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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



premiums for milking cows to animals concerning 

 which a man would be laughed at as a spoony if ever 

 he thought that they were guilty of such a thing, ex- 

 cept perhaps to the extent of keeping their calves for 

 the first few weeks of their lives." And again, after 

 quoting from Mr. Fawkes' telling protest against what 

 has come to pass in Yorkshire, Mr. Dutton narrates 

 how "some time ago I was in conversation with a 

 Cheshire farmer, well known for his excellent breed of 

 pigs, and who was at one time not only a constant ex- 

 hibitor at our county show, but a very successful one, 

 and I asked why he now never exhibited his pigs ? He 

 said that in order to win, it was so necessary to force 

 them into extra condition that he had frequently found 

 his best animals, both brawns and sows, so injured for 

 breeding purposes, that he had given up showing, though 

 he had as good if not better pigs than he ever had." 

 The meeting agreed pretty much with all advanced 

 in this way. Mr. Slater " thought something ought to 

 be done to divide the fat from the lean stock." Mr, 

 Becket entirely concurred with Mr, Dutton, and Mr. 

 Morton as fully " as to the appearance of fat stock in 

 the showyards. An instance of this took place at the 

 Great Bad worth Society's Exhibition last year, where 

 he saw a bull which was of no use to the owner for 

 breeding purposes, and the judges threw him out alto- 

 gether." A very good instance indeed is this, but un- 

 fortunately as a rule the judges do not throw them out 

 altogether. Still, on the other side, Mr. Wild maintained, 

 " In respect to fat cattle, if they were not useful, it 

 was showing what they could be brought to, and there 

 was no need of taking a lot of lean stock to exhibit in a 

 show-yard. He should have no objection to amend 

 their rules in respect to fat stock ; but then to have 

 premiums for a lot of lean pigs and bulls, would soon 

 break up their show-yard altogether." Common opi- 

 nion would seem to incline that a lot oi fat pigs and 

 bulls is tending much to the same conclusion. But 

 let us hear all we can in this way. More than four 

 years' since, the Haddington Farmers' Club took up 

 this very subject of Agricultural Shows, when Mr. 

 Douglas, the well-known breeder and exhibitor, de- 

 fined the leading characteristic of improved shorthorns 

 as " great aptitude to fatten, and early maturity, perfect 

 symmetry (only obtained when the animal lays on beef 

 equally), fine quality of flesh, mellowness of touch, and 

 plenty of soft mossy hair. These points constitute the 

 perfect shorthorn, and milking properties are only 

 secondary considerations. If a cow can nurse respect- 

 ably her own calf, that is all that ought to be required. 

 I find in my practice that the worst milkers are the 

 best specimens of the breed, and I uniformly set more 

 value upon them in consequence. Another unfortunate 

 error committed at the same [the Paris] Show was 

 disqualifying animals on account of being too fat for 

 breeding purposes, although the animals were proven 

 to be regular producers. Why ! it is only the best that 

 can get fat, retain their symmetry, and continue to 

 breed. There is no doubt about this, and such animals 

 almost invariably breed other animals, having the same 

 properties and characteristics as themselves." Mr. 

 Douglas then refers to the cry of "some few" who 

 would insist on exhibiting stock only in a lean state at 

 a breeding show ; but he characterizes such a com- 

 plaint as of little value, or as " becoming more isolated." 

 This was spoken more than four years since ; while, 

 instead of becoming more isolated, if any cry has 

 grown it has been this wholesome protest against 

 the contradiction and absurdity of over-feeding, 



with the object of improving and extending our best 

 breeds. We now and then hear of so sad a fate as that 

 of the Queen of Athelstane ; but, on the other hand, 

 how many of these "cases" are hushed up? What 

 care is taken that such failures do not get into the 

 papers ! Publish the Births and Marriages as far and 

 wide as you please, but say nothing of the Deaths or 

 Miscarriages. In Lady Pigol's last list is this signifi- 

 cant paragraph, speaking of her ladyship's own cow, 

 the Duchess of Gloucester — " Second at Ulverstone, 

 1859, being beaten by Captain Gunter's Moss Rose, 

 which, though older, had not bred ; and Lady Pigot 

 believes she has never yet bred." The italics are so in 

 the original. 



To return to Mr. Dutton at Over, who gives good ad- 

 vice when telling his friends not to blame the judges, 

 or charge them with unfairness if unsuccessful, or in 

 any way act like " a farmer I knew some years ago, 

 who set his mind upon winning the premium for the 

 best bull under two years old offered by the Society, 

 and spent a considerable sum in purchasing what was, 

 in his opinion, a first-rate animal, and keeping it as 

 well as possible till the day of show, when, to his ex- 

 treme mortification, he found his bull not only unsuc- 

 cessful, but, so far as I remember, he did not even get 

 what a gentleman at Middlewich last year called that 

 'bit of rag ' — highly commended. His rage was un- 

 bounded, and he withdrew his subscription at once." 

 But too common a feeling, we fear, until men's minds 

 become extended beyond the narrow limit of cock 

 of their own walk. There was, however, one extraordi- 

 nary statement in reference to the Judges, made by Mr. 

 Ryder, the Secretary of the Manchester and Liverpool 

 Society, that cannot be too soon corrected. He de- 

 clared, speaking as it were in his othcial capacity, that 

 " there were very few judges now-a-days who would 

 come for nothing. iVot only had their tiavelliug 

 and other expenses to be paid, but there were many 

 of them who charged their five or six guineas for their 

 attendance at a two-days' show. If they had fifteen 

 judges, including £5 each for them, where was i£lOO." 

 This is monstrous; but we are rather inclined to think 

 there are very few j udges but who do come for nothing, 

 their travelling and hotel expenses being of course 

 paid. Not one of the judges at the Royal Society's 

 Meetings, even with their week's work, ever receive a 

 shilling, and Mr. Ryder in his own instance has only 

 given us a bad precedent. The office of a judge is 

 both a delicate and an honourable one, and the man 

 who requires to be paid for the performance of such a 

 duty should never again be asked to undertake it. 

 With over-fed bulls to breed from, and paid people to 

 judge them, we come to an accumulation of evils 

 that may well call for another protest. 



EATS. — A correspondent of the Gardener's MonlJdy says : 

 — " I tried the effect of introducing into the entrance of 

 their numerous holes, runs, or hiding places, small portions 

 of chloride of lime, or bleaching powder, wrapped in calico 

 and stuffed into the entrance holes, and thrown loose by 

 spoonfuls into Die drain from the house. Tliis drove the 

 rats away for a twelvemonth, when they returned to it. 

 They were treated in the same manner, wiih like effect. 

 The cure was most complete. I presume it was the chlorine 

 gas, which did not agree with their olfactories." 



