412 THE BREED IN THE SHOW-YAKD. 



sensation by the exhibition of his ponderous four-year-old 

 ox Black Prince, who carried the championship at 

 Birmingham and Smithfield, arid from whose sirloin the 

 Royal baron of beef for Christmas-day was cut. The 

 extraordinary scale, wealth of flesh, and symmetry of that 

 noble bullock showed the public what with time and care 

 the polls could be brought to. More important features 

 and qualities in the breed had, however, still to be 

 demonstrated. An impression got abroad that the polls 

 were show maturers. In 1872 that erroneous idea was 

 somewhat rudely shaken by the fact that the late Mr 

 M'Combie carried the Birmingham championship with a 

 three-year and some months old polled ox, bred at 

 Tullochallum, Dufftown ; and that Mr Bruce, Burnside, 

 Fochabers, secured the Smithfield * blue ribbon ' with 

 a polled ox of the same age, bred at Achlochrach, Duff- 

 town five miles distant from the birthplace of the 

 Birmingham champion. The Tillyfour ox was level and 

 nice, but not so firm under the hand as could be desired. 

 Indeed, he was a lucky winner. The Burnside bullock 

 was riper, displaying more length, a grand back, but a 

 rather light underline. The judging struggle, which 

 eventuated in his favour at Islington in December 1872, 

 was the most protracted and exciting that I have yet 

 witnessed. It lasted over an hour and a half, and after 

 all the ordinary set of judges could not finish it. Their 

 breed partizanship apparently brought them to a dead- 

 lock. Three fresh men were chosen, and in a short time 

 they gave the fiat in favour of the Scot. 



" Now and again since the polls have had a nibble at 

 the ' big things ' in the fat shows, but the crowning 

 effort as regards both polled superiority and early 

 maturity was left to Mr Walker, Altyre, factor for Sir 

 William Gordon Gumming, Bart. Mr Walker accom- 

 plished the task only last December (1881), when with 

 a pair of polls little more than two and a half years old 



