194 CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DQMESTIOATED ANIMALS 



the cattle of both countries will (li8i)iite my assertion when I say that, 

 judged by the^cattle shown at the Royal this year, English short-horDS 

 are not equal to those shown at our leading fairs in America. There 

 were no representatives of the breed at the show of the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society, at York, this year, worthy of being compared with the 

 show herds that Potts, Pickrell, Sodowsky, Croft, and Palmer exhibited 

 throughout the Western States at our principal fairs last year. In this 

 opinion 1 am sustained by every American "cattle-man" that I met at 

 York duiing the Royal show, and there were several of them — Hereford, 

 Angus, and Devon, as well as shorthorn breeders. With the exception 

 of the yearling and the two-yearold heifer classes, I thought the show 

 weak throughout, so far as quality is concerned, although it was quite 

 strong in numbers. At this writing I have not read any of the com- 

 ments upon this show by the English press, so I am not prepared to 

 say whether it compares favorably with its predecessors or otherwise; 

 but, judging by what 1 heard among the breeders, it was certainly u\) 

 to, if not superior, to the average of the past six years. 



The show of breeds, other than short-horns, at the Royal was not 

 large. The Hereford s were reasonably good, the cows very fat and 

 very " patchy," as a rule. There was a fair show of Welsh cattle — 

 vigorous looking animals — uniformly black and possessing a good deal 

 of "style"; they impressed me as being really much better beef cattle 

 than I had been led to believe from what I had previously heard of 

 them. There were a few very good Aberdeen-Angus and Galloways, 

 but these breeds were not largly represented. 



From my stand-point the very best beef animals 1 saw at York were 

 of the Devon breed. Of course they were not so large as some of the 

 other breeds, but they were as square and blocky almost as model Berk- 

 sTnre pigs, on very short legs, with fine bone, neat heads, and such 

 handlers! As an old butcher remarked in my hearing, they were "all 

 good beef from 'orns to 'ocks." 



p' I also liked the red polled cattle of Norfolk and Suffolk quite well. 

 They are much like the Devous in shape and color, but are hornless. 

 While they possess all the characteristics necessary to entitle them to 

 rank as a distinct breed, yet it is conceded that the cattle of Suffolk 

 have been a trifle coarser than those of Norfolk — a difference, however, 

 that is fast disappearing under the system of blood-mingling that is now 

 practiced between the two counties. In addition to a high order of 

 merit as beef producers, the Norfolk and Sutfblk breeders claim great 

 superiority for the cows of the breed as milkers, and certainly their 

 published records go far toward sustaining the claim. To those who 

 have a decided preference for hornless cattle, yet with a dislike for the 

 black color, I can heartily recommend these beautiful red cattle of Nor- 

 folk and Sulfolk. 



The show of Jerseys at the "Royal" was much larger than that of 

 any other breed, except the shorthorns, and many of the cows carried 



