FIFTY YEARS OF A SHOWMAN'S LIFE 



would avail themselves of the special train which 

 would convey himself thither. Similar considera- 

 tion was shown for the crowds which thronged 

 the route to the show yard, for, although the 

 Prince was pressed for time, he waited ten minutes 

 at the railway station for the rain to abate, 

 because, as he said, the people would be dis- 

 appointed if those in the procession were in closed 

 carriages. A homely note was struck when his 

 Royal Highness, in the working dairy in the show 

 yard, mentioned the particular breed of cattle 

 supplying the milk on which all his children were 

 brought up, and added, referring to his offspring, 

 " A healthier lot you wouldn't find." I purposely 

 forbear stating the breed the Prince referred to, 

 as it would only land me in an interminable corre- 

 spondence, with a view to showing that I must 

 have misunderstood the Prince, as no Royal 

 Family could possibly be successfully reared 

 except on the milk of the particular breed affected 

 by the writers. The battle of the breeds, from a 

 dairying point of view, has by no means exhausted 

 itself. 



Animals do not always enter into the spirit 

 of the occasion by laying themselves out to afford 

 entertainment when Royalty or other distinguished 

 visitors honour show yards with their presence. 

 But there was a remarkable instance at this 

 particular show of an earnest desire on the part 

 of a pony to make manifest his appreciation of 

 the company he appeared before and to bring 

 himself under public notice. The equine prize- 

 winners were, as usual, paraded before his Royal 

 Highness, who witnessed the display from the 



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