396 Report on the Exhibition of Live Stock at Cardiff. 
Class 80. Notwithstanding a somewhat heavy rump, we had no difficulty 
in awarding the first prize to No. 769. In this class there were 39 entries, 10 
pens however were not filled ; taken altogether there were many fair specimens 
of the hreed. The 10 pens in class 81 were filled with good sheep ; No. 810 
being disqualified by the veterinary inspector, on account of his fore-legs 
having given way, could not be adjudicated a prize. In class 82, the ewes 
winning the first and second prizes were very matching, showing a uniformity 
of character which is much to be desired in a flock of slieep. 
The Oxfordshire Downs, as they become the longer established, 
are also reaching nearer to this desideratum in a flock — unifor- 
mity of character ; and, although there were only half-a-dozen 
exhibitors, the competition, saving with the ewes where Mr. 
Charles Howard's beautiful pen had a long lead, was generally 
very close, and I never saw Judges work harder. Perhaps of all 
the sheep exhibited at Cardiff, there were none, running them 
right through, which evinced more satisfactory signs of improve- 
ment and advancement towards a recognizable breed than the 
Oxfordshire Downs. 
Of the Oxford Downs we would first say that in all the classes we found 
great merit. In class 88, in which there were 21 shearling rams shown, the 
first prize was awarded to a sheep of good character, and although not standing 
quite well on his hind-legs, we placed him before No. 887, as that sheep was 
■somewhat deficient in leg of mutton and rump. In class 89 there were only 
9 entries ; but all were sheep of great merit, and the commendations awarded 
by us were not made without our being convinced that they were deserved. 
In class 90 there were only 3 entries, and, although all were sheep of merit, 
we had not much difficulty in making our awards. 
Notwithstanding that Sir William Throckmorton was compelled, 
by Foot-and-Mouth Disease, to keep his entries at home, and the 
new Merton flock was of course not up to its previous strength, the 
Judges were enabled to report very highly of the Southdown show 
at Cardiff. It has struck me that some breeders have always 
gone too much for mere size, although inevitably at some sacri- 
fice of that style and bloodlike appearance which should surely ' 
be the essential characteristics of the Southdown — Small in 
size hut great in value, as is inscribed under the Southdowns 
on the Leicester Monument at Holkham. It is easy enough 
to obtain weight and spread by a mixture of other blood, 
but the breeders of old true sheep, like the Leicesters and South- 
<lowns, should pride themselves on this point, even though their 
animals be termed "pretty" and "delicate" by critics who often 
long for and occasionally take a taste. At Cardiff it was good 
to see that the heaviest sheep were not put forward as the best. 
The fnst-prize shearling and the first-prize two-shear were quite 
admirable specimens of their breed, but we missed that beautiful 
pen of ewes — often tlie sight of the show — which the Duke 
would send in from Goodwood. People say, even with so wide 
