At the Show 187 



by the corner boys. I saw this. The beating and 

 the stone-throwing continued from one side of the 

 ground to the other, while the owner and his 

 two men tried to hold the beaten animals by the 

 halters. The attack did not stop even when one 

 of the animals was knocked down, entangled in 

 the rope. It was done openly in view of the 

 police, the show officials, and the Department's 

 experts, but not one interfered. No other of the 

 exhibitors was known to have criticised the 

 Department, and no other was attacked. 



At the close, an exhibitor from Galway dis- 

 cussed the day with one of the Department's 

 experts, and wound up the argument in these 

 words : " You know as much about a bull as my 

 dog knows about playing the piano." That may 

 be overstating it, but it remains still to be ex- 

 plained why dairy premiums are awarded to the 

 other breeds, while dairy premiums are denied 

 to Irish animals specially bred for dairy purposes 

 under schemes and rules elaborated by the Depart- 

 ment. Quite a considerable number of Irish 

 farmers, and generally the most capable in the 

 country, have co-operated with the Department 

 in this attempt to found an Irish dairy herd-book. 

 Can they be expected to continue the trouble 

 they take while their results are ignored and the 

 premiums given to breeds that are admittedly 

 inferior for dairy purposes? To qualify their calves, 

 the registered cows must breed from sires specified 

 by the Department, and in my own case at least, 

 the result of these sires is to diminish the milk in 

 proportion to the cost of producing it. 



