THE FARMER'S MAGAZLNK. 



4? 



they were keeping back their best sheep for Salisbury ; 

 when it is threatened there will be a most extraordinary 

 and decisive display of this sort — fast growing into 

 fashion as it is. Of what were sent to Newton, Mr. 

 Bealo Brown had, as usual, some capital ewes — three 

 out of tlie live in his first prize pen having had twin 

 lambs tliis season. Mr. Tombs, Mr. Handy, and Mr. 

 Ruck were also, it will be found, successful ex- 

 hibitors. .Still wo fancy, altliough within their own 

 range, the Cotswolds might have been somewhat 

 better even than they were. The Downs are never very 

 numerous at this Society's shows; and the horned 

 sheep we have seen altogether much better repre- 

 sented, though Mr. Danger's rams were good square 

 animals, with horns that alone should be worth all the 

 money the judges awarded them. 



Taking, then, the sweep of the West of linghmd's 

 dominion, we find the Cotswold sheep at one end of its 

 territory and the Leicester at the other. It is very 

 much the same with the tsvo breeds of cattle for which 

 its festivals are more especially famous. These are the 

 Devons and the Shorttiorns. Without the former of 

 these, indeed, the stock show would be lacking its great 

 ieature. There was no such want at Newton. Whether 

 the pure North Devon be going out of repute or not 

 — and we confess we should be very sorry to see it — 

 there has seldom been a better lot of Devon bulls than 

 were to be found on this occasion. Confining our- 

 selves to the meetings of the West, we should say it 

 wa? the very best entry since the revival of the Society. 

 The judges commended the whole of the first class of 

 aged bulls; and we think they might have been a little 

 more liberal with the next one or two. Mr. George 

 Turner's prize in the second class is a wonderfully 

 G\Q\\—fed beast we had almost said. He illustrates in a 

 veiy striking degree how well and closely the Devons 

 make flesh, while his quality is just about the best that 

 can be. If the North Devon had only a little more 

 size we really question whether there would be anything 

 superior to him, after all. The neighbouring breeders 

 of Somersetshire have attempted this by transplanting 

 him to their richer pastures, and certainly with some 

 success. The men of Devon, however, became at once 

 indignant at any such liberty being taken , and for a 

 year or two, as may be remembered, the Turners and 

 Quartlcys refused to show against sti'angers. To their 

 credit be it recorded that they have very wisely con- 

 quered this prejudice; and now Mr. Turner of Devon- 

 shire takes one premium, and Mr. Hole of Somerset- 

 shire another. This is as it should be. Or we might 

 have been ranking some of our famous breeders witli 

 some of our famous implement makers, who think it 

 quite enough to once get to the top of the tree, and to 

 say they have been there. The Somersetshire breeders, 

 such as Messrs. Corner, Farthing, and Fouracre, quite 

 held their own ; although in the two classes selected by 

 the judges for general commendation, "the aged bulls" 

 and " the heifers in milk or calf," the premiums were 

 all kept at home. As a pretty almost "fancy" cow, 

 such as gentlemen are now dotting about their parks 

 in place of deer, and so forth, Mr. Buller's second prize 

 heifer is a very picture. 



Mr. Stratton of course furnished the chief attractions 

 in tho Short-horn classes. He is, indeed, becoming 

 more and more a remarkable man in this way, and has 

 just published a book on his favourite pursuit. The 

 argument he deduces hero is very striking. His 

 work is simply nothing more than a list of prizes he 

 has taken as a breeder and exhibiter of Short-horns. 

 These come to no less than four hundred in number, 

 and in amount to some three thousand pounds, awarded 

 during a career extending over some fourteen years. 



The cow classes, and it must be admitted almost 

 entirely to this gentleman's support, were by far the 

 best. His first prize here, second in her class at 

 Chelmsford last year, is a capital, broad, roomy cow 

 — about as good a specimen as you would wish to see — 

 with both size and quality to recommend her. The 

 second prize cow was a much nearer contest, with one 

 of Mr. Jonas Webb's breed, which Lady Pigot had the 

 spirit to send all the way from Cambridgeshire. As it 

 was, she was highhj coimncnded, while we could have 

 wished her Ladyship more decided success. As one of 

 the Judges told us, "so very near was it, thathadlknown 

 the other was Stratton's, I should have given it against 

 him ;" and Mr. Stratton himself openly admitted that 

 he could not have complained had the award been so 

 adjusted. Still the heifers in milk or in calf were 

 thought to be better than the cows; the same herd 

 again being first and second. Our great objection 

 against them would be, that like the Devon bulls and 

 many others, they looked too well. If wo had not been 

 assured that animals here had bred this season, we 

 should put them down as going straight to the butcher. 

 They were certainly quite fit for him. 



The Society seems to be getting alive to the neces- 

 sity of some close supervision on this subject. A 

 veterinary surgeon was especially retained to examine 

 the different animals, and to pronounce whether, after 

 all the pampering and forcing they had enjoyed, they 

 were really fit for breeding purposes. Mr. Browne 

 did, wo believe, disqualify one or two. It is a difficult 

 thing, though, to declare a cow is not in a state fit to 

 breed from, when she has had a calf of her year. At 

 the same time, with the hot-house system in practice, 

 it is quite a possibility. The abuse, however, goes 

 beyond this. The produce of some of these over-fed 

 animals have often been found to be useless. And it 

 is of this our different Societies have to be careful. 

 What a contradiction it is to put the stamp of approval 

 on a beast as the best of a breeding-show, that has been 

 positively manufactured by a process which makes it 

 fitted for anything but breeding. 



In the mixed classes, the South Devons or South 

 Hams — much the same sort — showed better now they 

 have not a class to themselves ; Mr. Rendell exhibiting 

 one or two r&ry good cows. There were also a few 

 Herefords, of which Mr. Hewer's prize bull. General, 

 was the best. He is an immense animal ; of extraor- 

 nary weight, which has told terribly on his It gs. We 

 never saw such knees; like nothing more than the toes 

 of an alderman who has " lived not wisely, but too w^ll." 



A pretty but not large show of pigs completes the 

 stock list. The large breed were all Berkshire ; and 



