130 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
ing which separated the dining-company 
from them, watching everv mouthful they 
devoured, and refusing to come in to aid, by 
the paltry price of a dinner-ticket, the liber¬ 
ality of the public-spirited citizens of the 
town, who had got up the magnificent show 
more for the general benefit of the people 
than of the town. We thought this gaping 
on by the multitude gross ill manners, at the 
time—we think so still. The speeches and 
toasts at the table were in good taste, but 
nothing variant from other like occasions ; 
so we shall omit further notice of them than 
to say, that all such matters should not be a 
part of the business of a cattle-show, either 
State or National, during daylight, but ad¬ 
journed to an evening sitting, when the time 
can not be devoted to more important ob¬ 
jects. As it was, the dinner consumed all 
the time from 2 o’clock till sundown—a pe¬ 
riod in which some of the committees had 
important labors to accomplish, and which 
had to be postponed until the next day. 
THE STOCK. 
Of the varieties exhibited other than the 
Short Horns, the numbers were limited, yet 
most of them choice specimens. 
Of Devons, there were perhaps twenty : a 
two-year old heifer, and two bull calves, the 
property of Gen. Meriwether, of Todd Coun¬ 
ty, Ky., recently from the herd of Mr. Van 
Rensselaer, of Otsego, N. Y. A two-year 
old bull, and two young cows, of Mr. L. F. 
Allen, of Buffalo, and one of which, a first- 
prize animal, Gen. Meriwether added to his 
others before leaving; three or four from an 
adjoining county, and a few from Indiana, 
comprised the list. 
Of Ayrshires , only six or eight were ex¬ 
hibited. They were good animals of their 
kind, and mostly purchased, a few years 
since, from the herd of Mr. E P. Prentice, 
of Albany. They now belonged, with but 
one or two exceptions, to Mr. Melendy, near 
Cincinnati. 
Of Alderney s, Mr. R. L. Colt, of New Jer¬ 
sey, had four or five on the ground, which 
he had sent all the way from his home in 
Paterson. They were choice of their kind, 
and attracted much attention. Not one per¬ 
son in fifty on the ground had ever seen an 
Alderney before, and very few had even 
“ hearn tell about ’em.” To stand near, and 
hear the grotesque remarks which the peo¬ 
ple made upon them, as they looked at their 
diminished proportions and peculiar figures, 
m profound ignorance of their valuable but¬ 
ter qualities, was not a little ludicrous; 
while, to hear the questions of others know¬ 
ing little or nothing but what they had read 
of them, and wishing to really learn, and 
now for the first time witnessing these crea¬ 
tures in actual life before them, was quite 
amusing. But before the show was over, 
the little Alderneys won their way to much 
good opinion. The cow was milked while 
she stood in her stall; the milk was tasted 
by sundry ladies and gentlemen present; and 
Gen. Worthington, of Chillicothe, the intelli¬ 
gent chairman of the committee viewing 
them, made a report setting forth their prop¬ 
er worth and utility. We understand that a 
part of them were disposed of during the 
show, so rapidly had they 'wrought into the 
good graces of gentlemen present; and now 
we trust that Ohio and the States around 
her will, ere long, rejoice in the possession 
of their rich-milking Alderneys, as they long 
have in their stately and massive Short 
Horns. 
The Herefords present were good, partic¬ 
ularly the two bulls and cows of Mr. Aston, 
of Lorain County, .Ohio, and some of those 
of Mr. Sotham, of New York. The number, 
altogether, w'as about twenty. We trust 
that this valuable race of beef-making and 
work-oxen cattle will be better appreciated 
in our Western.States than they have hith¬ 
erto been. 
THE SHORT HORNS. 
If we were to give loose to our feelings 
while attempting to write of the grand and 
imposing array that was before us in this 
matchless class of cattle, our pen would in¬ 
voluntarily fall from our fingers, and we 
might, perchance, for once in our life, grow' 
eloquent in speech. The number of these on 
the ground was upwards of a hundred; and 
they chiefly the pick of the best in Ohio, 
Kentucky, and Indiana, from the native bred 
as well as the recently imported animals of 
the kind. Some of the highest-priced bulls, 
however, w'ere absent, not being now in show 
condit ion. Of this class, first in the field in 
point of time, were those of Brutus J. Clay, 
the two Messrs. Duncan, and the two broth¬ 
ers Bedford, of Bourbon County, Ky. They 
brought in a herd of fifteen cows and bulls. 
