THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



437 



ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY, 

 SPRING CATTLE AND IMPLEMENT SHOW. 



Although we had been duly advised by our Irish 

 friends, that there would be no finer speculation this 

 Easter than stuffing an extra carpet bag with hay, and 

 bringing it across the Channel, we could tind but few 

 indications of " the fodder- famine" which has threat- 

 ened to decimate the herds even in the rich grazing 

 lands of Tipperary and Limerick, as we surveyed the 

 long platoons of cattle in the Dublin Agricultural Hall. 

 To use the eloquent words of the Lord- Lieutenant, 

 " Although the hedges have no shoots, and the banks no 

 primroses; although our gardens grow blacker instead 

 of greener, and our asparagus refuses to swell, yet out 

 come our Shorthorns and Kerries with more rounded 

 proportions of form, and more silky glossiness of skin 

 than ever; out comes, in unrivalled majesty and rotun- 

 dity. Dr. M'Hale himself." There were 379 entries 

 in the cattle, 88 in the sheep, and 56 in the pig classes, 

 which was quite beyond the average number of previous 

 years, and these, combined with, perhaps, the best show of 

 implements ever brought together in Ireland, made up 

 an excellent anniversary of the Society. Still the at- 

 tendance on the first two days, the latter of which was 

 very wet, showed a decided falling off, and there was 

 comparatively little activity on the renowned bull mart. 

 This must be attributed rather to the backwardness of 

 the Spring than to any short-comings in the animals 

 themselves, as the young bull class was quite up to its 

 usual standard, and was thought by some to be beyond 

 it. In nearly every Shorthorn class, Ireland won the 

 prizes ; but she met this year with very little competition 

 at the hands of the great English and Scottish breeders. 

 Mr. Ambler contented himself with his treble victory of 

 '59. The Towneley Champion Herd kept its trump 

 cards for Canterbury, and sent no descendants of Master 

 Butterfly, Jasper, or The Squire, to follow in their foot- 

 steps ; Athelstaneford brought out nothing of its own, to 

 carry on the Lamp of Lothian flame ; and Messrs. East- 

 wood, Spencer, Marjoribanks, and TurnbuU divided the 

 strangers' honours. Rosette met all comers the second 

 time for The Fanners' Gazette Cup, but her wonted 

 Irish luck deserted her, and she was most ungallantly 

 shorn of her honours by the Westland champion, Dr. 

 M'Hale. It was not, however, on the rivalry of these 

 two that speculation so much concentrated itself, as on 

 the issue of the County Meath and County Dublin rub- 

 ber, which was to be played out in the three-year-old 

 bull class, between " The Doctor" and Sir Colin. The 

 baronet had struck his colours when they met in the 

 two-year-old class on the same spot last year, but mat- 

 ters had been changed at Dundalk, where " The Doc- 

 tor" was sadly out of bloom. Long and hot had been 

 the discussions between their partizans for eight months 

 past; even the press had rushed to arms on the knotty 

 point, and not a little money was depending on the judi- 

 cial " aye" or " no" of the Dublin Shorthorn bench. 



Still, despite this momentous question between their 

 loan and white seniors, the yearling bull class held its 

 old rank with the public, as "The Ireland's Eye" of 

 the entire show-yard. Nearly all the 120 candidates 

 came to their stalls, and sixteen of them were pulled 

 out for further examination, after the first general sur- 

 vey. Mr. Jonathan Richardson's Soubadar, the No. 1 

 of the catalogue, kept his place without any difficulty, 

 and the Marquis of Waterford oflFered 180 guineas for 

 him, as soon as the fiat was known. His owner, 



however, held out manfully for 200 guineas, and the 

 veteran breeder Mr. Coppinger, of Co. Cork, clenched 

 the bargain for that sum next day. He is by Prince of 

 Warlaby (whom Mr. Richardson is at present using) 

 from a Baron Warlaby cow, and so back through a 

 Hamlet cow, to the Marquis of Chandos, whom that 

 " Old Parr" of English Shorthorns, Mr. Samuel Wiley, 

 sold into Ireland. In point of age, he had a consider- 

 able pull over the second and third ; but his great size, 

 fine coat, and capital loin carried him triumphantly 

 through. The judges not only awarded him the_Ganly 

 Cup as the second-best bull in the yard, but it was said 

 that one of them rather preferred him to Dr. M'Hale. 

 The second prize went to Mr. Crosbie's bull, a grand- 

 son of Mr. Douglas's Lamp of Lothian. He^ had fed 

 as level as a sheep, and had Soubadar, who was some 

 eleven weeks older, been out of the way, few- would 

 have grudged him the premiership. Mr. Richardson 

 also gained third honours with his Knight of Lagan by 

 Prince of Warlaby, a May calf of very great promise, 

 and nice form and cliaracter, tracing back to Rose de 

 Meaux, by Collard(3419) ; and Mr. Stratton, who was 

 one of the judges, showed his appreciation of him, by 

 taking him back to Broadhinton lor 110 guineas. The 

 " reserved fourth" place fell to the lot of Leviathan, a 

 son of Sir Edmund Lyons, and lately sold by Air. 

 Fawkes to Mr. Rce for 20O guineas ; but although he 

 was a good robust-looking bull, there seems a proba- 

 bility that, true to. his name, he may become rather too 

 big. The other High Commendations were awarded to 

 Mr. Chaloner's Shamrock, a neat son of Sir Samuel, 

 with a fine loin and back; Mr. Marjoribanks's Young 

 Mogul by Great Mogul, whose compact form and rich 

 quality made him a very worthy champion for England ; 

 and Mr. Owen's Sir Hercules by a son of Baron of 

 Southwick. Two were also commended, to wit, Mr. 

 Wood's Nobleman, an animal of good form, but perhaps 

 not a very nice handler at present, while Scotland had a 

 mention with Messrs. TurnbuU's Bottom. 



The entries in the two-year-old class numbered 44, 

 and of these 12 were " pulled out." Ireland won all 

 the three prizes, and the only high commendation was 

 awarded to Mr. Willis's Royal Alfred, from the neigh- 

 bourhood of Bedale. Clydesdale — an own brother to 

 Sir Colin, and his superior in the opinion of the ma- 

 jority — won the first prize for Lord Talbot de Mala- 

 hide, with Mr. Lindsay's Mystery and Mr, Prentice's 

 Sir Colin in order behind him. Clydesdale is a rich 

 roan, and a grand bull, with valuable grazing points 

 all over. He was bred by Mr, Pratt Tynte, of Tynte 

 Park, and is by Mr, Barnes's Emperor, from Corn Cup 

 by Vanguard — a purchase from Mr. Torr, of Aylesby. 

 Eighteen entered the three-year-old lists with Sir Colin 

 and Dr. M'Hale; two of them, belonging to Colonel 

 Leslie, M.P., and Mr. Blackett, wereliigiily commended, 

 but the great roan and white rivals seemed to engross 

 all attention. Perhaps never were two animals more 

 distinct in their points and general style. Sir Colin was 

 full of thick flesh; but there was a general roughness 

 about him, especially in his forehand, which contrasted 

 unfavourably with the level, elegant style of Dr. 

 M'Hale. For a long bull, we have seldom seen any- 

 thing so compact as the latter, especially behind the 

 shoulders, and his beautiful outline was set off still more 

 by the graceful style in which he moved when the judges 



