The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-11 00:00:00

SMITHFIELD CLUB CATTLE AND

IMPLEMENT SHOW.

Our model English citizen, the rapid, systematic,
independent man of commerce, is amused with that
strong impress of the venerable and antique mark-
ing
the character and usages of the veritable John
Bull. The farmer, outwitted by the rest of the
community, pays income-tax on his rental, because
it is supposed that he keeps no accounts ; and his
barley crop is taxed up to half its value. He spends
hard-earned money in artificial fertilisers, while his
manure is dribbling to waste out of an ill-built
farmery. His landlord may eat him up with four-
footed game, and is all the more revered in conse-
quence, and the modern villein, subservient to his
thane, will contentedly hold his fields on the security
of social and political behaviour instead of on lease
or the pledge of good management. The labourer
will earn less wages than a Lancashire " spinster,"
and yet be grateful for a prize from his masters.
The landowner will make an estate hollow with
drain-pipes, while the outfall stream is left to
damage by inundation. Nevertheless, in spite of
such inconsistency and contrarieties, both proprie-
tors and tenantry, and farm servants, too, contri-
bute their share of achievements for our national
pride to glory over; their progress in the world's
foremost husbandry being illustrated, as the seasons
come round, by the mechanism, produce, and goodly
apeeimens from field and shed at the farmers' gala-
day shows. And the prize beeves and sheep and
porkers are not admired alone by technical and
professional eyes. Agriculture being really Royal
now, Her Most Gracious Majesty, with the Princess
Alice, accompanied his Royal Highness to the
Smithfield Club private view yesterday; while on
Saturday her Imperial Majesty the Empress of the
French graced the exhibition with her presence,
and charmed the polite honorary director by two
hours of her lively inspection and appreciation of
the meritorious animals.

Baker-street Show this year may be said to main-
tain its high character without displaying any
marked general progress, some classes excelling,
while others fall short of last year's attainments.
The Devon cattle form a very large and good show,
of course very far superior to the appearance they
made at Birmingham. His Royal Highness is here
fairly beaten, though his steer is a very good one.
Mr. Heath, a champion of olden renown, carries
both the first prizes for steers and oxen ; his ox,
bred by himself, being of remarkably splendid
quality, though somewhat small in frame. The
Earl of Leicester and Mr. Farquharson excel in
these classes, and as examples of improved form of
hind-quarters in the breed we may instance the
animals of Mr. Dunning and Mr. Bond. Mr.
Mogridge's first prize Devon heifer is compact and
beautiful; those of Mr. Farquharson, Mr. Farthing,
and his Royal Highness beautifully fine and well
fed ; and there is a very good class of Devon cows,
The Herefords aro better in quality than at Bir-
mingham, though a smaller show than usual. There
is only a single steer; the oxen class, however, being
large. Mr. Tower's ox, which was first at Birming-
ham, is here only highly commended; Mr. Garne's
justly takes the second prize; and the first prize is
won by Mr. Lloyd's fine ox, exceedingly well fed,
even in every part, with a rare forequarter and
prime rump and loin, the prize thus going to a beast
fattened in the home county of Surrey, a circum-
stance that has not occurred for many years before.
His Royal Highness has a good ox in this class.
The gold medals went last year to a Hereford ox
and a short-horn heifer; this time they are won by
a short-horn ox and a Hereford cow. Mr. Hill's
Hereford cow, thus honoured, was only second at
Birmingham; while Mr. Pitt's, which here obtains
only a third place, was there made winner of the
first prize, being here placed below Mr. Tudge's
cow, which at Birmingham was merely highly
commended. So do different judges vary in their
opinion of what constitutes perfection in form and
handling. Without turning the animals loose from
their stalls it is impossible to view them fairly
at all points ; but there is no apparent ground
for quarrelling with the present decision. Mr.
Hill's is indeed a splendid animal, very hand-
some, though too narrow in the hind-quarters,
and inferior to some in the girth. Mr. Tudge's
second prize cow is most beautiful meat, and Mr.
Pitt's, while fine, very broad, and of large frame,
has flesh too unevenly laid on.