It might be invidious to speak of these fine 
specimens to the omission of others ; but we 
can truly say, that as they were a selection 
from the best of Kentucky’s prize cattle, 
they were, combined, a paragon of beauty 
and excellence. Some of them had taken 
half a score of first prizes, in their .different 
ages and classes, t at, home. Their con¬ 
dition for high show w r as first-rate—not a 
thing lacking that could add attraction to 
their qualities. Next to these, out of Ohio, 
w'as the fine herd of Col. Solomon Meredith, 
of Wayne County, Indiana—half a dozen in 
number, most of them Kentucky bred, with 
an imported one or two for comparison. 
Then came the beautiful herds of Doctor Ar¬ 
thur Watts, of Chillicothe, the brothers W. 
D. and Jacob Pierce, and Mr. Waddle, of 
Clarke County, and many other breeders, 
smaller in number, but equally meritorious 
in the quality of their stock. Among them 
w r ere the Hadleys, the Dunns, Clarks, Sted- 
doms, Palmers, and others, of Ohio; togeth¬ 
er w'ith Caldwell, Thrasher, and Davidson, 
of Indiana, and W T are, of Kentucky. Col. 
Sherw'ood, of Auburn, N. Y., also contribu¬ 
ted a fine young bull—La Fayette—who 
drew a prize in his class. Mr. Pendergrast, 
of Chatauque Count}', N. Y., also exhibited 
a fine imported bull, and a capital large milk¬ 
ing Short Horn cow. We can not well par¬ 
ticularize, where there was so large an ar¬ 
ray of excellence.; but can freely say that, 
in.any and in all the shows we have before 
witnessed—and they are of the largest and 
best ever made in the United States—w r e 
never saw' so difficult a place to select the 
best, as among the Short Horns got together 
at Springfield. 
As w r e were otherwise occupied during the 
time that the competing classes were on ex¬ 
hibition before the judges in the ring, we 
could not note them particularly there, and 
we might not accord, perhaps, with them in 
the merit of every individual prize aw'arded; 
but for the chief part of them, they are prob¬ 
ably as correct as the circumstances would 
permit. 
The first prize, in bulls, of $300, was 
aw'arded to Mr. Edward G. Bedford’s Ken¬ 
tucky bred bull, Bourbon County—Perfec¬ 
tion, 6 years old. 
The second, to an imported bull, of the 
Madison County importation of last year, 4 
years old—Sheffielder—belonging to J. W. 
Robinson, of Madison County, Ohio. 
The third premium was to Mr. Caldwell’s 
Kentucky bred bull, Belmont, now' of Fay¬ 
ette County, Indiana. 
In cows, Brutus J. Clay won the first prize 
on his imported cow, Lady Stanhope—a no¬ 
ble creature. 
The second, was on Duchess, an imported 
cow of Mr. Palmer’s, Fayette Co., Ohio. 
The third, on Clara Fisher, a Kentucky 
cow, belonging to Col. Meredith, of W T ayne 
County, la. 
Of the classes following, the prizes were 
distributed in about like proport ions to native 
bred and imported Short Horns, for the par¬ 
ticulars of w'hich we must refer the. reader 
to the published list of prizes in the several 
papers of the day. 
But the great contest of the occasion—the 
hopes, and fears, and aspirations, of the sev¬ 
eral candidates for victory—was the sw'eep- 
stakes, consisting of a single bull and five 
cows belonging to any one herd. In this 
class there w T ere six entries, viz : Brutus J. 
Clay, of Kentucky; Solomon Meredith, of 
Indiana; Arthur Watts, A. Waddle, W. D. 
Pierce, and Jacob Pierce, of Ohio. As Mr. 
Waddle’s stock was but recently imported, 
and hardly yet upon their legs from a long 
sea voyage, he withdrew them from compe¬ 
tition, and we did not see them on the greund. 
Of the herds exhibited, those belonging to 
the two Messrs. Pierce w r ere in low condi¬ 
tion, from the dry season, and although con¬ 
taining several excellent animals, and of 
great promise, particularly among the young 
imported heifers, the committee, so far as 1 
could learn, mainly selected for discussion 
the herds of Mr. Clay, Doctor Watts, and 
Mr. Meredith. It is no more than justice to 
say of these, that fifteen finer cows can 
scarcely, in the aggregate, be found togeth¬ 
er; and adding a selection from those of the 
Pierce’s imported ones, a score, that even 
England may be challenged to excel—so 
ripe were their points, so perfect their con¬ 
dition, and so well selected for an imposing 
exhibition. Arranged as they w r ere, in a 
line, each herd headed by their bull, it was 
the most splendid array of cattle we ever 
wutnessed ; and it is not strange that, after 
a very minute examination of several hours, 
and two further hours of consultation and 
trial, the committee of eight, to whom they 
were referred,should disagree upon the com¬ 
parative merits, and come to no decision. 
This was the fact, and the great trial of 
