On different Varieties of Wlicat. 
281 
horses, antl consequently this class did not fill very well, there being but four 
horses shown, although tiiere were seven entered. Three oC these horses, 
however, possessed a good deal of merit, and the prize was without hesitation 
awarded to a fine black three-year old horse possessing great activity and size, 
and strength that the heaviest London dray could not daunt or the wealthiest 
London brewer fail to a<lmire. We at once recognized in the winner our old, 
or rather young, friend that had excited our admiration at Nortiiampton as a 
two-year old. There was a pleasure in awarding a prize to this horse, 
inasmuch as by thus rewarding and encouraging him we were assisting in 
propagating the excellences of the breed of dray-horses without their striking 
faults, viz., bad action, hairy legs, and ring-bones, from which several iniquities 
the horse in question was remarkably exempt. 
The next best horse in this class was a Clydesdale, possessing great strength, 
activity, and much merit generally; he was, however, too active for a dray- 
horse, and would, no doubt, if placed with three London dray-horses in a 
team, do nearly all the work himself. Though large he was active enough for 
an agricultural horse, and in this class he ought to have been shown, where he 
would have stood a fair chance for a prize. We dwell the longer on this 
animal because he was almost the only Clydesdale horse in the v^hole show. 
It is difficult to account for this, for a few years since this breed was cried up 
as the ver}' best for farming purposes, and no doubt the breeders of those 
animals think so still. We are sorry, therefore, that they had not spirit 
enough to enter their horses in competition for the Society's prizes, which are 
0])en to all the world. York was surely as near the Clyde as it is to the Stour 
of Surtbik, and I am sure the Society would have gladly welcomed com- 
petitors north of the Tweed. 
The class of two year-old horses for agricultural purposes was not quite so 
good nor so numerous as at Northampton. At the latter show there were 
fifteen, and many of them of considerable merit ; at York there were only eight 
exhibited, although two prizes were offered instead of one, as at Northampton. 
There was, however, a good deal of merit in this class, for the Judges awarded 
three commendations, besides the two prizes ; and it is creditable to their 
native county to find that four out of the five thus rewarded were bred in 
Yorkshire. The class of mares with their foals, for agricultural purposes, 
was rather more numerous and better than at Northampton ; besides the two 
prize animals, two were commended, of whom one was a Clydesdale mare. 
The class of two-year old fillies, though numbering only three, possessed con- 
siderable merit, and the two prizes were borne o'X by the same noble competi- 
tor, who succeeded also, in the class just 'mentioned, in gaining another prize. 
XIII. — On different Varieties of Wheat, and the Advantage of 
thick Soioing. By W. Loft. 
To Mr. Pusey. , 
Sir, — As there are many conflicting opinions relative to the 
best varieties of wheat, and also as to the requisite quantity of 
seed, it seems highly desirable that careful experiments should be 
made in different localities and on various soils, in order that a 
correct judgment may be formed as to the sort of wheal and the 
quantity of seed best adapted to different soils. With this view, 
then, I venture to give you the result of two experiments made 
VOL. IX. u 
