502 
The Chester Meeting. 
In addition to the construction of the Showyard the Society 
undertakes to do any fittings required by exhibitors on their 
stands. Works of this character were carried out at Chester 
for 254 firms, the cost amounting to over 1 ,100?. 
Canvas . — Of canvas 86,500 superficial yards were used at 
Chester. 
Permanent Plant . — The entrances and pavilions are con- 
structed with the Society’s permanent plant, which is sent from 
show to show, and weighs 270 tons. 
Time occupied . — The Society takes possession of part of the 
site in July, when the entrances are erected in their proper 
position, and sheds are built to cover the remainder of the per- 
manent plant. The Local Committee level and drain the site 
during the autumn and winter months, whilst the Society com- 
mences the erection of the Showyard in the month of February. 
The Showyard Works, building and clearing away, occupy about 
x months. 
Cost . — The gross cost of the erection of the Showyard Works 
is some 11,000/., but about half of this amount is returned by 
sales of materials and payments for woi'k done for exhibitors and 
purveyors, leaving the nett cost of these works about 5,500/. 
With the exception of the employment of a few leading men, 
the whole of the works are carried out by local workmen under 
the direction of the Society’s Surveyor, and without the inter- 
vention of a contractor. 
Entries. 
An examination of the table of entries on the opposite page 
will show that, in the live stock classes, sheep to some extent, and 
cattle very considerably, were this year above the average. Pigs, 
on the other hand, were less numerous than usual, and would seem 
in this respect to reflect the diminution which has taken place in 
the pig population of the country. Horses were only slightly 
below the average number of the last ten years. In the Cattle 
section, the Jersey, Shorthorn, and Welsh breeds were particu- 
larly well represented in numbers ; in the Horse section, the 
Hunters and the Shires were specially prominent; whilst in the 
Sheep section considerably more than one-fourth of the pens 
were occupied by Shropshires. The aggregate entry of horses, 
cattle, sheep, and pigs was up to the average of the last ten 
years, and above that average if Windsor be excluded. 
1858 and 1893 — A Comparison. 
Many facts of instructive interest are revealed in comparing 
the arrangement of the live stock classes at this year’s Meeting 