The large classes of Shorthorn steers and oxen
comprise many great and good animals, several that
are only prime buteher's meat, and a select few that
are really above the average order. The Duke of
Beaufort's steer, the best male animal in the Bir-
mingham show, is a grand beast, level and beauti-
fully fed; Mr. Hulbert's is meritorious, Mr. Lang-
ston's a good beast, and Mr. Richard Stratton's
white steer specially commendable. The oxen class
far eclipses that at the Midland Counties exhibition.
Mr. Robert W. Baker's gold medal ox is rare of his
kind—chins and ribs wonderfully sprung out,
depth of frame extraordinary, and a most splendid
quality of flesh, evenly and beautifully laid on ; in
girth he exceeds Mr. Wortley's noble ox of a few
years back, measuring 9 feet 4 inches, but his breast
it not so full, wide, and grand, nor is his look so
handsome as that of animals which have been pro-
duced on former occasions. The Earl of Gains-
borough's second prize ox is of surprisingly beauti-
ful quality, but inferior in weight to its successful
rival. Mr. Joseph Stratton's third prize ox was
first at Birmingham, and this fact sufficiently indi-
cates the superior excellence of the present show.
In the small class of Shorthorn heifers, Mr.
Heneage and Mr. Richard Stratton show two beau-
ties. Col. Pennant's cow, first at Birmingham, is
also first here ; and the Earl of Radnor's cow and
Earl Howe's are very good indeed. But these two
classes are common-place compared with the extra-
ordinary and even wonderful developments which
we are accustomed to find in this always attractive
division of the show. Where is the style and gran-
deur which we admired in Col. Townley's Victoria
three years ago, or the superlative beauty of his
charming heifer, the milk-white Beauty's Butterfly
of last year.

The Sussex cattle are much improved, and come
up in strong force. Are they not becoming a sort
of big Devon in symmetry, though generally
'without the fine bone and handsome head of that
Pretty breed ?

Of the useful Norfolk and Suffolk polled cattle
there is, as usual, a thin show. Of the gaunt Long-
horns it is unnecessary to speak.
'mete are some good Scotch cattle, especially the
Duke
Iteaufort's shaggy West Highland, his
pretty, pert, cream-coloured heifer, and Mr.
IM'Combies exceedingly fine, great, and handsome
ox.
The immense appetite of London is fed every
year by about 270,000 oxen, besides 30,000 calves,
1,500,000 sheep, and 30,000 swine. Of the dozen
different breeds and sort,
of beasts, fully one-third
are shorthorns, one-sixth are of cross breeds ; next
in number come the foreign supplies then the Here-
fords, then Irish breeds, then Irish crosses, then
the Devons,
while polled Scots, Ili
ghlraenin daeirns:
Welsh runts, and longhorns make
up,
last 20 years the pr the •
der. During the proportion of
shorthorns has increased, while that of Herefords,
Devons, longhorns, Welsh, and polled beasts has
declined, and the increase of cross breeds is -very
considerable, mainly consisting of crosses between
Scots and shorthorns, sometimes between Scots and
Herefords ; the chief addition to our supply teing
the Irish crosses between the native breeds of Erin
and the all-prevailing all-improving shorthorns.
Of course the statistics of the great metropolitan
market only are not a fair index of the relative
extent and importance of the several breeds and
varieties throughout all Britain. Our populous
northern cities have also their tale to tell, but it
may bo pretty correctly assumed that, while the
shorthorn is the most widely spread and increasing
all the pure breeds, one half of the beasts disposed
of in our vrrious markets are other than pure
breeds, and shorthorn blood appears in most of
them ; and the practice of breeding crosses has
grown rapidly, because the animals so produced
evince properties of specially early maturity, and
the attainment of a high degree of fatness and
great weight, which graziers find to savour of much
profit. Hence in a fat st9ck show the cross breeds
should appear in a prominent and distinguished
place; while at competitions of breeding cattle too