The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-07-23 00:00:00

21—Jos. Wolf, for the best yearling heifer, ten sovereigns
25—Mr. Hayward, for the best bull-calf ten sovereigns.
CLASS V.-HORSES FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES.
DIVISION I.
- _ _

26—Mr. Crisp, for the best cart stallion of four years old
and upwards, thirty sovereigns.
27—Earl of Talbot, for the second best ditto, ditto, twenty
sovereigns.

28—Sir. Crisp, for the best three years old ditto, twenty
sovereigns.

29—Earl Derby, for the best two years old ditto, foaled
since the Ist of January, 1839, fifteen sovereigns.
30—Ditto, for the best cart mare and foal, twenty sove-
reigns.
PRIZES FOR IMPROVING THE BREED OF SHEEP.

1841. ---
CLASS VI.-LEICESTERS

33—Earl Talbot, for the best shearling ram, thirty sove-
reigns.
34—Jos. Penny, Bedfordshire, for the second-best ditto,
fifteen sovereigns.

35—Earl Talbot, for the best ram of any other age, thirty
sovereigns.

36—Samuel Penny, Bedfordshire, for the second-best
ditto, fifteen sovereigns.
37—T. Inskip, for the best pen of five ewes suckling their
lambs at the time of showing, ten sovereigns.
.38—T. Inskip, for the best pen of five shearing ewes, ten
sovereigns.
CLASS VII-SOUTH DOWNS, OR OTHER SHORT-WOOLED

SHEEP.
39-J. Webb, for the best shearling ram. thirty sovereigns.
40—J. Webb, for the second-best ditto, fifteen sovereigns.
41—Mr. Grantham, for the second-best ditto, fifteen
sovereigns.

42—Mr. Webb, for the best pen of five shearling ewes, ten
sovereigns.
CLASS VIII.—LONG-WOOLED SHEEP-NOT QUALIFIED TO

COMPETE IN CLASS VI

43—Mr. Large, for the best shearling ram, thirty sove-
reigns.
44—J. Ewer, for the second-best ditto, fifteen sovereigns.
45—Edward Smith, Oxfordshire, for the best ram of any
other age, thirty sovereigns.
46—Mr. Webb, for the second-best ditto, fifteen sove-
reigns. _ _

47—Mr. Large, for the best peu of five ewes suckling their
lambs at the time of showing, ten sovereigns.
48—Mr. Smith, for the best pen of five shearling ewes,
ten sovereigns.

CLASS IX

,-PIGS

49—Mr. Humpers, for the best boar, ten sovereigns.
50—Mr. Barnard, Essex, for the second-best ditto, five
sovereigns.

