THE GENESEE FAKMER. 



Stl 



FAT PEIZE CATTLE-JUDGES SHOULD BE FIRM. 



The following extract from the speech of Captain 

 Tannek Davy, one of the judges on Devons at the 

 recent Exhibition of the Cornwall (Eng.) Agricul- 

 t4iral Society, is not wholly inapplicable on this 

 side of the Atlantic : 



" In behalf of the judges of Devon cattle, I beg 

 to thank you for the honor you have done us. I 

 hope our decisions have given you satisfaction; 

 tliey have satisfied us, and I hope they have satis- 

 iied you. • I don't much care whether they have 

 satisfied you or not. You put the matter into our 

 hands to decide. I knew uo person in the county ; 

 I knew no person's stock. We decided according 

 to the best of our ability. No doubt there must 

 be dissatisfaction, because every exhibitor going 

 into a show-yard is prepared to look with a very 

 powerful magnifying glass at the good qualities of 

 his animal, and he does not see any defect. "We 

 (the Judges) must apply powerful glasses to see the 

 defects, and must award the prizes to those animals 

 that possess the greatest number of good points — 

 the greatest quantity of beef on the most valuable 

 parts. As soon as my decisions were over, I took 

 off my badge and walked about the yard to hear 

 the reiuarks. One hot-headed old gentleman said 

 we ought to be put in the train and sent off to 

 Devonshire. I asked him to be kind enough to tell 

 rae what it was all about; he pointed to a second- 

 rarte bull in the old class, and said it was better 

 than the first-prize bull. I said, ' Why it is a year 

 and four months older, and yet it girths only one 

 inch more; and that is very little for an animal 

 to grow in a year and four mouths.' That he ad- 

 mitted; 'but,' he said, "tis a better bull altogether.' 

 [ told him the first-prize bull was of a very much 

 better quality, from head to tail. He said he had 

 nothing to say to that, but the other was a better 

 bull. On that I said ' I have nothing more to say 

 to you,' and we parted company. Some of our 

 friends have remarked that Cornishmen have been 

 found fault with, for not knowing how to farm. 

 But they know how to make young bulls very fat 

 at a very early age. There's no doubt of tliat. My 

 friends and I have often before been called on for 

 this sort of work; and therefore Cornish fat could 

 not entice us from certain animals which had ten- 

 dency to fatten. I contend it was our duty as 

 Judges, not to be led away by fat animals, but to 

 see if there were not other animals, in fair condi- 

 tion, with a tendency to fatten, and of mnch more 

 even shape. I would draw attention to the first- 

 prize bull and tlie third-prize bull in the second 

 class. They would be called by some persons two 

 small, poor little things. But why? Only because 

 so many cwt. of oil-cake had not passed through 

 them. Put as much oil-cake or other nutritive 

 matter into them, and put them side by side with 

 others, and then see how they would look. But, 

 you know, fat will not often cover deficiencies. 

 These little animals that we have awarded the prizes 

 to were not fat, but they have a tendency to fatten, 

 and it would require more powerful eyes than I 

 possess to point out any deficiencies in their pres- 

 ent state. I should not be afraid to meet any gen- 

 tleman dissatisfied with our awards, and if he 

 would walk about the yard with me, I would fight 



him, from head to tail, as to any animal that has 

 won a prize. There was among the cows an ani- 

 mal that you may wonder did not get a prize. W» 

 did not notice her at all. One gentleman informed 

 me that we did not know anything about it. I 

 replied, 'Very likely not,' but I said, 'The prize is 

 offered for Devon Cows, as milking cows. This 

 cow is owned by a gentleman I have known many 

 years. She is a very beautiful animal — of beautiful 

 quality, and the best shaped cow in the class, in my 

 opinion. But she gave milk only at one teat; and 

 I did not consider that a cow so injured was a fit 

 animal to receive a prize as a milking cow. In 

 agriculture, milk is a rather important element of 

 produce, and butter sells at a good price. We 

 know that it is an all-prevailing law in the animal 

 kingdom, that like produces like; and I believe 

 that the offspring of that cow would be diseased — 

 not to the same extent, but in the same way that 

 she herself is. For that reason we did not award 

 her a prize. I have mentioned these reasons to 

 you, and let all who are dissatisfied go home and 

 ruminate upon them. I would appeal to any prac- 

 tical man of unbiassed mind, whether they are not 

 reasons that ought to weigh with those who have 

 the duties of judges in a show-yard." 



At the same meeting, Mr. Pdillips, of Totnes, 

 one of the judges on Short-horns, spoke for the 

 Short-horns much after the same fashion as Capt. 

 Davy did for the Devons: 



"I am now going," he said, "to advert to a 

 subject which has already been introduced. It is a 

 growing evil, and one that ought to be put a stop 

 to, the exhibiting on these occasions stock that 

 have been artificially brought to an unnatural size, 

 only for the purpose of getting prizes. It is an 

 injury both to the public and the breeder; because 

 such animals seldom breed; and if they do, they 

 rarely produce good stock. I believe the remedy 

 is in the hands of the committees who appoint the 

 judges. You know full well that on many occa- 

 sions there is placed in the hands of judges a rule 

 that they should not award prizes to stock in an 

 unfit state for breeding. The question is, do they 

 adhere to that ? I say not. Invariably this ques- 

 tion is entirely overlooked, because they who have 

 the management of these societies consider that if 

 they were to carry out this rule they would injure 

 the show, as such and such fat stock from certain 

 breeders would not be exhibited. But I contend 

 it would not be so. Carry out that rule, and you 

 would find that these societies would have much 

 more beneficial effect than they have now. You 

 would find those gentlemen who declined to exhibit 

 would soon return, and would exhibit their cattle 

 in a natural state. Further than that, there are 

 many who now refuse to exhibit very good stock, 

 because they know that on these occasions the prizes 

 are awarded, not to the most skilful breeders, but, 

 very often, to the most extravagant feeders." 



The MarTc Lane Express^ alluding to these re- 

 marks, well observes: "Our readers know how 

 long this has been our own argument, and how 

 thoroughly it is justified. It is this over-feeding 

 that brings prize stock into such disrepute — that 

 lands them in America and the colonies dear bar- 

 gains and barren butcher's beasts. It is this thai 

 tends to all the humbug and seorets m the rnaur 



