FIFTY YEARS OF A SHOWMAN'S LIFE 



of such competitions is not to be defended on 

 any higher ground than that of expediency and 

 as a means of assisting societies to carry out their 

 primary objects. Anything not strictly agricul- 

 tural should not be allowed to absorb the chief 

 energies of a society, but must be regarded merely 

 as a help to provide the sinews of war for the 

 promotion of more essential work. 



How good a working committee was that of 

 the Oxfordshire Society may be judged by the 

 presence on it of such notable agriculturists, 

 whose fame extended far beyond the limits of their 

 own county, as the three Druces, Joseph, Samuel 

 and Milton, John Treadwell, W. Hobbs, the Gilletts 

 (C. and J.), George Street, Charles Howard, the 

 two Games (G. and T.), A. T. Matthews, and 

 T. Latham. These, and others I could name in 

 the same connection, were well known in every 

 show-ring in the kingdom, whilst their reputation 

 among breeders extended to our Colonies and 

 America. Several of those I have named will be 

 recognized as being among the founders of the 

 Oxford Down breed of sheep, and to whose ability, 

 in perfecting it and making its merits known, was 

 due its recognition by the leading agricultural 

 societies in the kingdom. Milton Druce was 

 the breeder of the celebrated ram " Freeland," 

 which, as Sir R. H. Rew once said, ".is to the 

 Oxford Downs of the present day very much what 

 ' Eclipse ' is to the thoroughbreds." In addition 

 to honours elsewhere, it achieved the remarkable 

 distinction of winning the championship, open to 

 all the world and to every breed of sheep, at the 

 great Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. 



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