Report on the Farm-Prize Competition oflSSG. 575 
horns. About the time of the late Mr. Dobito, who was greatly 
interested in- sheep, the cross was first known as Suffolks ; and 
from that period they have been acknowledged as a distinct breed, 
and are now kept in large numbers all over Suffolk and in 
several districts in Norfolk. A flock-book has been instituted for 
the registration of pedigrees, and there is every prospect of the 
breed maintaining the hold it has acquired in the counties, and 
may probably extend to others in turn. The mutton is reported 
to be worth fully Id. per lb. more than that from the long-wool 
cross ; and so famous has it become, that gentlemen of the Turf 
frequenting Newmarket and tasting it there, are having it sent 
to their London houses. 
Mr. Joseph Smith, of Thorpe Hall, Hasketon, who shows a 
farm in Class III., owns an old-established flock, and has been a 
very successful exhibitor. 
There are not, it is believed, more than two or three flocks of 
the old horned Norfolk breed now in existence. 
To give an idea of the weights to which these sheep attain, we 
may mention that Mr. Joseph Smith exhibited two-shear wethers 
at the Norwich Fat Cattle Show in 1880, whose live-weight was 
280 lbs. each ; shearlings, 261 lbs., and lambs 190 lbs. each. 
At Islington last year, three shearlings shown by Mr. Robins 
weighed upwards — the three — of 8 cwt. Three lambs 
shown by the Marquis of Bristol weighed together 5 cwt. 
They are also very prolific breeders and excellent milkers, and 
are much in demand for crossing puiposes. 
The Suffolk Punch and Norfolk Cob have been as " house- 
hold words," dating back to the earliest periods of rural histor3\ 
The former is a favourite in the county which gives its name, 
but does not take root to any extent in others. An excellent 
stamp of Cob is yet to be found in many districts in Norfolk, 
but less so perhaps than at an earlier period. The Shire horse 
is rather extensively bred there, the best finding a ready sale 
for railway and town work. 
Physical Features and Agriculture of Suffolk. 
Suffolk is a maritime county in the east of England ; it is 
bounded on the E. by the North Sea, on the N. by Norfolk, on 
the W. by Cambridgeshire, and on the S. by Essex. The chief 
rivers are the Bret, Stour, Gipping, Orwell, Deben, Aide and 
Lark. The surface of the county is generally flat, falling away 
into marshes on the N.W. and N.E. borders. The coast-line is 
low and marshy, or lined with shingle, or gravel and red loam, 
and is about 50 miles in length ; it is fairly regular, without 
any indentation of note, and only one promontory worthy to 
