The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-12-14 00:00:00

(stourtribge 04strinr.

SAT U RDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1872.

CATTLE SHOWS.

We have frequently been told that our popula-
tion is continually increasing, and that the ex-
tent of our country can never be enlarged. The
latter assertion at any rate is indisputable, and
there is not much doubt as to the farmer. The
conclusion to be drawn from these facts is that
the increase of our food supply is a matter of
immense importance, and here, too, there can be
no doubt of the truthfulness of the position.
Of late ears we have all of us had more or less
pressed upon our attention this vital question of
Food Supply. The cost of living has been con-
tinuously -rising, rising, till at last it has reached
serious pitch, and the price of animal food is
still alarmingly high. We all remember the
gist, if not the exact words of Dean Swift's
celebrated remark as to the man who makes two
blades Of grass grrdv where only one grew before.
The remark is equally true of the luau who does
anything to improve or increase our supply of
animal food, and herein lies the true value of
Cattle Shows. The one grand object of these
exhibitions is the improvement of the breed of
cattle, sheep, and pigs, the staple of our animal
food supplies. Much has been said about devo-
tion to " the turf" improving the breed of horses
but there is no breach of charity in asserting
that this is rather an excuse for a fondness for
racing than a fact which Can be substantiated.
But there can be no disputing the fact that cattle
shows do much towards improving the breed of
stock, and the quality of our beef, mutton, and
mirk; and an ardent devotion to pursuits which
have this result, whatever may be the immediate
motive of the devotee, cannot be marred by any
of the evils which are allied to the turf.
it is not at all surprising that the public mani-
fests each succeeding year an increasing interest
iu Cattle Shows. The continually increasing
importance of animal food supply would be in
itself almost sufficient to account for this, but,
besides this important consideration, these exhi-
bitions every year become more interesting as
illustrating the triumphs of science and experi-
ence, as brought to ibear on the production of
animal food under the best possible conditions.
But a few years ago the chief object appeared to
he fat. Bulk and size were everything; sym-
inetry and proportion went for little, anti the
exhibitors of oxen that were mere mountains of
fat, and of pigs that could scarcely see out of
their fat-encircled eyes, received prizes. But
we have changed all that. Beauty of form is
now taken into consideration, though the pri-
mary object is, and very properly, meat; and in
these respecte we hui,e of late years made mar-
vellous ptogress. How vastly different is the
great Cattle Show at the Agricultural Hall,
London, this year, both in quantity and quality,
to what the first Cattle Show in the metropolis
must have been When the first show took
place we have no means of ascertaining; but so
late as 1541 the Smithfield Club organized an
exhibition which brought forward only 57 oxen,
19 cows, 54 sheep, and 19 pigs. Contrast this
with the records of the exhibition held in the
Agricultural Hall this week, and the comparison
will show how much we have progressed in this
as in other matters. It is very pleasing to ob-
serve how all classes manifest an interest in
these exhibitions. Her Majesty and the Prince
of Wales are exhibitors this year; many of the
aristocracy and numbers of our landed geratry,
as well as farmers, take pelt in it; and we may
depend upon it that there is not an agricultural
labourer in the kingdom who does not feel an in-
terest in the stock exhibited, especially if " the
master" is one of the exhibitors. And the daily
crowds who throng the vast building are com•
posed of all classes, for the good and sufficient
reason that the exhibition is one of general in-
terest.
We cannot expect disappointed exhibitors to
be pleased with the awards of the judges, but
we doubt not that their awards have been made
by gentlemen of sound judgment and practical
experience, who have been simply actuated by
the honourable desire to do their arduous and
difficult task fairly. The general impression,
we feel assured, is that the judges acted honour-
ably, "without fear or favour," while their task
has been rendered notoriously difficult by the
general excellence of the stuck competing for
prizes. If there were any chance of favourit.
ism it would be found in the awards to members
of the Royal Family, but we find nothing of the
kind. Her Majesty obtains three prizes (one of
them of the second class) for pigs exhibited in
classes 62, 63, and 64; but this is alt; and a
Hereford steer exhibited in class 7 does not ob-
tain even a commendation from the judges,
though a short-horn contributed by the Queen
in class 11, is " highly commended' The
Prince of Wales obtains one second-class prize
only in class 14, the short-horned heifers, and
the only other consolation his Royal Highness
has is that he is highly commended for two fine
specimens of Devon cattle, which, however, have
not carried off any prize.
In one other respect these annual bucolic ex•
hibitions are important and interesting. There
is usually a flue dililay of Agricultural Imple-
ments. The tendency of the age is towards the
nse of machinery, and progress in this direction
is inevitable. While this progress is being made
men are to some extent displaced, but the bene-
fit to the entire community in developing agri-
culture and rapidly gathering in the fruits of the
earth in spite of the difficulties of a peculiarly
changeable climate, are infinitely greater then
any individual hardship. These subsidiary dis-
plays, therefore, give additional interest to an-
bibitions which are an important criterion of
natural progress.

•--
" A VISIT TO EP1.6.4 COCOA MANUTACTORY.—ThroUgh
the kindness of Meisre. Epps, I recently had an oppor-
tunity of seeing the many complicated and varied pro•
ceases the Cacao bean passes through ere it is sold for
public use, and, being both interested and highly pleased
with what I saw daring my visit to the manufactory, I
thought a brief account of the Cacao, and the way it is
: manufactured by Mes,s. EppA, to fit it for a wholesome
and nutrition@ beverage, might be of interest to the
viers of "Land and Water.' "—See Article in " Land
and Water," October 14.

BREAKFANT.—EPPS'S COCIOA.—GRATIIIII. AND Coy.
ron-rtNo.—" By • thorough knowledge of the natural
lawn which govern the operations of digestion and nu-
trition, and by • careful application of the fine properties
of well-selected cocoa, Mr. Epps has provided our break-
font tables with a delicately flavoured beverage which '
rnay •tve re, me-,y heavy do-torn bills."— riril St,ice
100,/.e. Mad., riruply with boiling water or milk. Each
packet is labelled—" JA116.5 Mum & Co., Mommopathic
Chemist,. London." Also, makers of Epps's Cacaoine,
• thin, refreshing beverage for evening use.
PCNtrACTIME Or Cocos, CACAOINR, AND CHOCOLATII.
will .1 • give an account of the, process adopted
by M. ram Jour, Epps & Co., manufacture's of dietetic
aniclei, at their works in the Eudon-road, London."—
Bee Article in Part 19 of Caiseirs Hoseflioiti Guide.