The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-04 00:00:00

In the older class, Mr. Henry Smith's superb
wethers gain the first prize, with Mr. Newdegate's
plate for the best Shropshires. These sheep took
the first prize and a prize medal at Birmingham and
at Islington last year. The second prize goes to
Mr. Beilby Lawley. In the single wether class
Messrs. Mapplebeck and Lowe's cup is won by Mr.
Henry Smith. The high character of the winning
Shropshire is testified by their thorough beating of
Lord Wenlock's and some other almost invariably
successful pens. In the cross-bred class Mr. John
Overman wins first prize, and Mr. Stilgoe second
prize. In the ewe classes the gems are Mr. Thomas
B. Marshall's splendid Lincoln ewe, the Duke of
Marlborough's Oxfordshire Down ewe, and Mr.
Beilby Lawley's Shropshire ewe. The judges of
sheep were Messrs. Henry Fookes, Edward Gough,
and George Cureton.
Of pigs there are 20 less entries than at last show;
the pens of three fat pigs were hardly as well up as
usual ; the cup is -won by Mr. Stearn. The judges
recommend that in future all pigs painted with
grease and lampblack shall be disqualified. In the
other good classes of fat pigs Major-General
Hood, Mr. Mangles, Mr. Crisp, Mr. Stearn, and
Mr. William Smith win the prizes. The breeding
classes are magnificent, Mr. Joseph Smith's silver
cup Berkshires being considered the most perfect
ever seen. A magnificent pen of pigs shown by Mr.
Allender has (like several others) been disqualified
by Professor Gamgee, on the ground that the state
of dentition proves the animals to be older than
certified in the entry. The exhibitor protests that
not only his character but also his exact system of
managementforbid thepossibility of any discrepancy
of the sort ; while, on the other hand, the professor
does not admit that science has made another mis-
take, although the mouths of pigs at the particular
age in question (between three and six months) are
less to be depended on than at any other time. The
judges of pigs were Messrs. John Moon and James
B. Spearing.
There is a remarkably fine show of roots. Messrs
Sutton's six long mangolds weigh 21211 b. ; Mr.
Stevens' six globe mangolds weigh 2441 b. ; Mr. Pol-
lok's six swedes weigh 1001 b. The kohl rabis are
much finer than usual. The carrots form the most
meritorious feature, and the potatoes the most infe-
rior item in the display. Mangolds and turnips are
of marvellous size and quality, telling evidently of a
fine season and of deep cultivation. The judges of
roots and corn were Messrs. J. Matthews and E.
Davenport. _

Bingley-hall cannot afford space for much ag,ricul-
tural machinery, but Ransomes and Sims, Clayton
and Shuttleworth, Olmies and Barford, Ashby and
Jeffery, Hornsby, Boby, Turner, Maynard, Bentall,
Mapplebeck and Lowe, and other of our first-class
manufacturers have stands of the special tools or
mechanism for which they are famous. In the mis-
cellaneous department Proctor and Ryland, Griffin
and Morris, &c., show samples of manure, with
specimens of produce raised by these handy ferti-
lizers ; and Sutton and Sons have an extensive stall
in the end gallery, crowded with fine roots, seeds,
and cereal specimens.

