THE FARMEK'S MAGAZINE. 



JANUARY, 1859. 



PLATE I. 



-MOSS ROSE," AND HER DAUGHTER, "YOUNG MOSS ROSE:" 



PRIZE SHORTHORN COWS, 



THE PROPERTY OF MR. RICHARD STRATTGN, OF BROAD HINTON, SWINDON. 



" ' Do you know Mr. Stratton ? ' ' Yes, I do,' 

 (replied the Colonel). 'Then,' said the gentleman, 

 ' if you belong to Wiltshire, you ought to be proud 

 of such a man.' 'I s^jeak the sentiments of the 

 gentlemen of Wiltshire, and I trust the farmers of 

 Wiltshire (replied the Colonel), when I say that we 

 do value him ; but may I ask, said I, to what you 

 allude particularly in connection with Mr. Strat- 

 ton?' 'I allude (said my friend) to what I saw 

 in Baker-street. Mr. Stratton there took the gold 

 medal and the £25 prize ; and he took that which I 

 believe he prizes more than all — the silver medal 

 for being the breeder of the animals which he 

 showed.' ' And may I ask, said I, whether 

 you had a prize ? ' 'I had, he said : I had a 

 medal for an animal which I brought out of 

 Devonshire ;' and this led him, after making some 

 remarks upon the Chippenham Association, about 

 which he said he had heard a great deal, to speak 

 of the very unsatisfactory price at v/hich fat cattle 

 is selling in the London market. In proof of which 

 he told me that he could not get there the same 

 price for the fat ox which he took to the show as 

 he could have obtained for it before it left Devon- 

 shire. I asked him how he accounted for this ? 

 * Why,' said he, ' the real cause of it, in my 

 opinion, is the immense quantity of game which is 

 bred in this kingdom ; and the number of gentle- 

 men who sell game now in the market would, to 

 many persons, be almost incredible. To that 

 cause, and to it alone,' he said, 'I attribute the great 

 depreciation which has lately taken place in the 

 value of fat stock — the fact is, the abundance of 

 game which is forced into the market supersedes 



OLD SERIES.] 



the sale of a great deal of the best of the meat 

 which is sent to London.' ' But,' I said, ' every 

 man has a right to do what he likes with his own.' 

 ' Yes, that is very true,' he said ; ' but it does not 

 alter the fact ; and, as I said before, I cannot attri- 

 bute the depreciation of meat in London to any 

 other cause than that.' " 



The above is from the speech of Colonel Boldero, 

 at a meeting of the Chippenham Agricultural So- 

 ciety, a week or two since, and details a conversa- 

 tion the gallant gentleman had with a stranger in 

 the train going down. As apropos of Mr. Stratton, 

 he was an exhibitor, and, as usual, a successful one 

 here. The extract comes quite as well home now, 

 for both the cows in our print have been known 

 byjthemselves and their produce at the Wiltshire 

 Shows. 



Moss Rose, calved March, 1838, was by Phoe- 

 nix (6290), from a heifer bought of Mr. Clark, a 

 cattle dealer, and said to be from a pure-bred stock ; 

 but no attempt was made to trace the pedigree 

 during the Hfe of Clark, and now such inquiry 

 would be useless. Moss Rose, during her time, 

 won the following prizes : — 



In 1841, when three years old, first prize and 

 sweepstakes, at Wootton Basset, with the calf 

 Young Moss Rose at her side, £3. 



1842.— First prize as breeding cow, under 4 years, 

 at the Devizes meeting, £13; the prize at Wootton 

 Basset, as the best cow of any age, £5. 



1843. — At Devizes, best cow of any age, £3 j 

 Cirencester, £lO; and Bath, £5. 



1844. — As best cow with offspring, at Cirences- 

 ter, £10 i and at Bath, £3. 



B [VOL. L.— No. 1. 



