Report on Live-Stock at Carlisle. 
603 
reduced tlie value of all excepting a few of the most aristocratic 
Shorthorns. It has not, however, affected the value of ordinary 
cattle, which have advanced fully 30 per cent, on the prices of 
a quarter of a century ago. Beef of medium quality in the 
Metropolitan Market, then worth about 4*. per 8 lbs., now makes 
5s. Q(L ; mutton, then selling at 4s. Sd., now realises 6s, Gd. 
Cattle, 18 to 20 months old, with good points, natural flesh and 
kindly grown, without stint, bring 15/. to 18Z. Really good 
feeding sheep are increasingly difficult to buy ; those who breed 
them endeavour to keep and feed as many as possible, securing 
both breeder's and feeder's profit. Lambs at the autumn fairs 
twenty-five years ago were wont to bring less than 20s., now 
they as readily average 30s. Similar appreciation has occurred 
in hunters, carriage-horses, and cobs. Powerful active heavy 
draught animals adapted for town work, then procurable for 
40/. or 50/., now reach 80/. to 100/., whilst double that price is 
often given for good brood-mares. The demand exceeds the 
supply, and dealers declare that even at these enhanced prices 
really first-class horses are difficult to find. 
The development of agriculture during five-and-twenty years 
is well illustrated by the growth of the Royal Showyards. The 
former Carlisle Exhibition was declared to be " the most suc- 
cessful, excepting Windsor, that the Society has ever held, not 
only as regards the superiority of the animals exhibited, but 
also as regards the financial department," It occupied, however, 
15 acres, or about one-fourth the area of the present Show, The 
prizes for live-stock, then amounting to 1550/., have steadily 
grown to 5716/., and have increased fully 1000/. within five years. 
The animals entered in 1855 numbered 808 ; in 1880 the entries 
reached 1501. Horses and Shorthorns, the striking features of 
the former meeting, were prominent attractions of the latter one. 
Not only have the numbers increased ; new varieties, adapted 
for particular purposes and localities, have been cultivated, 
and were well represented. The old Longhorns have made 
a vigorous effort to regain the position they held a hundred 
years ago as good dairy and general-purpose cattle. Jerseys, 
Sussex, and Norfolk Polled, in their showyard form, may be 
said to be comparatively recent creations. Distinctive breeds of 
sheep, particularly Border Leicesters, Oxfords, Shropshires, and 
Hampshire Downs, have been brought to rare perfection. Im- 
provements have taken place amongst pigs, notably in Berkshires. 
In 1855 complaints were made of misstatements as to age, and 
of over -feeding, and the same complaints with truth might still 
be repeated. Amongst all descriptions of stock more uniformity 
of type and general excellence are observed ; fewer faulty or 
exceptional animals are entered, but in all classes a larger pro- 