We come now to the feathered division of the
show, a department likely to attract greater atten-
tion from agriculturists, as well as to draw larger
crowds than ever of admiring fanciers.
Some inquisitive individual has made out that a
man, woman, girl, boy, or baby in France eats on
an average a hundred eggs in a year. Of these
luxuries our neighbours consume 4,000,000,000
annually, and manage also to spare 300,000,000 for
the " Anglais ;" that is, nearly amillion eggs a day
if we exclude Sundays. If each hen lay a hundred
eggs, France must own 43,000,000 hens, worth,
at least, £5,000,000 sterling; but then the serving-
up of poulet and volaille in all sorts of savoury and
piquant dishes being a far weightier matter than the
cracking of eggs into infinite and complex cookeries,
the actual numbers of feathered stock in France will
far exceed any such feeble estimate. Now, might
not John Bull add poultry farming to the fashions
imported from over the Channel? We do raise more
fowls than we did, and, thanks to our ardent fanciers
of big birds and rare sorts, our country markets
show full-breasted couples weighing a fourth or a
third heavier, of whiter and finer grained flesh, of
earlier maturity, and more thrifty of food than the
undersized, slowgrowing, leggy birds of perhaps a
dozen years ago. But in the present state and pro-
spects of our meat supply we might be far more busi-
nesslike than we are in this branch of production.
Large farmers have the greatest facilities for grazing
and feeding poultry stock. By proper system they
may cut down the costliness of labour and attention
without glazing over stable-yards or transforming
whole paddocks into wired poultry homes.
The entries of poultry at the present show number
1,676, or one more than last year, and of pigeons
331, or 31 more than last year. As to their quality
we can only give general indications, seeing that the
poultry judges, Messrs. John Baily, R. Pulleine, G.
J. Andrews, J. H. Smith, and James Hindson, did
not end their laborious duties till late on Saturday
evening, and the press being rigidly excluded until
that time only a comparatively few minutes were
available in which to review and criticize a couple
of thousand cages of first-class birds. Admiral
Hornby is again the great winner, with magnificent
coloured Dorkings, with Lady Holmesdale and Mrs.
Arkwright following suit. Mr. Lane is great with
Spanish. Mr. Stretch, Mr. Nelson, and Captain
Heaton are winners with Cochins. Mr. Statter and
Mr. Pares take honours with Brahmas. Mr. Blink-
horn and Mrs. Hurt win with that singular and
valuable breed the Creve-Cceur. This fowl is well
known to frequenters of exhibitions by its crest of
feathers, with a duplicate horned comb in front, its
black plumage and dark blue legs, and is recom-
mended as a prolific laying breed, good also for the
table, the pullets said to outweigh the cockerels, and
attaining great dimensions at a wonderfully early
age. The hens do not sit. The Hamburgh classes
are very fine. In silver Polish the chief prizes are
carried off as usual by Mr. G. C. Adkins. The game
classes are wonderful for equality of excellence, Mr.
Scrimminger, Mr. Gamon, Mr. Billing, Sir H. G.
Gore, &c., being chief winners. In the class of "any
other distinct variety," the National Poultry Com-
pany wins with a pen of the La Fleche breed.
The La Fleche resembles the Spanish fowl, in
having jet black plumage, white faces, and lead
coloured legs; the comb is a peculiarly fantastic
ornament, two horns bending forward, with a third
horn on the beak, said to liken the bird to a rhino-
ceros. They are the largest of French breeds, the
weight attained by fat chickens being 8 to 10 lbs. ;
the skin is particularly white and transparent, and
the flesh of exquisite flavour. However, they can-
not boast of very early maturity, they lay an abun-
dance of eggs, but are bad sitters. The company also
shows some specimens of the celebrated Houdan
b or
reed, by which the French henwives make money ;
it is a full-bodied, short-legged fowl, five-clawed
like a D
white, theking, its plumage a spangled black and
face bearded and whiskered in droll style,
a topping ing
of speckled feathers bending backward,
curious comb before it of triple form ; the
two outer spikes opening like a book ; showing a
strawberry or nut-shaped splk. e between them ; a
aPer
thegrtabwlse and for egg-laying
above the beak. It
magnificentidseatachedspike, like
sortic for
too, fattened chickens weighing 71b. or 81b., but the
hens are poor hatchers.

The game bantams made wonderful classes, and
some most superb gold-laced Sebrights are shown.
The ducks are astonishing this year, Mrs. Seamons,
Aylesburys weighing 301 b. the three birds, that is,
31b. over the heaviest of last year—a result never
before attained.

Mr. Statter's Rover& weigh 261 b. Mrs. Seamons
wins the first prize for a white goose and gander
weighing 581 b., and Mr. F. K. Fowler takes first
prize for a white goose and gander of 1865 weighing
361 b. Mr. Fergusson Blair's grey goose and gander
weigh 561 b. ; Mr. Fo 521 b. ; Mr. F. Blair's
prize turkey cock and hen weigh 471 b. ; Mr. Wright's
two turkeys of 1865 weigh 401 b.
Mr. Harrison Weir and Mr. F. J. Cottle, the pigeon
judges, declare the show to be of unparalleled ex-
cellence in almost every class ; the heaviest pair of
runts weighs within an ounce of 51b., the greatest
weight yet known.
The show of dogs is larger and better than ever,
numbering about 1,000 specimens, now established
in the new Curzon-hall—.a very spacious and band-