1890.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 343 



guineas for the Pride of Fleet. At the shire horse show 

 nearly £10,000 was received at public auction, and during 

 the show the private sales amounted to another c£*4:,000. 

 For hackneys, Sulfolks, Cleveland Bays and Clydesdales, 

 the trade has been good. Cattle also sold well. At 43 sales 

 of Shorthorns, 2,323 head were sold for a total of <:£7G,570 

 14s. 6d., or an average of =£"32 19s. 3d. each ; being a large 

 advance over the prices of 1885, '86, '87 and '88. In Scot- 

 land the sales of pure-bred cattle resulted in an average of 

 =£"22 15s. per head being obtained for Shorthorns, and of 

 c£*21 18s. for those of the polled Aberdeen breed. Besides 

 these, a good business has been done in the other leading 

 breeds, the Herefords more especially. The great feature 

 of the year, however, has been the growing popularity of 

 the Irish cattle, the Kerry s and the Dexter-Kerry s, many 

 of which have been brous^ht into England. Herds of these 

 small cattle have been established at Windsor and Sandrino;- 

 ham ; and so great has been the demand for them that the 

 Royal Dublin Society have determined to establish a herd 

 book of the breed. Sales of sheep have also been very satis- 

 tory, and prices for all the breeds have been better than for 

 many previous years. In the Windsor show no less than 

 o£^450 were given for three Lincoln sheep, the first, second 

 and third prize winners in the shearling ram class having 

 been purchased to go to Victoria at that price. The demand 

 both from home and foreign buyers was largely increased 

 over former years ; the breeders of some varieties, such as 

 the Hampshire Downs, being encouraged to make a great 

 increase in their flocks, and to establish a flock register. 



As far as live stock is concerned, the changes are not great. 

 The number of horses used in agriculture, for breeding, and 

 unbroken animals, in 1889 was 1,421,389, as against 

 1,420,350 in 1888. Of cattle there were 6,139,155 head, 

 against 6,129,375 in 1888 ; of sheep and lambs, 25,632,000, 

 against 25,267,149 ; and of pigs, 2,510,803, against 2,404,- 

 344. The number of live stock in the kingdom is largely 

 on the increase. 



The devotion of the English farmers to their dairy is quite 

 remarkable. They watch the skies and the pastures on 

 account of this industry, and from it they count their surest 



