448 
The Cambridge Meeting , 1894 . 
Class 281. Pair cross-bred pullets. 1. Indian Game and Dorking. 2. ditto. 
3. ditto. R. ditto. 8 entries. 
All the same cross, and that a good one. The result shows beyond ques- 
tion the happy blend of even these two extremes ; size and quality are hereby 
secured, and thus a bumping dish of good solid food is produced. We still 
commend this cross, and add five others for further experiments, such as 
from personal experience we can recommend as the best record combination 
up to date: La Fleche and Dorking ; Dorking and Langshan ; Langshanand 
Wyandotte; Indian Game and La Fleche ; Old English Game and Langshan. 
Ducklings as a lot were about up to the average of mid-summer displays. 
Class 282. Pure-breds. 10 entries. 
More than sustain their good reputation, Aylesburys being first and 
second ; the winners a very superior couple of great size and substance, and 
of undoubted purity. Third Pekins, and reserve Cayugas, the latter small 
but a rare tit-bit. 
Class 283. Cross-breds. 6 entries. 
All the winners are the Aylesbury Pekin cross, which fairly demon- 
strates the usefulness of this alliance for the production of giant ducks. 
Butter. 
This section comprised 162 entries arranged in three classes. 
In Class 284, for one keg or other package of butter, not less 
than 14 lb. and under 40 lb. in weight, there were 21 entries. 
It was a condition that the kegs should be delivered to the 
Society on February 1, 1894, and the date on which the butter 
was made had to be stated. The Judges did not consider there 
was sufficient merit in any of the entries to justify their award- 
ing prizes. Several of the exhibits they found to be decidedly 
bad, many being quite rancid. They add : — 
The question of making butter for long keeping has not the interest that 
formerly made this department of dairy farming so necessary. Importa- 
tions of butter from abroad bring to this country comparatively' fresh butter 
at all seasons, so that we are to a great extent independent as regards the 
preservation of butter for keeping purposes. As regards the inferiority of 
the entries in this class, there were causes which might be supposed would 
operate against the keeping qualities that were almost inevitable. The 
butter might have been made from the milk of cows that had been fed upon 
food other than grass. It is generally admitted that the flavour of butter 
made from gras3-fed cows cannot be obtained from that made from the milk 
of cows fed upon winter fodder. 
It is true that preservatives of various kinds are in use that will keep 
butter sweet for a considerable time ; but we must face the fact that the fine 
quality, the good flavour, and the keeping properties of butter are mate- 
rially influenced by the feeding of cows, and preservatives can only main- 
tain the quality that the butter has derived from cows fed upon food which 
is calculated to produce butter of high quality. 
Class 285, for two pounds fresli butter, slightly salted, made 
up in pounds, attracted 72 entries. The Judges report: — 
There was considerable uniformity in the entries here, and generally the 
texture, grain, and mode in which the butter was made up were good. We 
