87 



is then placed at a higher figure than afterwards. It is their 

 object, also, to have the prizes all awarded and every prize 

 animal and article distinctly labelled as soon as possible after 

 the entrance gates are opened to the public. At some English 

 shows that I attended, the judging was completed before the 

 public was admitted. 



The judges are carefully selected men, and every thing that 

 is placed on exhibition is subject to the Societies' laws and 

 regulations, which are strictly enforced. These laws and 

 regulations have been carefully compiled and revised, and, as 

 they at present exist, are the result of many years of practical 

 application and experience. 



To no country can we so well turn for instruction in the 

 management of our Agricultural Societies as to our mother 

 country, old England. I did not meet with a case where a 

 committee of judges was composed of more than three persons, 

 and they often consist of only two members. 



No entries can be made with the Secretary of a Society after 

 a fixed day, at least several weeks before the Show takes place, 

 thus allowing the necessary provision to be properly made for 

 the exhibitors, the positions on the grounds to be definitely 

 assigned beforehand, and a complete catalogue of every animal 

 and article exhibited to be printed, containing a plan of the 

 grounds, showing the exact position of the various classes. 

 These catalogues are for sale during the Exhibitions, and as 

 soon as all the prizes have been awarded, a list of these also is 

 printed and sold. The former sold for about twenty-six cents, 

 and the latter for half that amount. 



By the methods adopted in England and Scotland, the prizes 

 are so carefully awarded that inferior and unworthy animals, 

 etc., very seldom, if ever, find their way into the prize lists. 



The officers of the Societies personally superintended the 

 carrying out of all the arrangements upon the Show ground, 

 assisted in expediting the duties of the judges by preventing 

 delays in bringing animals into the rings and in other ways, 

 saw that the prize cards were properly attached to the animals, 

 had order enforced when such was necessary, and made them- 

 selves generally useful in whatever ways were possible. 



