FOR SHOW RING AND MARKET. 31 



not only to see it universally adopted but to be made a 

 compulsory measure. No doubt this would afford the judges, 

 and others an opportunity of estimating the amount of wool 

 which may be expected from any particular breed of sheep, 

 but it is hard to see that it would have any tendency to 

 curtail the now common practice of "stubble shearing." The 

 rule governing the time in which show sheep shall be shorn 

 is a useless one and an injustice to the novice. The be- 

 ginner, upon reading these rules, will no doubt rigidly adhere 

 to their text, and will then be greatly surprised to find when 

 the fairs come around that the staple of the wool of his. 

 competitor's sheep is twice as long as that of his own. One 

 thing is certain, just so long as stubble-shorn sheep are al- 

 lowed to win at our fairs, just that long will sheep be stubble- 

 shown. It is no doubt a pretty, hard thing to draw the line 

 on such a ticklish question as this, and the sooner the rule 

 is abolished and the exhibitor allowed to put his sheep in 

 the ring in the condition that his judgment dictates to be the- 

 best, the sooner the honest and dishonest exhibitor will be 

 placed upon an equal footing. So far as putting sheep in 

 the show ring in their rough, uncouth field attire is con- 

 cerned, it is no doubt wrong from a business or any other 

 point of view. It is impossible to illustrate what any breed 

 is capable of doing when shown in such a condition. If 

 we went to a show or fair our hopes would not be realized if, 

 instead of seeing the usual well-fed and beautifully prepared 

 specimens now to be seen at such places, we saw only sheep 

 such as we could see every day browsing on the pastures of 

 our own farms. Those who would be reckless enough to put 

 an ungroomed and ill-fed, unfitted horse into the show ring; 

 would at once be dubbed a fit candidate for the lunatic asy- 



