Report on the Exhibition of Live Stock at Manchester. \ 521 
*' Mr. Borton's first-prize, Four-shear Sheep, retaining his form beautifully, 
considerino; his age." It ends thus : " The shearling ewes, I think, I never saw 
better ; the first and second are si>lendid animals. In the third-prize pen there 
is one which quite spoils the lot. Take the whole as a class, they arc bad 
to equal." 
The third Report specifies no particular sheep, but says of the 
respective classes : — 
Class 89. — I think there has seldom been a better lot shown for so large 
a class. 
Class 90. — Very superior throughout for so large a quantity of aged rams. 
The class to be commended all through. 
Class 91. — This was a very good class, and we had great difficulty in decid- 
ing some of the honours. 
All lovers of sheep stock, whatever their special fancy may 
be, must watch with great interest the well-doing of the pure 
Leicester breed of sheep, from which at least two other breeds of 
sheep, now classed as distinct, have sprung, and to which, more- 
over, though it is often stoutly denied, these later breeds have 
occasionally to repair for a fresh infusion of the blue blood of 
the older and more aristocratic race ; and it is gratifying to 
learn that the Judges considered those shown at Manchester 
were, generally speaking, excellent examples of their species. 
Of Cotswolds and Oxfordshire Downs, the entries were 
respectively 25 and 36 in number. Of them one Judge 
reports : — 
I beg to say a few of the " Cotswolds " were tolerably good, but, on the 
whole, the class was not so well represented as heretofore, and besides not 
being so good, there was a much smaller entry. 
Another writes : — 
I beg to saj' that I consider the show of " Cotswold " shearlings not up 
to the standard of former years. There was not a sheep that well repre- 
sented the class they were shown in. 
In Class 93 there was but a small competition, yet I consider them a fair 
average of the " Cotswolds," and had there been more in number, I should 
have thought the class a very good one. 
In Class 94 there was but one entry, and that not calling for any special 
remark. 
Of the " Oxfordshire Downs " the first of these writers 
says :— 
The Oxfordshire Downs were quite the reverse. I considered that it was 
a very good class of sheep, both as to numbers and quality. I think the 
opinion of the ' Mark Lane Express ' is good respecting the difference of 
ideas that exist as to what an Oxfordshire Down should be. I consider we 
want as much flesh as possible, and the reason of those sheep that have been 
taking prizes at the local shows being nowhere is, I think, that they have 
been travelling so much ; they have lost the hand, which was not the case 
with Mr. Wallis's first-prize sheep, who was a noble fellow, and I fear we shall 
J)e a long time before we see the whole class to correspond with him. 
2 M 2 
