114 Wisconsin State agricultural soceitt. 
any intention of appearing in the ring. This frequently works- 
injustice to bona fide exhibitors, as at our last fair, when many 
worthy animals were turned away for want of accommodation. 
Some stringent regulation should be made to meet these cases. 
The trials of speed were, with one possible exception, tame affairs. 
This was the result partly of the unfavorable circumstances of 
bad weather and track, but mainly of lightness of purses offered— 
good horses will not now-a-days take the risk of a record for a 
paltry sum of money. 
For the benefit of spectators, some way ought to be devised of 
exhibiting all the horses at one time. A cavalcade may not be 
feasible, but it might be understood that the stalls are all to be 
opened at a stated hour and are to remain open for a given length 
of time; horses in training, of course, to be excepted. 
On the whole, the horse exhibition of 1873 passed off smoothly 
and without disturbance. The short-comings of the department 
were not a few, still it must be remembered, in extenuation, that 
there are sure to be some hitches where horses tackle each other 
in hot competition. 
CATTLE DEPARTMENT. 
BY CHARLES H. WILLIAMS, SUPERINTENDENT. 
There was a time, when raising neat cattle was deemed a branch 
of farming unsuited to the climate and soil of this state, but 
thanks to the energy and persistent labors of the managers of our 
agricultural papers, and the energy and public spirit of a number 
of the enterprising farmers of the state, who purchased and 
brought here the finely bred animals of the older and more im¬ 
proved states, it has been demonstrated beyond question, that 
Wisconsin, if not one of the best stock producing states in the 
union, can at least grow them well and profitably—as has been 
seen each year at our annual exhibitions during the past four or 
five years, where were home grown animals of all the various 
classes, equal to those found in any of the other states. 
The last of these exhibitions, held at Milwaukee in September, 
