132 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



the race is improved by high feeding and crossing. It 

 has, until recently, been a mystery to me how these and 

 other sheep come to have their fleeces so perfectly even, 

 and their forms so square ; but I now find that they are 

 clipped into shape some time previous to the shows, and 

 thus are apt to deceive an examiner as innocent as my- 

 self of the tricks of the trade, until you come to feel 

 their ribs and flanks, when the looseness of the flesh ex- 

 plains the deception. This is not quite fair to the 

 judges, who, whenever it is detected, ought to put a 

 mark upon those pens in the catalogue the opposite of 

 "highly commended." I have heard of ladies with a 

 "crick" in the back concealing it from their lovers be- 

 fore marriage, to the horror and disgust of the latter 

 offer it ; and this clipping into shape of the competing 

 sheep is something upon a par with that practice, and 

 ought not to be encouraged, as it places the fair ex- 

 hibitor of really good unsophisticated stock at a dis- 

 advantage. 



But the swinish multitude ! Ah ! everything here was 

 fair and aboveboard— if the age announced is correct. 

 I have never heard of anyone shearing his hogs, ex- 

 cepting a "certain gentleman in black," who is said on 

 the occasion to have obtained " great cry and but little 

 wool!" Well, I have said, (/■ the ages stated on the 

 cards are correct — for certainly it is almost impossible 

 to believe that any animals could attain the size of some 

 of those exhibited in the time specified — if all is true, 

 they have made the best of their time in laying on fat. 

 I understood that the judges were greatly puzzled to 

 choose amongst the porcine charmers those entitled to 

 the prizes, and were obliged to call in some " skilled 

 workmen" to assist them. His Royal Highness the 

 Prince Consort shone, as he usually does, in this de- 

 partment, and exhibited some perfect specimens of the 

 Middlesex breed, only four months old. By-the-bye, 



I have no recollection of a breed pf Middlesex 

 pigs as a race distinct from others. The metropolitan 

 county, in fact, is too cosmopolitan to claim a native 

 race of either men or animals, being made up of emi- 

 grants from all other parts. Be this as it may, nothing 

 could exceed the perfection of these " pigs royal," Some 

 of the black and white Berkshires were uncommonly 

 precocious, and staggered one's faith sorely in respect 

 of age. How fashions alter ! There was a time when 

 the best pigs exhibited in the days of the old " Board 

 of Agriculture" were rejected solely on the ground of 

 having " black bottoms !'' But that was in the days of 

 the Georges, when everything looked black, and people 

 naturally took a distaste of the colour. Mr. Crisp's 

 black breed were, as usual, first-rate; and so were his 

 white ones. A lucky man is Mr. Crisp ; for I understand 

 one of his sows has brought him in eight or nine hun- 

 dred pounds by the selling of the progeny, and the 

 prizes he has obtained. Some of the pigs in Class 

 42 were the most extraordinary I ever saw for 

 their age. Mr. Beale's improved Leicesters (17 months 



II days old), Mr. Tomb's Sherborne and Berkshires 

 (16 months), and Mr. W. W. Champion's (14 months 

 27 days) were all wonderful. The latter were said by 

 the keeper to weigh 40 score— of course this must be 



dead-weight. But Mr. Beale's, it was asserted, 

 weighed the same, dead-weight. These latter had 

 been blind with fat three months. Several other lots 

 were remarkable for their precocity ; but I should 

 suspect that, in cooking, a large proportion of 

 the fat would dissolve, and go into the grease- 

 pot. This depends, however, upon the food with 

 which they are fattened. Indian-corn, for instance, 

 will fatten them faster than any other food ; but the fat 

 is not solid. This is the reason that American pork 

 wastes so much in boiling : the pigs there are all fed 

 on maize. I once fattened three hundred pigs myself 

 with that grain ; but the pork, though very excellent in 

 other respects, was objected to by those who purchased 

 i<-, on the above account. 



Some of the extra stock of pigs were equally good 

 with those in classes. Mr. M'Naughton'sfour-year-old- 

 ofF Sussex hog was a wonderful fellow, with flesh as 

 firm as that of an ox. The prize hog also (Mr. 

 Tomb's) had a carcase as deep as an ox ; but he would 

 not, or could not, get upon his legs, to let me see his 

 proportions in other respects. When politely requested 

 to rise, with a gentle poke in his ribs, he uttered a cry 

 something like that of a sloth, eschewing all locomotion. 

 I could, however, see his legs and head — which former 

 accounted for his unwillingness to receive his visitors 

 standing ; for so small were they, that it must have been 

 painful in the extreme to have got up. No gouty alder- 

 man could labour under greater inconvenience in this 

 respect. 



But I must hasten to the machinery department, and 

 even there confine myself to a few of the most notable 

 and novel articles. I was, in fact, completely be- 

 wildered, as well by the multitude of the machines and 

 implements exhibited, as by the mob of people to look 

 at them, which positively prevented me from making 

 any examination of many of the machines. Messrs. 

 Burgess and Key have improved their combined mower 

 and reaper by the addition of a lever, by which, if an 

 obstacle lies in the way of the cutting-bar, it can be 

 instantly raised so as to clear it. Messrs. Hornsby and 

 Co. have improved their plough by a lever-neck, for 

 elevating or depressing the share, or moving it more to 

 the land if necessary. Mr. Halkett's guideway steam- 

 cultivator was exhibited by Mr. Weare, to whom he has 

 transferred the patent. But Mr. Grafton, his late 

 engineer, exhibited what he considers an improvement 

 upon Halkett's system, and which, if it can be carried 

 out, will obviate the only objection against it — namely, 

 the expense of the rails. This plan is to make the 

 working machine carry its own railway, by attaching to 

 the eight wheels, on each side, an endless band of vul- 

 canized India-rubber, to which are attached pieces of 

 board about two feet long, on which the wheels will 

 run. A share, or scraper, goes before the wheels, to 

 clear away any obstructions ; and it is presumed by the 

 projector that the wheels will instinctively keep on the 

 straight line, without deviation, if once set off on the 

 right track. This is the only point to be ascertained, 

 and which can only be so by experiment upon a large 

 or practical scale. Should it succeed, it will certainly 



