of the Vienna Exhibition, 1873. 7 



catalogue 756-760. Of these, No. 759 was undoubtedly the best. 

 The Archduke's ten half-bred steers by Shorthorn sires were 

 much and deservedly admired, many Englishmen declaring that 

 they were well worthy of a place in our Islington show. Not 

 far distant from the Archduke Albrecht's attractive collection, 

 was the stand of the Sugar Factory Company, Keltschan, Moravia, 

 with its excellent show of Shorthorn-Kuhlander and Shorthorn- 

 Dutch cattle. Among the animals exhibited by this company 

 the most admired were a brownish-red cross-bred cow between 

 Shorthorn and Kuhlander, and another cow of mixed blood de- 

 scribed as " Shorthorn-Hollander (Dutch) -Miirtzthaler," of dark 

 grey colour, with a little white. These, with the addition of 

 two " Shorthorn-Kuhlander " cattle, entered for exhibition by 

 Josephine Bamreither, Schloss Linz, Lubenz, Bohemia, were 

 the only representatives of Shorthorn cattle contributed to the 

 Vienna Exhibition from the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire, 

 and it will be seen that the only exhibitor of pure-bred Short- 

 horns in the whole empire was the Archduke Albrecht. 

 Germany contributed seven specimens, two of which were ex- 

 hibited by Baron von Magnus, Drehsa, Post Tammritz, Saxony, 

 a gentleman well known to English breeders, both of cattle and 

 sheep, as a spirited buyer and enthusiastic improver of stock. 

 Three of the remaining five were the property of F. Sagemiiller, 

 Abbehausen, Oldenburg ; one English-bred bull of fair quality 

 was exhibited by H. Sprengel, Schillerslage, Burgdorf, Hanover, 

 and a single example appeared from Holstein. Judging the 

 Shorthorns by the highest English standard of merit, and sup- 

 posing that first-class animals had been sent from the mother- 

 country, none of the foreign-bred cattle could be spoken of as 

 first-rate, and it is more than probable that these cattle will 

 deteriorate or at least alter in foreign hands. The climate 

 speedily changes the coat, causing the cattle to assume that 

 smooth description of hair before commented upon, and secondly, 

 unavoidable want of knowledge on the part of the breeder as 

 to points of " character," more than points of utility, must 

 end in alteration of type if not in deterioration. It is too 

 much to imagine that an Austrian or Hungarian breeder will be 

 alive to the importance of those almost countless points of 

 character which are so keenly discussed in animals brought 

 under the notice of English judges. They rest their judgment 

 reasonably enough upon milking properties, early maturity, and 

 rapid fattening ; but let any breeder of Shorthorns ask himself 

 whether the uniformity, beauty, and character of a herd could 

 be kept up solely by bearing those three important points in 

 view. We must not accuse the foreign breeders of want of taste, 

 because we find that thev judge by a standard different from 



