182 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



STOCK AT THE FAIR OF THE BOYAL AGIUCULTUBAl 

 SOCIETY. 



The last Journal of the Royal Agricultural So- 

 ciety contains an interesting " Report on the Exhi- 

 bition of Live Stock at Warwick," where the Fair 

 was held last year. 



Of cattle, there were 411 animals exhibited. Of 

 these 219 were Short-horns, 94 Herefords, 45 Devons, 

 and 53 " Other Breeds.". 



The term " Short-horn," says the Report, " for- 

 merly embraced every denomination of the race, 

 from the commonest mongrel up to the cultivated 

 animal. The common Short-horn was by nature 

 an animal of low standing, of coarse quality, re- 

 quiring a good climate, a generous soil, and liberal 

 treatment. These were reared for the uses of the 

 dairy, and weie truly designated 'good milkers.' 

 They are still bred for the Midland and Western 

 dairies, and still present a rugged form, and can 

 claim no character for early maturity. Such is the 

 Short-horn dairy cow, and such her small preten- 

 sion to appear in a show-yard before judges in 

 search of symmetry. The '' Improved Short-horn'' 

 is an animal produced by cultivating the best races 

 from the earliest times, with a view to produce a 

 ponderous form for meat-making purposes — milk 

 being a secondary object. It is produced only by 

 eminent breeders, who possess that valuable men- 

 tal quality — tlie power of accurate observation. 

 This, together with sound judgment, decision, per- 

 severance, and .self-reliance, are essential to success 

 in such a course. It luis been the object of the 

 improved Short-horn breeder to produce males for 

 he correction of the multitude of inferior Short- 

 horns scattered over our Midland and Northern 

 counties. Bulls of this breed have also been sought 

 for crossing both Scotch and Irish cattle, and they 

 have been sent in considerable numbers for a simi- 

 lar purpose to the Continent, to America, and to 

 the English colonies." 



Of Herefords, the Report says: 



" This race of cattle has long been celebrated for 

 its steers and oxen. When the ox was the prin- 

 cipal moving power of the plow, this breed was 

 held in high repute. The Hereford being a mild, 

 docile animal, he was readily managed, and his 

 power, combined with activity, rendered him val- 

 uable for this purpose. Where this system of cul- 

 tivation continues in use, he is still a favorite ; but 

 the wants of a rapidly increasing ])opulation now 

 require him to pass into consumption at an earlier 

 age, and the improved system of cultivation ren- 

 ders it very desirable to use the more active animal 

 the horse, in his turn now giving way to the mighty 

 agent steam. The Hereford steer is consequently 

 now principally souglit after for his beef-produc- 

 ing properties, for which his scale of form, early 



maturity, and aptitude to fatten, render him highly 

 distinguished. Youatt, " On Cattle," alludes to a 

 sale of Hereford oxen for the London market in 

 1094; and at the first meeting of the Smitbfield 

 Club, in the year 1T99, Mr. Westcar won tlie first 

 prize with a Hereford ox, which was afterwards- 

 sold for 100 guineas; he was 8 ft. 11 in. long, 6 ft. 

 7 in. high, and 10 ft. 4 in. in girtli. Another, ex- 

 hibited at the same meeting, was Y ft. higli and 12 

 ft. girtli, and frum the tormation of this club to the 

 year 1851, being the last year in which the ditJ'er- 

 ent breeds were shown in com])etition, the Here-^ 

 ford steers and oxen won 185 prizes, the Short- 

 horns 82, the Devons 44, the Scotch 43, the Sussex 

 9, the Long horns 4, the Cross-breeds 8 — making^ 

 a total of 190 prizes for all other breeds, and only 

 5 more than were awarded to the Herefords alone. 



"Allusion was made in the Chester Report to 

 the deficiency in tlie milking properties of the cow : 

 this arises from the fact of breeders paying greater 

 attention to their feeding than their milking prop- 

 erties; but there are pure-bred herds in dairy dis- 

 tricts where proper attention has been paid to tliem^ 

 (the produce being i-eared by hand instead of suck- 

 ing their dams) that have resulted satisfactorily to 

 their owners, as they stock tlieir land thicker, and 

 thus gain more from the increased number of ani- 

 mals reared than they lose in the dairy produce. 

 This has been proved by carefully tried experiments, 

 one of the earliest of which is recorded by Youatt. 

 The best Herefords being small consumers, and of 

 good constitution, are well adapted for cold situa- 

 tions, yet, like all other animals, the better they 

 are kept the better they thrive, and the quicker is 

 the return they yield. 



" The Hereford classes contained some very choice 

 specimens of the breed, and, as a whole, no cl?,ss 

 of animals attracted so much attention. Until 

 within the last four or five years they were shown 

 in limited numbers, principally from the county 

 whence they take their name. This year they 

 numbered 89. Those from the herd of H.R.H. the 

 Prince Consort were highly deserving the distinc- 

 tion paid them by the judges. The entries extend- 

 ed over a broad space of country, viz., Salop, Mont- 

 gomery, Radnor, Monmouth, Gloucester, and War- 

 wick, many of them exhibiting successfully. It i* 

 a singular fact that "other counties" equally divi- 

 ded the prizes and commendations with those sent 

 from Herefordshire, thus proving the fallacy of 

 the statement, that they will not succeed wheo 

 bred out of their own county." 



Of Devons the Report.says : 



"Although so little has been written on it, the 

 improvement of the Devon has not been neglected •, 

 on the contrary, its breeding has been studied like 

 a science, and carried into execution with the most 

 sedulous attention and dexterity for upwards of 

 200 years. The object of the Devon breeder has 

 been to lessen those parts of the animjl frame 

 which are least useful to man, such as the bone 

 and offal, and at the same time to increase such 

 other parts (flesh and fat) as furnish man with food. 

 These ends have been accomplished by a judic\ous 

 selection of individual animals possessing the wi shed 

 for form and qualities in the greatest degree, which 

 being perpetuated in their progeny in various pro- 

 portions, and the selections being continued from 

 the most approved specimens among these, enabled 