51—J. Day, Flint, for the best breeding sow, five sove-

reigns

52—Mr. Higginson, York, for the best pen of three breed-
ing sow pigs of the same litter, above four and under nine
months old, ten sovereigns.
The CHAIRMAN then rose and said—Lord Spencer and
Gentlemen, I have now the honour of proposing to you the
health of a gentleman who has distinguished himself as a
competitoi for stock this day. Though not one of the best
judges of stock myself, I know enough about it to be aware
how much has been done by the Royal Agricultural Society
of England for the general benefit of the country. (Cheers.)
I know, as I dare say all of you do, that there are certain
proofs of the excellence of stock, and I know that very great
improvements have been made, through the efforts of this
society and those of the Smithfield Club, in the breed of our
stock. lam unable to state what are all the recent improve-
ments which have been made ; but when we look at the state
of stock two or three hundred years ago, it is impossible for
any man, however ignorant, not to see that much has been
dome. As I have already stated, I am not able to enter into
the merits of all the improvements that have been made
under the encouragement of this society ; but, as I was
accidentally reading, the other day, some portion of an old
History of England, published about 200 years ago, I could
not but be struck with the very different state of our stock
to what stock was then described to be, and with the differ-
ence of opinion which existed then on the subject and at the
present time. Gentlemen, I am not going to detain you
to-night by reading over to you the History of England—
(laughter)—but there are one or two curious facts in an old
history, written in the time of Queen Elizabeth, which are
worth referring to by way of contrast with facts now well
known respecting the breed of stock, and to those I will
draw your attention. The author says, that in those days
" England was well known for surmounting other countries
in the breed of cattle, as may be proved with ease, for where
are oxen commonly more large of bone ?" (Laughter.) He
then proceeds—" In most places our graziers are now grown
to be so cunning, that if they do but see an ox or bullock,
and come to the feeling of him, they will give a guess at his
weight, and how many score or stone of flesh and tallow he
beareth—how the butcher may live by the sale, and what lie
may have for the skin and tallow—(laughter)—which is a point
of skill not commonly practised heretofore. Some such
graziers also are reported to ride with velvet coats and chains
of gold about them." (Laughter.) Gentlemen, I think we
have made considerable progress in the weight of cattle, and
in judging of their weight, since old Hollinshead's days ;
but here follows a point in which I doubt if we have made
much progress. He says—" And in their absence (the ab-
sence of the husbands) their wives will not let to supply
those turns with no less skill than their husbands." (Great
laughter.) Gentlemen, hear the remainder of the sentence—
.4 which is an hard work for the poor butcher, sith he,
through this means, can seldom be rich or wealthy by his
trade." (Renewed laughter.) Gentlemen, he proceeds to
state, that our own breed of cattle have long had the advan-
tage of others, and he says—" Their horns also are known
to be more fair and large in England than in any other places,
except those which are to be seen among the Peones, which
quantity, although it be given to our breed generally by
nature, yet it is now and then helped also by art." So that
-we see in those days science was called in to the assistance of
agriculture. (Laughter.) I don't, however, think much of
their science, because they say, when beasts "be very
young," breeders will " oftentimes anoint their budding
horns or tender tips with honey, which mollifieth the natural
hardness of that substance, and thereby maketh them to
grow unto a notable greatness." (Laughter.) " Certes, it
is not strange in England to see oxen whose horns have the
length• of a yard or three feet between the tips." (Renewed
laughter.) Gentlemen, it is not often we see them now. Our
first improvement in cattle was in the long-horned breed,
and I believe they are now little seen. There was one long-
horned beast at the last Smithfield show which was much
looked at. There are few, I presume, to whom we are more
deeply indebted for improving the roast beef of old England
than the subject of this toast. Gentlemen, I beg to propose
to you the health of the successful competitor in class 1,
Mr. Bates, of Kirkleaton, Yorkshire. (Applause.)
Mr. BATES rose, and said he begged to return his most
sincere thanks, on behalf of himself and the successful candi-
dates, for the honour they had done them. He congratulated
the assembly on the glorious prospects which were held out
as the results of that association to the whole world : for he
felt convinced that by the improvement of agriculture they
affected the interests of the entire people of the earth. (Hear,
and cheers.) They had arrived at that glorious era when the
welfare of every man was dear to his fellow-creature ; and he
hoped the society would do its utmost to encourage that feel-
ing. (Hear, hear.) It was by that alone England had risen
so high in the estimation of the world. It was by that alone
she could rise still higher ; and he also congratulated them on
the efforts now making by their society to secure that end.
He only wished those offorts would be increased a thousand-
fold. (Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN said when he would mention the name of
one of the first breeders of short-horned cattle in this coun-
try, he was sure they would recognise in it the name of one
to whom they all owed much. Indeed, it was impossible to
pass over the name of a noble lord whom he saw near him,
who had done so much for the breed of cattle ; and he had
no doubt, knowing how much that personage had done for
agriculture and for the breed of stock, they would be anxious
to do him honour. He would, therefore, propose the health
of Earl Talbot. (Loud cheers.)
Earl TALBOT rose amid loud cheers, and said the encou •
ragement they had been kind enough to extend to him he was
sure he could not sufficiently acknowledge, or find words to
express his gratitude. With regard to the stock he had the
wood fortune to possess he had little to say except what had
been already said by his noble friend (Earl Spencer) at the
bottom of the table. The only plan he (Earl Talbot) had
acted upon had been to select the best male he could and give
his cattle the best food he could. (Hear, hear.) In the pre-
sence of those who had much more practical knowledge on
the subject than himself, it would ill become him to say much
on the object which had called them together ; but he would
just observe that it would be seen from what he had already
seated, that he held that the improvement of stock implied a
necessity for the cultivation of land, for if that was not at-
tended to, it would be impossible stock could be brought to
perfection. (Hear; hear.) He was happy to see so many
gentlemen of all classes there that night. It had
always been
his wish to see the intimate connection which his worship
the mayor so happily expressed yesterday, " The unity of
trade and agriculture "—(hear, hear)—because he (Earl Tal-
bot) had always felt that without this unity—the unity of