24 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



burg and Hanover monopolized the premiums awarded to the cattle in this class 

 exhibited from the coxitiucnt.. 



Several other dis<tinct breeds were on exhibition, some of them much more 

 largely represented than either short-horns or Ayrshires, but none of them 

 commanding such universal praise. Hollands and Oldenburgs made a fine 

 show, and justly took all the premiums in their respective classes. No Amer- 

 ican could examine these fine breeds of cattle without feeling that at home we 

 needed more careful breeding in our cattle, and that, at the best, it would 

 require many years before America would be able to compare her bulls, cows, 

 and oxen with those of the Old World. 



The stalls for the horses were in the most i-emote part of the ground. Every 

 variety of European horses was on exhibition. The heavy, stout-limbed dray- 

 horse, with enormous feet and head ; the nimble, tall, long-necked English 

 race-horse; the long-limbed, arch-necked, smooth-haired carriage horse, were 

 here in large numbers. These horses were all heavy, varying from eleven 

 hundred to fifteen hundred pounds. In the department of horses, in which 

 ponies were included, some fifteen nations were represented. England took 

 her full share of premiums here as elsewhere. Many times we wished that 

 two or three of our best Morgans could have been there to exhibit points of 

 value in roadsters which were entirely wanting in every carriage horse on 

 exhibition. There can be no doubt but that the Morgan horse would readily 

 make himself a favorite in the countries of Europe. The whole labor ia 

 breeding for roadsters appeared to be to secure a high horse, and we were 

 assured over and over again, by horse-breeders, that no other style of horse 

 would command the markets, although it seemed well understood that these 

 long-legged animals had less endurance than horses of a less weight. 



There were many horses from Hanover, representing the European cavalry 

 horse, but they were not very unlike the English carriage horses. They were 

 bred to a short gait, and had a steady and graceful motion. There was no 

 trotting course connected with the exhibition grounds, and the horses were 

 shown without carriage or harness, led by a halter in a circular enclosure of 

 one hundred and fifty feet in diameter. This manner of exhibiting failed to 

 produce much enthusiasm or general interest. The judges, with a small com- 

 pany of spectators, not often numbering five hundred, had plenty of room for 

 observation. 



The swine were exhibited in pens, constructed in the same manner as were 

 the pens for the sheep, and near the sheds occupied by the cattle. The Berk- 

 shires attracted general attention. Their finely-shaped heads, small bones, and 

 capacity for taking on great thickness of fat, has given them a good reputation 

 on the continent, and among breeders and farmers generally they are favorites. 

 Two hundred and twenty-five Berkshires were entered, and a good share of 

 premiums were taken by England. 



A few pens of little white and black Chinese excited considerable curiosity. 

 These were very small-limbed, round in the carcass, thin-skinned, and finely 

 bristled. Their heads were so deeply imbedded in the neck that in some in- 

 stances their appearance was almost ridiculous, nothing but the snout being 

 perceptible at a side view. But it Avas said they Avere tender and difiicult to 

 raise, the sows being very poor nurses. Their hind quarters were very small 

 in proportion to their bodies, and their weight, when fatted, seldom exceeds 

 two hundred pounds. 



Some pens of pigs from Hanover and Mechlenburg, resembling Cheshires, 

 but not entered in that name, were very creditable specimens of the race. 

 They were of various colors — blue, black, and white, with great heads and 

 long, pendant ears. They Avere very long, flat-sided, and narroAv; large-boned, 

 long-legged, and, on the Avhole, ill-shaped. But they Avere in fine condition, 

 and could easily be made to dress six or seven hundred pounds. It Avas 

 claimed that they fatted easily and Avere a profitable breed. 



