong testimony, from 

 the hands ot Davis, Strafford, and others, to the lances 

 he has broken with All England at the fat show jousts. 

 Above the fireplace, in a group, are Third Duchess of 

 Glo'ster (the venerable prima donna of Broadhinton) 

 and a while steer by Clarendon (12605), on which Paris, 

 Poissy, Birmingham, and Smithfield, all conferred first 

 prizes and gold medals. Previous to her being fatted, 

 the roan had bred one calf, and won the two-year old 

 heifer prize at the Yorkshire Society's Show, with 

 Matchless 2nd next to her. She then slipped twins 

 by Hickory in August, and fed so quick in the nest four 

 months, that she made up to 80 score. In 1852-53, 

 Mr. Stratton had quite a feast of fat things by Red 

 Duke, as he owned the medallist in the ox class, and 

 bred the winning steer (which he had sold to his 

 brother Mr. Joseph Stratton of Manningford Bruce) as 

 well. Two more of his own went up for their Smith- 

 field degree the nest year, and while the elder won the 

 medal, the junior was made the medallist in reserve. 

 In 1858, his steer by Nottingham, from a Red Duke 

 cow, brought a third Smithfield gold medal into his 

 collection, and left his hands, as he concluded, for a 

 London butcher's, at £70. However, the new pur- 

 chaser's idea of business was to raffle him in a lottery 

 of 100 shares of a pound each, and the lucky drawer 

 not knowing exactly what to do with his prize, offered 

 him to his old owner for £oO. He was accordingly 

 brought home, and doctored on homoeopathic principles 

 with aconite ; but although he grew considerably, and 

 was fed on linseed with the oil iu, he never quite re- 

 covered his handlirg, and alter winning a prize at Bir- 

 mingham, Rugby, and York, he was sold to a butcher 

 at the latter city. It was an interesting feature about 

 his Smithfield victory, that Mr. Brown of Uffcott (who 

 was second to Mr. Fawkes of Farnley in the yearling 

 bull class at Salisbury) won the gold medal for the best 

 female with Lis Duchess, by Mr. Strallon's Wateiloo. 

 Another century may roll over the head of the Smith- 



field Club, ere two adjacent villages can make a like 

 boast. 



Having pretty well laid the ground-work for a mon- 

 ster survey, we commenced operations with the home 

 yard, to which a picturesque little barn on staddles, 

 full of Smithfield and Bingley Hall "ammunition," 

 forms an appropriate portal. The yard itself is primi- 

 tive to a degree ; and some thirty cows and bull calves 

 are ranged in thatched or slated sheds round it. Match- 

 less 4th was there, and supposed to be in calf to Young 

 Windsor; but although she is barely five, she will be 

 prepared for shows no more. Now we cross the 

 Manor Lees to the Manor Farm, and enter the great 

 barn, to see what cards Mr. Stratton holds for Decem- 

 ber. They turned out to be two white steers by Not- 

 tingham, both very good, but vastly different in their 

 character. One takes to the thing quietly, as if it duly 

 felt lis responsibilities, while the other with a most mag- 

 nificent breast and forequarter, reminds one forcibly of 

 a wild bull of Chillingham. A strong course of oilcake 

 will no doubt tend to take the fire out of that tameless 

 eye. There too was The Bee by Clarendon from a 

 Waterloo cow, first at Cardiff", and highly commended in 

 the yearling heifer class at Warwick. Breeding was 

 not her mission, and her nice squarey level look, and 

 snug forehand, and neat offal, all look hopeful for 

 Christmas, if she will all go on as she has begun. Two 

 steers for 1861 by Victory and Buckingham, and the 

 former for choice, were feeding side by side in sheds 

 hard by, along with one by Nottingham from a Not- 

 tingham heifer. 



There was nothing in the Upper Waste except a pond 

 shaded by ivy-clad trees, and some tumuli which mark 

 the site of the old manor gardens. iLvery vestige of the 

 Manor House has disappeared, and there is a legend 

 that its royalist owner fired it with his own hand, to 

 baffle the Ironsides. The ghost of this loyal torch- 

 bearer was seen to wander for years round the close, in 

 silver buckles and a breastplate of fire. Twelve clergy- 

 men tried to lay him in the pond, but he would not stop 

 there, and chose the Red Sea instead, where he is sup- 

 posed to rest unto this day. Shaking off as best we 

 could the effects of this fearful story, we traversed, in 

 succession, the Cow, the Crab, and the Posted Lees. 

 In fact, there seemed as many lees as signs in the zodiac. 

 Then came Broadlees^ once a sheepwalk, but now a 

 pasture of eighty acres, with some fifty yearling heifers 

 and late-calving cows in it, which resort on cold nights 

 to a large straw yard called The Furze Farm, in one cor- 

 ner. \Ve drew rein for a few minutes during our three 

 miles ride, in the lane which led to the Salthrop Farm 

 in order to have a look at the steam plough. It does 

 its six acres per day in stiff, and eight in ordinary soil, 

 with four shares. The coal delivered from The Forest 

 of Dean costs £l per ton, and it generally consumes 10 

 cwt. per day. Ploughing is, however, not the only use 

 it has been put to, as Mr. nStratton attached a common 

 mole plough to it by way of experiment, and drained 

 several fields to the depth of eighteen inches. The 

 labourers have no Luddite feelings with reference to it. 

 They seem, on the contrary, to consider it more digni- 

 fied to be engaged with a steam horse than one of hocks 

 and hair, and ride up and down the field on the share 

 frame, as if they quite loved the fun. 



We did not touch at the Salthrop Farm Buildings at 

 all, but wound our way through the wood and a pretty 

 dell to the stalls and dairy. There the six-year-old 

 Nottingham reigns and, supported by hay alone, leads 

 a life of patient amiable industry, such as no bull living 

 can match. There never was such a busy bee. Some- 

 times he is out in the bush harrow, and as he has also 

 formed a working partnership with an old bay of apo- 

 cryphal age, the two have made three ricks of stubble 



