Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-07-22
KING EDWARD AS A FARMER

King Edward has been an enthusiast
tic agriculturist for nearly half a cen
fury, says a writer in the London EX-
press. For many years his shorthorns,
shire horses, thoroughbreds, hackneys
and Southdown sheep have been second
to none in the kingdom. It might be
enormously supposed that the King
wins at the agricultural shows merely
because he is King. Farmers, who
ought to know, are quick to cOntrovert
the idea. The King never shows an
animal he has not bred himself, and
his cattle win purely on their merits,
because they are the best.
Since he came to the throne, affairs
Of state have prevented his majesty
from devoting as much time as he
would like to his farming and agricul-
tural interests. He is no longer able
to occupy his mornings, as he did when
Prince Of Wales, sitting in his pleasant
business room at Sandringham, recelv-
ing and instructing the bailiffs and
others concerned in the management Of
his two-thousand-acre farm. But in
spite Of his multifarious engagements,
the King still manages to continue and
supervise the breeding Of stock. His
stockkeepers are enthusiastic in his
service, and the result has been that
the King is even more successful at
the shows now than he was when he
was Prince Of Wales.
King Edward may well be proud Of
his remarkable record, particularly If
he recalls the condition OF the San
dringham farm lands, whence many Of
these triumphs have come, before he
put them into cultivation. A famous
agriculturist who inspected the land
before King Edward set about trans
forming it, reported: ut is a very bar
rem soil, barely capable of cultivation"
Could he revisit the land to-day, he
would indeed be amazed at the revolu-
ton which has made Sandringham
one of the finest stockraising farms In
the country.
The result Of his majesty's labors is
summarized by an unfmpeachable au
thority, Rider Haggard, who says:
"It is a wonderful farm, for imag-
inc that nowhere is so much high-bred
stock to be seen upon the same area.
At least, in all my extensive Journey
ings throughout the twenty-six coun-
ties in England of which 1 have exam
ined the agriculture, have not found
its equal"
If there is one department of his
farming in which King Edward takes
particular pleasure it is that of horse
breeding, and he was greatly delighted,
therefore, at the achievement Of his
shire stallion, Premvictor, in winning
the first prize in the International Live
Stock Exhibition at Chicago.
The success of the Kings shires has
been extraordinary. At one sale fifty
four of his horses realized an average
of two hundred and twenty-four pounds
each.
The Kings Southdowns and short
horns are as famous to-day as they
were in the heyday Of his active farm
ing when Prince Of Wales. Only a
few months ago one Of his shorthorn
bulls, pride Of Sunshine" fetched the
high price Of four hundred guineas.
Not that this is a record. One such
bull, destined for Argentina, brought
no less than a thousand guineas. The
Sandringham shOrthOrns are coveted
by breeders everywhere, and picked
bulls among them have often been sold
for fabulous sums
King Edwards example and patron
age have been Of incalculable benefit to
agriculture in England. He has al
ways been interested in the work Of the
Royal Agricultural Society, Of which
he has been president several times,