THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



53 



Aylesford'f, really as it would seem for no other reason than 

 that they were Lord Ayleaford's. Sheep with plain coarse heads, 

 very middling frames, and ' frills' and fronts of dark wool, and 

 ' scuta' as black as night — the most unsaleable of so saleable a 

 commodity. Then boih the first and second prizes for the older 

 wethers went to Lord Dartmouth for some true and straight 

 useful farmers' sheep, while they utterly ignored Mr. Orine 

 Foster's magniflcientlots, one of which certainly included the 

 best Shropshire in the Show. If Lord Aylesford's were worth 

 commending at all, Mr. Foster's, Mr. Smith's, and Mr. Hol- 

 land's other pen were far more so. For the future it will be 

 better to have, at least one Shropshire man as a judge of 

 Shropshires, and there are many who do not exhibit. This 

 breed, it must be remembered, are the first both in point of 

 excellence and numbers of all the sheep shown in Bingley 

 Hall ; and two Devonians and a gentleman from Berkshire 

 were called in to pronounce upon them. The same trio tried 

 their bauds with more success oa the swine, all three, if we 

 place them aright, having some position as pig-men." From my 

 own observation, and from the expression of feeling by the 

 public generally, never were words more appropriately or 

 truthfully penned than the above ; and as I take considerable 

 interest in the class of " trump cards," I will, if you please 

 give you a few measurements of the sheep in the principal 

 pens, which I think will bear out the writer in your paper in 

 his observations, and tend at least to show the sole reason 

 why pens 135 and 136 were commended, viz. : iiecause they 

 were Lord Aylesford's. 



SHROPSHIRE SHEEP. 



YEARLINGS. 



No. 132. Mr. Holland's.— First Prize. 

 Length. Girth. Leugth. 



Ft. in. Ft. in. Ft. in. 



2 11 X 5 2 ■) 



2 8x5 3^83 



2 8x5 2 J 

 No. 133. Mr. Holland's— 



2 7x5 0-1 



2 8x5 l}.81 



2 10 X 5 J 

 No. 134. Mr. Henry Smith's— 



2 10 X 5 1 1 



2 10 X 5 4^85 



2 9x5 6 J 

 No. 1 35. Lord Aylesford's (Commended) — 



2 7x5 ■] 



2 6 X 4 11 ^ 7 8 X 11 11 



2 7 X 5 J 

 No. 139. Mr. Mansell's — Second Prize. — 

 2 7x5 41 

 2 7x5 5}.7 10xl6 2 



2 8x5 5 J 



ABOVE 22 MONTHS. 



No. 143, Lord Dartmonth's.— Second Prize. — 



3 0x5 3-1 



2 8x5 2^83X15 9 



2 7x5 4 J 



No. Hi. Lord Dartmouth's. — First Prize. — 



3 0x5 3i1 



3 0x5 7 ^ 8 10 X 16 41 

 2 10 X 5 6 J 

 No. 146. Mr. W. 0. Foster's.— 

 2 9x5 3J-| 

 2 8x5 5 ^ 8 1 X 15 11^ 



2 8x5 3 J 

 No. 147. Mr. W. O.Foster's.— 



3 0x5 77 



2 9x5 5>8 10xl6 9 



3 1x5 9 > 



Unquestionably, Mr. Editor, if Bingley Hall has a weak 

 point, it is in the shonr of sheep, and it does seem strange 

 that the class of aheep forming the chief attraction of the 

 yard, if not in usefulness at any rate numerically, should not 



Girth. 



Ft. in. 



15 



15 1 



15 11 



have at least one man in the trio of judges who would be 

 likely to know what a Shropshire sheep is or should be ; and 

 one who should he fail in exactly telling the best, would cer- 

 tainly avoid the mistake of going out of the way to commend 

 animals that, to say nothing of Biuglty Hall, would have been 

 ridiculed at any local show in the county of Salop. 



Why, sir, is it necessary that absolute wisdom should only 

 exist in the craaiums of the magical number three, and that 

 the judges at Birmingham must form a trio? I know ample 

 funds can be found for a fourth man, and then appropriate 

 two sheep breeders to the sheep class, and the other two to 

 perform the duties incumbent on the porcine department ; 

 and in cases of difficulty a third may readily be called in as 

 referee from either stock department in the yard. 



As regards how the judges are to be chosen, those sheep or 

 cattle which numerically form, from their contiguity to the 

 district where they are produced, a leading and prominent 

 feature in the show, should have judgment pronounced on 

 them by meu having a thorough knowledge of the animal ; 

 and I flatter myself as a proud Salopian, that Shropshire can 

 furnish as readily men of integrity and intelligence to per- 

 form this office, as their brother farmers can raise and bring 

 to perfection that class of animal, which is rapidly making 

 way in every land where food and clothing is required — the 

 Shropshire sheep. 



ENTRIES OF SHEEP, BINGLEY HALL, 

 1859. 



Yearling. Two-ahear. Total. 



Leicesters.. .. 5 ,, ,, 5 



Cotswold 3 .. ,, 3 



Southdown ,. 3 .. 8 ., 11 



Shropshire .. 9 .. 7 .. 16 



Cross-bred . , 9 . . , . 9 

 1860, 



Yearling. Two-shear. Total. 



Leicesters. ... 8 , , , , 8 



Cotswold,,,, 5 ., .. 5 



Southdown ,. 5 .. 6 .. 11 



Shropshire ., 11 .. 5 ,, 16 



Cross-bred ,. 2 .. .. 2 



Looking at the above figures, I will leave the public to 

 judge how far the Shropshire aheep deserve consideration in 

 this matter, and conclude by venturing to hope that we shall 

 see better things next year ; feeling assured that if the de- 

 cisions of 1860 are to form a precedent, the entries of stock 

 from tenant-farmers and one-pound subscribers will rapidly 

 dwindle away. — 1 am. Sir, truly yours, 



A Shropshire Sheep Breeder. 



Dec. 14. 



THE IMPROVEMENT OF INFERIOR 

 GRASS LAND. 



Sir,- I venture to offer one or two remarks from my own 

 experience with reference to the improvement of inferior grass 

 land, on which subject there is an article in the supplement to 

 your paper of the 26th inst. 



In laying down land to permanent grass, it is well known 

 that after the various seeds are sown (and more particularly 

 on strong tenacious soil) the first year's herbage is invariably 

 the best, and that in every succeeding year the coarser grasses 

 predominate, whilst the finer oues become by degrees appa- 

 rently extinct. The latter cannot make any growth, though 

 the stronger and coarser grasses seem to make their way and 

 to choke up the finer ones. The application of manures fails 

 to improve the quality of the herbage so much as might na- 



