The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-11-15

lsu hSrlculGurdl SocleIy. Lucy cnvcI
On level with other members, and by
no means always come out first.
&. Shortly after the formation of Her
Majesty S herd she presenteda splendid
j challenge cup for the first best animal
of the polled breeds exhibited at the
shows of the Cromar, Upper Deeside,
and Donside Agricultural Society.
Competitors arc limited to those bred
in the district embraced by the socie-
ty. The Queen is also the patroness
of the Polled Cattle Society. ~ ss
/ The herd at Abergeldie numbered
about sixty in the beginning of 1892.
| At Christmas nineteen fGt cattle were
sold. At the Highland Society g show
at Inverness the same year the Queen
WAS large exhibitor of polled Angus,
/ and the Ballindallock Challenge Cup,
for the best COW of the po1led classes
was won by tMiss Pretty, /" who has
been several years in the royal herd,
though NOT bred at Hbergeldie. Her.
Majesty also took prizes for Princess
Irene II and '.Prstty Peggy" both
home bred snimals. Z 81 =;
!. The morning I saw Miss Pretty at
1! the Abergeldie Mains, the grieve, Mr..
/ Cobb opened the door Of her cot that
she might exhibit her heauties more
fully in the open yard. She is large,
i glossy coated, compact animal, whose
| lines form almost a parallelogram sup-
! ported on four clean legs, and with 3
| handsome head from ont of which
/ looked q pair of full, gentle eyes no
sign Of bone or high hips, which is as
it. should be Ill breed devoted to
i beef. u, ~ 4 S5
4 Tile monarch of the herd fixed q
somewhat maievolent eye upon me as
III lifted my arm and no suddenly
caught sight of my plaid and knew me
for stranger. he had previously
been placidly chewing his cud. He
i does not like strangers Happily he
i was securely tied. Nevertheless I
4 willingly backed out of his royal pres
ence. asked how he would make his
attack, having no horns, and was as.
sured he could s'toss" quite as well
without them.
| Prince Arthur and another whose.
name I have forgotten are handsome, !:
low-standing, broad backed animals,s
weighing about 1900 pounds. These
had large, wild, expressive eyes. $Es.
A long line Of pedigreed cows stood
in one byre, one of them, Princess
irene IT,, the prize winner. There was
also "Pride Of Aberdeen" This isa'
very celebrated strain. 4!.sst
/ Yearlings in o pen came rup to in-t
vestigate the visitors glove with their
tongue. pretty, gentle creatures, en-
tirely black, as the highbred polled.
Angus must be.
The byres and various compart-
ments at the abergeldie Mains arelike.
those of the ordinary farm, with more
of the finish of the model arrsnge-
ments of the Prince Consort's Shaw
farm at Windsor. The farms consists
of about ITO acres. The house and;
byres are not far from Abergeldie cas-
tie. The grieve lives in farmhouse
near the kitchen gardens which supply
the daily vegetables for Balmoral Cas-:
tie. The Queen not infrequently loans
the house at the Mains to some friends
for the summer. Il
The dairy at Balmoral is not to be
compared with that of Windsor. Its,
an octagon Of plain granite, surmourt-
ed by e dome-like roof. Below the
dome is O row OF small stained-glass
windows that can be dropped. Beneath
are large windows that can also be
opened. Open gratings in the floor
admit the air from that direction. So,-
as we see, the dairy possesses the first
requisite for the manufacture OF good
butter, viz, pure air. M
The floor is of tiles. A wide marble
slab encircles the walls for the pans.
which are of plain white pottery. In
the center is stationary table of Pa:
terhead granite (mottled) on sn oak
stand.
Connected with the dairy are two
cottages, one of them devoted to the
dairy maids use. There IS o room
with a large get kettle in which the
milk pans are boiled, and here also are.
the presses for the skim milk cheeses
which are made in the winter for the
consumption of the cottagers. +
Crossing small court behind these
cottages we enter the byre where the
dairy COWS are feeding, munching con-,
tentedlv the oat straw which with tur-
nins comnrises their winter diet. There
are thirteen pure Ayrshires. A large,
high, comfortable byre, well-kept and
sweet. The name of each COW is over
her stall. The dairymaid assists in
the milking, she told me. So there
are lands where the dairymald still ex-
lists as in the old poetry.
And no dairymaid OF poesy ever
made more deicctable butter than she
who presides ut the royal dairy at
Balmoral; hard, sweet, and OF fine
grain. 1t is ,nolded into pots Of
various sizes, each with u crown IN the
centre.
Her Majesty appreciate" her cx-
cellent batter, and not intrequently
visits her dairy and cheers the heart
OF her dairymaid by expressing that
spnrecistion. She is "always nice,
gracious and kindly
The dairy is at the east OF tho castle
and is distinct from the home farm,
which is at the west. At the home
farm nre kept the poultry which
supply eggs for the royal table. Tho
cottsgers. too, find o market Mt the
castle for their fresh laid eggs, for
.h:ob +har ,ra 1,oii afInr the de-