VOL. XLVI NO. 1973. 
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 19, 1887. 
PRICE FIVE CENTS. 
$2.00 PER YEAR. 
Entered, according to Act of Congress. In the year. 1887, by the Rural New-Yorker, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
Sljcqj J^ffsbarufinj. 
A GROUP OF HAMPSHIRE DOWNS. 
HE Hampshire Down breed of 
sheep originated about 80 years 
ago by a cross of South Downs 
on the horned, white-faced 
shoep which had for ages been 
native of the open, untilled, 
hilly stretch of land known as 
the Hampshire Downs, in the 
county of that name bordering 
on the English Channel in the South of Eng¬ 
land. From time immemorial the South 
Downs had dark- 
brown or black legs, 
matured early, pro¬ 
duced the best of 
mutton, and a Due 
quality of medium 
wool. The original 
Hampshire was larg¬ 
er, coarser, hut hard¬ 
ier, slower to mature, 
with inferior flesh, 
and a longer but 
coarser wool. The 
South Down has nl- 
ways been remark¬ 
able for its power of 
transmitting its spe¬ 
cial characteristics to 
its progeny by other 
kinds of sheep, and 
hence it soon impress¬ 
ed its own character¬ 
istics on its progeny 
by the Hampshire. 
The horns of the or¬ 
iginal breed have 
disappeared; the face 
and legs have be¬ 
come dark; the frame 
has become more 
compact, the bones 
smaller, the back 
broaderand straight- 
er; the legs shorter, 
and the llesh and 
wool of better qua¬ 
lity; while the supe¬ 
rior hard 1 n e ss and 
greater size as well 
as the large head and 
Roman nose of the 
old breed stiii re¬ 
main. 
The Hampshires of 
to-day mature early 
and fatten readily. 
They clip from six to 
seven pounds of wool 
suitablo for combing, 
which is longer than 
South Down wool, 
but less Dne. The 
mutton has a desira¬ 
ble proportion of fat 
and lean, and is juicy and fine flavored. The 
lambs are of large size and are usually drop¬ 
ped early aud fed for market. Indeed, the 
Hampshire may lie considered a larger aud 
trifle coarser aud hardier South Down. The 
breed is occasionally crossed with Cots wolds, 
w hen it produces a wool more valuable for 
worsted manufacturers than the pur® Cots- 
wold. Indeed, there is little doubt that in ad¬ 
dition to South Down, the Hampshire has a 
dash of Cotewold blood in its composition. 
Considerable importations of the breed have 
been made into this country; but it has not 
become so popular as the South Down aud 
some other English breeds. The excellent 
group shown at Fig. 457 is owned by Mr. 
James \\ ood, of Mount Kisco, New York. 
@1 )t ijfriDsmnii. 
NOTES FROM THE NATIONAL CATTLE 
GROWERS’ CONVENTION. 
PROFESSOR G. E. MORROW. 
A fair attendance of all cattle, interests; a 
harmonious truce ; contagious-disease dis¬ 
cussion ; “ pleura 1 stamped out in Chicago ; 
like other doctors, veterinarians disagree ; 
invincible skepticism ; shall cattle, impor¬ 
tations be prohibited.! 1 a compromise reso¬ 
lution ; i 'oleo" causes a breeze-, the end. 
The convention of cattlemen at Kansas 
City, on Oct. 31 to Nov. 3, was very fairly 
successful. The depression iu the cattle busi¬ 
ness had its effect on the attendance, the 
Western ranchmen especially feeliug the 
effects. The place of meeting was too far 
west for convenient attendance by Eastern 
men. The South was scarcely represented; 
aside from this, every section from Now Eng¬ 
land to the far Northwest and Southwest sent 
good men. No one class predominated. The 
Chairman, lion. L. Funk, of Illinois, isa good 
specimen of oue prominent type—the large 
stock rearing aud cattle-feeding farmer of the 
Central West. Well known breeders of near¬ 
ly all of the better breeds of cuttle were pres¬ 
ent. The great cattle-ranching companies 
furnished some of the brightest men. Com¬ 
missioner Colman, Dr. Salmon, and perhaps 
a score of veterinarians with State live-stock 
commissioners made a strong showing of the 
official side. The great stock-yard interests 
were cared for by a goodly number. A num¬ 
ber of State Boards of Agriculture and a few 
agricultural colleges sent delegates. There 
was much of ability and some very ready de¬ 
baters, and on a number of questions there 
were decided differences of views. There was 
a good prospect of strong discussions, but the 
policy of the Committee on Resolutions was to 
prevent discord. Genera! resolutions were 
laid on the table as inexpedient, aud some 
compromises were made. 
