570 
Report of the Live-Stock 
Class 37. Mare or Gelding, above 13'2, and not exceeding 14'2. — Five out 
of the eight entries were to the front ; No. 219 first, a very good animal, 
combining power, action, and quality ; Xo. 221 a deserving second. 
Class 38 — Mare or Gelding, not exceeding 13'2 — was well filled, both in 
respect to number (14) and also character. We consider it the best of the 
eight classes which came before us. Xo. 234, first prize, possessed rare 
form, excellent action, and plenty of quality. Xo. 237, second, was .a worthy 
exhibit, with bold corky action ; a trifling defect in his shoulders mainly 
prevented his taking a more prominent position ; Xos. 236 and 230, third 
and reserve number, altliough lacking that freedom of movement essen- 
tial to first-rate animals of this class, are nevertheless highly creditable 
exhibits. 
In taking a survey of the whole of the Classes imder our inspection, we 
regret our inability to give a more elastic Report : the exhibits, as a rule, 
were too limited in number, and the quality (with exceptions) was below 
our anticipations, as is apparent from the fact that no commendations are 
given. 
We cannot close these remarks without tendering our obligations to the 
Steward of our Department for his great attention and the very prompt 
manner in which the well-devised arrangements of the Show were so 
efficiently carried out for us. 
Wm. Parker, 
johx eowell. 
CATTLE. 
SnOKTHCRXS. 
But to quit the horse-classes, and to come to those assigned 
to the ruminants. These deserved almost unqualified praise. 
The Shorthorns and the Hampshire Downs were not, perhaps, so 
strong as is usual in the adult males. Yet both were admirably 
represented in the younger section ; and possibly it is in these that 
the special merit of the two breeds may be found to lie. But it 
was true of all the cattle (unless the Longhorns and the Guernseys 
were exceptions) that, good as the adults might be, these were 
followed by juniors even better than themselves. The Shorthorn 
heifers calved in 1881 were especially remarkable for the 
general high average of merit throughout a very large class. 
Indeed, 1882 must be set dow^n with this breed as having been 
a feminine year ; each division of cows or heifers excelling the 
corresponding class for bulls. No doubt the recent regulation 
of the Society, which excluded bulls calved prior to 1876, kept 
a few old celebrities away. Yet the Exhibition in no way 
suffered by their exclusion. Many a bull has continued to beget 
good stock long after his sixth season. But it may be questioned 
if one was ever known to continue to increase in sightliness 
after that period. And there is always a certain amount of risk 
with an old bull, which makes him as ill-adapted to make one 
in a holiday crowd as was Jumbo. 
Still, it remains a noteworthy feature of the year that, although 
