544 BATH AND WEST OE ENGLAND ASSOCIATION. 
prejudice and fashion which has been established of late years, during 
the infatuation which has beset some of the wealthy men of this 
country who have taken to Shorthorn breeding for amusement. The 
difficulties into which many herds are now merging ought to be 
obviated now that we have ample trustworthy data to guide us in 
the art of breeding. 
The Devons were placed first in the yard, and so far as form and 
quality go, they were a most attractive part of the show. They were 
twenty-two in number. Nothing could be more admirable than were 
the animals sent by Mr. Walter Farthing, Mr. Buller, Mr. Nixey, 
and Mr. Burton. As we have remarked before, however, there is an 
undersize in the specimens of this breed which are brought to pub¬ 
licity, and it is a great question whether the course pursued by the 
leading breeders has been a judicious one, so far as the staying or 
lasting character of their herds may be considered. The 1st and 
2nd prize bulls w^ere pictures, however, and some of the cows were 
as handsome as they could possibly be moulded. But if this breed 
goes on decreasing in size as it has done the last few years, we shall 
be able to find models or imitations of Kerry and Breton and 
Jersey cows for family purposes in our own climate and on our 
own soil. 
The Herefords were not strong, and the main strength of these 
animals was displayed in a magnificent bull and cow, the former 
sent by Mr. Arkwright, and the latter by Mr. Allen, as set forth in 
our prize list. The bull is an extraordinary fellow; but beyond 
him there was nothing worth notice in the aged class ; for the 
2nd prize was a narrow, irregular four-quartered beast, with a deal 
of poddiness, which gave him anything but an improved or im¬ 
proving appearance. The cow, however, to which w'e have referred 
as being naturally a grand creature, has been greatly over-done 
with rich or fattening food. The injury of this is clearly shown in 
the size of the calf a few days old by her side, for it is just one of 
the diminutive things which looks to be too good to knock on the 
head, but which it is clear would cost twice as much to rear it and 
feed it for the butcher as it would be worth w^hen full grown. 
The Sussex bulls were in bad condition, their coats being full 
of scurf and dust. This negligence is unaccountable. If it had 
not been for two or three great and good cows, and a few handsome 
and well-grown or growing heifers, this breed would have been a 
discredit to the show as well as to the County of Sussex. 
The Channel Islands cattle were upwards of eighty in number, 
and a finer collection of this peculiar breed of animals we never saw 
out of their native islands. The prizes of the society brought the 
whole of the islands into competition, and as there is as much 
dissimilarity between the Alderney and Jersey and the Guernsey 
breeds,^ as there is between North \yales runts and South Wales 
cattle, it was not possible to give even the usual amount of satis¬ 
faction among the somewhat Frenchified and excitable island ex¬ 
hibitors. The Jersey men object so much to the Guernsey breed 
that they will not allow a single one of them to pass the landing 
