at Bury St. Edmund's. 631 



with a heavy frame ou short legs. The third prize ram (Mr. Evans's) is an 

 animal of trood size, but, althour;h well fed, is a little slack in points. 



Class XXXVII. contains a full average entry of Ewes, amongst which are some 

 very good animals ; but we do not think the class so unit'orndy perfect as those of 

 the males. Mr. Smith's first prize winners consist of lour ewes of perfect 

 symmetry and fine quality, and one with a capital body, but rather weak neck. 

 The second prize sheep (Mr. Horton's) are heavily fleshed, and of good size, but 

 not so high in qualitj'' as their victors. We consider some of the other sheep iu 

 this class may be improved by a stricter attention to uniformity of character. 



No doubt this is so, but a comparison of the Shropshire sheep 

 shown at Bury with those at any previous Royal meeting will 

 show that an approach to uniformity of character has gradually 

 but decidedly been obtained, and considering that in the process 

 of improving the old spotted-faced Shropshires the breeders have 

 been by no means agreed as to the type which it was most 

 desirable to establish, it is not surprising that some variation of 

 character still exists, or rather it is remarkable that among so 

 large a number of exhibitors the specimens of their different 

 flocks should show so few exceptions to uniformity of character. 

 Certain it is that the Shropshires are fast making their way into 

 new localities, and that no flockmasters in the kingdom appear 

 to be more unsparing in their efforts to excel each other, whether 

 in breeding, feeding, or sliearing, than the men of Shropshire. 



The Southdoims as usual formed the most striking feature 

 of the sheep show — perfect in form and quality of flesh, and 

 so nearly alike in character, one only regrets that their want of 

 size must confine them mainly to their native downs, and that 

 the occupiers of deeper stronger soils must be content with less 

 neatness and less quality in order to obtain greater rent-paying 

 qualities. The Judges, Messrs. Fookes, Turner, and Budd, say : — 



The Class of Shearling Southdown Rams was, with few exceptions, very good ; 

 especially those exhibited by Lord Walsingham and Sir \\'. 'J'hrockmorton. 



The Class of Earns of any Age was considered bj' the Judges to be one of 

 the best ever exhibited at the Meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society, and 

 was generally commended. 



The Shearling Ewes were very good, with the exception of a few pens. The 

 pens exhibited by Sir W. TTn-ockmorton and the Duke of Richmond were 

 particularly good. Taking the whole cf the classes, we consider the exhibition 

 of Southdowns to be a good one. 



The Hampshires of the Bury show-yard should be shown with 

 some of the Hampshires — if there are any — of the sort bred 

 twenty years since. Nothing could be much uglier than they then 

 were ; nothing combines so much size with so much quality of 

 flesh as Mr. Rawlence, Mr. Canning, and other breeders of these 

 sheep now show ; it would not be too much to say that the ewes 

 shown by the former were the best of any breed in the show-yard, 

 and if he would put them to the second prize ram, not his own, 

 he would run no risk of losing that extraordinary size and weight 

 of flesh which he has hitherto maintained, but which his first 



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