PREFACE. XI 



in the last edition have mostly been replaced by illustrations of 

 more modern character. My special thanks are due to the 

 Council of the Royal Agricultural Society for permission to 

 reproduce various woodcuts which were originally published 

 in the " Journal " of that Society. 



The Frontispiece* is a representation produced in Vienna 

 from a photograph kindly furnished by Mr. William Tait, of 

 the Prince Consort's Shaw Farm, Windsor of the Shorthorn 

 bull, New Year's Gift (57,796). This bull, the birth of which 

 took place on January 1st, 1888, was bred by Lord Lovat, of 

 Beaufort Castle, N.B., from whom he was purchased by Her 

 Majesty the Queen. After a most successful showyard career, 

 in the course of which he won the male Shorthorn Champion- 

 ship at the Royal Agricultural Society's Meeting at Plymouth, 

 in 1890, he was included in the sale of some of Her Majesty's 

 cattle at Windsor, in March, 1892, and was knocked down to 

 the Earl of Feversham at One Thousand Guineas, a figure 

 which proved to be the top price of the year. 



Within the period of a dozen years already referred to great 

 changes have occurred. Many important Live Stock Societies 

 have come into existence ; the art of Dairying has been well 

 nigh revolutionised ; profound modifications have been made 

 amongst the Mechanical Appliances of the Farm ; and new 

 processes, such as Ensilage, have become recognised parts of 

 Agricultural Practice. 



The day has gone by when one man could hope to deal 

 successfully with the multifarious subjects which are brought 

 under discussion in the present volume. Grateful acknow- 

 ledgments are, therefore, made of cordial co-operation in the 

 preparation of this edition, and particularly of valuable con- 

 tributions from the pens of Professor J. Wortley Axe, Mr. 

 Edward Brown, Dr. Bernard Dyer, Mr. W. J. Maiden, Mr. 

 * Now appearing as a plate facing page 26 of the 1908 Edition. 



