The  Gloucester  Show,  1909. 
191 
Wool, — The  exhibits  of  wool  were  all  well  grown  and 
fully  up  to  the  average.  Some  few  samples  exhibited  signs 
of  tenderness,  and  several  samples  were  scoured  in  washing 
too  much,  the  nature  being  taken  out  of  them  and  the  lustre 
injured.  The  Leicester  wools  were  all  well  grown  and  of 
good  lustre.  The  Lincolns  were  all  well  and  deep  grown, 
and  well  got  up.  The  Kent  or  Romney  Marsh  showed  good 
quality,  but  in  some  instances  were  tender.  The  Cotswolds 
were  all  deep  and  good  quality  wools.  The  Devons  were  all 
very  good  wools,  and  the  South  Devons  made  a good  average 
show.  The  class  for  “ Any  other  Long  Wool  ” made  a fair 
average  show  of  lustre  wools.  The  Southdown  wool  was 
good,  clean,  and  well  got  up.  The  Shropshire  wool  made  only 
an  average  show,  but  with  good  staple  and  fair  quality. 
There  were  only  two  exhibits  of  Kerry  Hill,  but  these  were 
of  very  clean,  soft  handling  hosiery  wool.  The  “ Any  other 
Short  Wools”  made  a very  mixed  collection,  but  they  were 
generally  of  fair  quality  and  well  got  up.  There  was  a great 
improvement  in  Welsh  wool,  which  showed  very  good  quality. 
The  Cheviot  was  also  of  good  quality,  well  grown  and  well 
got  up.  The  Scotch  exhibits  were  of  long  strong  wool,  with 
all  the  characteristic  qualities. 
Hives,  Honey,  &c. — In  this  department  a splendid  show  of 
appliances  was  made,  and  bee-keepers  desiring  to  be  up  to  date 
had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  the  best  that  most  of  the 
leading  manufacturers  could  stage.  Only  a very  few  new- 
season  novelties  were  shown.  The  first  prize  went  to  a very 
promising  invention,  capable  perhaps  of  improvements  in  some 
details,  while  the  “ Simplex  ” honey-jar  was  well  worth  trial. 
In  the  Extractor  Class  the  “ Cowan  ” and  “ Rapid  ” again 
deservedly  came  out  first.  A tasteful  display  of  honey,  staged 
by  Mr.  W.  Dixon  of  Leeds,  was  awarded  a first,  the  second 
being  almost  as  good,  while  the  third  perhaps  had  better  honey 
in  somewhat  less  attractive  form.  The  honey  staged  in  the 
other  classes  scarcely  reached  the  top  mark,  the  Show  coming 
too  early  for  entries  only  of  the  present  year,  and  run  honey  of 
previous  years  is  apt  to  lose  its  aroma,  and  perhaps  delicacy  of 
flavour,  when  prepared  for  the  Show  bench.  Comb  honey  of 
this  season  has  suffered  from  weather  interruptions  just  when 
the  bees  should  have  been  giving  the  finish  to  their  best  work. 
The  north  and  west  division  of  the  country  produced  the  larger 
proportion  of  the  best  honeys,  and  this  can  be  traced  to  climatic 
differences  in  1908  and  the  early  season  of  1909.  In  light 
extracted  honeys  all  the  prizes  went  to  Lincolnshire,  Hunts., 
Somerset,  and  Gloucestershire,  and  in  dark  honeys  to  the 
same  or  districts  near.  Heather  honeys  were  somewhat 
disappointing,  heather  mixtures  being  somewhat  better,  but 