The contagious disease or, specifically, the 
pleuro-pneumonia question,was the chief topic 
, 
of discussion. It came up iu many forms. 
Much iuterest was taken and great pleasure 
manifested at the announcement made by 
Commissioner Colman—who made a very’ 
favorable impression—aud Dr. Salmon, and 
also by the Illinois Live Stock Commissioners, 
of their conviction that the disease has been 
thoroughly eradicated from Chicago, that it 
is not believed to exist west of the Alleghany 
Mountains, and that the National and Illinois 
quarant ine against Cook County will t>« raised 
not later than December 1, with continued in¬ 
spection in the recently infected district in 
Chicago. 
How far this action will be at once followed 
by like action in other States and Territories 
is yet unknown. A number of the veterina¬ 
rians present hold the position of State or 
Territorial veterinarians, and some of them 
declared themselves unwilling to have cattle 
from Cook County, Illinois, go freely—some 
not at all—into the regions over which 
they are placed in charge. The possible re¬ 
sults of these quarantines by different 
States are very serious. When they sha’l 
be declared, how sweeping they may be, 
and how’ loug they may continue, is de¬ 
termined in some States almost solely by the 
opinion of one veterinarian; and that vet- 
ei inai ians differ, as do all other classes of 
men, iu ability, training and good judg¬ 
ment, was well shown in this convention and 
in the meetings held by them as the U. S. 
Veterinary Society.” 
There were dele¬ 
gates present who 
did not believe there 
had ever been a case 
of contagious pleuro¬ 
pneumonia in Illi¬ 
nois, or, for that mat¬ 
ter. in the United 
States. A very few 
so far] forgot them¬ 
selves as to state pub¬ 
licly that all the work 
of the Bureau of Ani¬ 
mal Industry’ of the 
Illinois Live Stock 
Commissioners and 
State Veterinarians 
was dishonest, and 
their reports false. 
Probably any array 
of facts or arguments 
on this question 
wouldfail to convince 
some of these men. 
By a large major¬ 
ity’, resolutions were 
adopted favoring the 
absolute prohibition 
of all importations of 
cattle f rom all foreign 
countries in which 
contagious cattle dis¬ 
eases exist. A minor¬ 
ity, of whom the 
writer was ono,urged 
that this was neither 
necessary nor politic; 
that quarantine or 
other restrictions 
could be made to pre¬ 
vent uny appreciable 
danger of the intro¬ 
duction of disease; 
that it was not just to 
those who wished to 
import cattle abso¬ 
lutely to prevent their 
so doing, and that 
such prohibition 
would tend to in¬ 
crease restrictions on 
the exportation of 
our own animal pro¬ 
ducts. 
Concerning uational legislation on conta¬ 
gious diseases, the officers of the association 
were instructed to labor for the passage of 
the “Miller Bill” with an amendment making 
the Commissioner of Agriculture e,r-officio 
member of the commission to have charge of 
the work of extirpating such diseases. In the 
convention, as elsewhere, there was difference 
of opinion as to the best mod® of action— 
whether there should be a separate commis¬ 
sion, or whether all questions concerning dis¬ 
eases of animals should be under control of 
the Department of Agriculture. Tne resolu¬ 
tion adopted was clearly a compromise. 
The oleomargarine question will not rest 
FLOCK OF HAMPSHIRE DOWN SHEEP. (From Nature.) Fig. 457. 
