EXHIBITIONS: THEIR CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 32, 18 February 1875, Page 3

EXHIBITIONS: THEIR CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE.

The following 1 was delivered as a lecture before the members of (Jroyden Farmers' Club on June 11th, 1874, by Mr Thomas Wilson Reid, manager of the ' Sportsman,' and formerly of the ' North British Agriculturist.' ,Mr Wilson is not mealy-mouthed, but', on the contrary, plainly outspoken j he has stated some plain truths in a plain straighforward manner, and his paper deserves to be read by every member of an agricultural society. It may seem to many gentlemen present to be presumptuous on my part to bring under the notice of practical men my views on a purely agricultural subject. Belonging, as I do, to the Press — having, in fact, be nurtured on newspapers — it may not unnaturally be inferred that anything 1 I have to say must be purely theoretical. To a considerable extent this is the case. Having, however, been long connected with an agricultural journal, in whose interests I for many years attended ; cattle and horse shows, 1 have, regarding such exhibitions, formed certain opinions and come to certain .conclusions which — even although they may be to some extent errenous— may be worth ventilating. These opinions have not been hurriedly formed ; and, however mistaken they may be, I trust that their discussion may bring about some little good. THE PRESS AND AGRICULTURAL SHOWS. It is to be regretted, I think, that the Press of this country does not devote more attention to agriculture and agricultural exhibitions. It is true that * The Times ' has for many years given good practical reports of the leading societies; and in "The Druid's " time the ' Daily News ' contained wholsome agricultural matter. But now, with the sing-le exception of ; the 'The Times,' the metropolitan dailies contain reports. that are, in. the main, simply ludicrous. One famous journal goes on telling us year after year that such and such a show is "the best that ever was held"— unfortunately one of the most oommon and erroneous expressions in the so-called reports of agricultural exhibitions. In is said, indeed, of a certain reporter, that in describing a handsome bull, he, taking it for a cow, stated in the paper that the animal " had a neat but not welldistended udder !" Thus, the state of by far the most important interests of the country is left to be dealt with in | the letters of certain persons who take the fast train from London to Inverness, j and who detail their ill-digested opinions are as frequently incorrect as correct ; and that, consequent!}', they are of no practical value to the country. Even metropolitan agricultural discussions— which often have no little influence on the social and political affairs of the nation — are disposed of in paragraphs not so long as average police report?. Were it not that at an odd time Mr Mechi sends a good-natured letter, to ' The Times/ agriculture might besaipl to be almost entirely ignored. . The ' Daily News * has "on its staff a gentleman who can : do good agricultural work, but he has to go to the ends of the earth as a "special," and. cannot, consequently, attend agricultural exhibitions: The agricultural journals, it is true, know their business well"enough, but. I anr sorely afraid they are riot patronised to anything like the extent , that theirmerits. and. .their ..importance", clesecve. This is jmucli to be j^gretted'. r J Even the ; most of farmers sho f u'to not h& above taking a v wrinkle'" -from a_brotKer agriculturist ) sfnd where can '"Be* so well get it as in the columns of: an-: a^Tibultur.at.JQurnal?,.. >.. . : -.- '•: "dodges" And judging. " int?iidmg'to 6bj<ect-to>sdmfiH&f' ~W I chief features of agricultural ve;^ :fifiSi|ions, far be it frogcins tojinderrattt. their important ignore in any agriiulture. 'ike Koyal Society of

.England,. jhe ;.; Highland... Society,,. of Scotland, th§ Bath and "VVest of England Society, and others -that I need .not name, here, have indeed been the pioneers of agricultural progress. . And consequently not a few well-meaning people say we can afford to let them have some, abuses in their, conduct. But when such become so gross, as to threaten to: sap the foundations of the shows themselves, it is time that our voicqs, should, be raised in protest.. It may be in the recollection of some of my hearers; that, at one show of the Ayrshire Agricultural Association,, a prize buU was, fojind to have false horns ; ; while at a subsequent meeting of the same association, George, the late Duke of A thole, bought a very handsome Ayrshire cow, which, on being taken home, was found to have got a guttapercha tail— a fact~ which gave rise to a very' clever parody, entitled (i The cow's tail to Geordie !" On the morning of the judging" day of the' Highland: Society's Show I was astonished to see three cattlemen busily engaged in pouring successive cans of water down the forcibly upraised, gullet" of an Ayrshire cow, but my astonishment was suddenly turned into indignation-when I was informed that the brutal operation was intended to give the poor beast's ribs a better spring. At Penicuick, on one occasion, it was found that an enterprising Scotchman had. most, successfully painted the noses of his blackfaced sheep, and the second prize would have been carried oif by him had not an intending, but curious purchaser got himself, while examining the sheep, made as black as the ace of spades.. At an International Exhibition, held atHamburgb. in 1863, I remember the judges did the judging with catalogues in their hands, one of the results being that Her Majesty the Queen got. a second prize for a mare with only three legs-;- 1 mean three good legs. Still more recently,, at.. Birmingham, JProfessor Gamgee disqualified (from the evidence of their teeth), as being of ! different ages, a litter of pigs' born on the same morning and of the same mother. While at the horse show of , 1869, a, confirmed "roarer "—namely, Whitby, a son of Barnton— took the first prize in the thoroughbred stallion class ; and this wonderful decision was given in the face of the fact that there were 11 other thoroughbred stallions competing, among them being such good horses as Dalesman, Broomielaw, and Student. Mr Taylor, the special commissioner of the ' Sportsman," drew attention to the verdict, and next day Whitby was disqualified and Dalesman 1 put in his place. i OVER-FEEDING. | I could go on accumulating instances of the rough-and-ready, not to say disgraceful, manner in which judges come to conclusions, and the dodges resorted to, by exhibitors to get prizes ; but they are somewhat out of my way. I now proceed to what more directly concerns my present subject. Of fat stock shows I have not time to say much. In an article, entitled " Fat- stock Shows," I contributed a few years ago to the 'Pall Mall Gazette/ I endeavored to. prove the tremendous expense and the utter uselessness of fat feeding ; but seeing that fat shows prove such a great source of attraction to. the public, 1 shall in the meantime leave them alone. But I contend that over-feeding i threatens to ruin our store-stock shows. There is no credit in putting on fat with oilcake. In fact, it is somethingless than creditable, for not unfrequently the beast is clothed with flesh for the piirpose of hiding its defects. And the hot house animal gets a prize, while his naturally fed and often much, more symmetrical fellow in the next stall gets not the slightest attention from the judges. It appears to me that there has sprung up a new vanity — the vanity of feeding fat. " Well, what about it?" says some easy-going agriculturist, "let those who choose have : their vanity." All very well ; but the practical agriculturist is prevented from competing, simply because he knows that artificial feeding does not pay. Besides, the test of a good breeding ! animal is best ascertained by giving it natural food. There is hardly a bad point in a beast that cannot be covered over with oilcake. To prove, however, that the natural style of feeding, when .combined with .skill, may be in the highest degree.. successful, , I shall instance the case of a farmer in the north who died the other day — not an old man, but one who by a judicious system of natural" feeding on his farm araass'sd 1 the sum of L30,0Q0. So~ strict/was j this farmer — and I can-give his name if it is necessary— that even hay went beyond his ideas of natural feeding 1 , ,and yet he almost invariably, sjipwed the best stock at Trinity Wxnv Market His ; i regimen was natural and turnips, ;.with a judicipus admix tjire of what -are next best for 'feeding sjiqc]c— f namely,', care, attention, and . cleanliness. ' 'A?* 4 nere I- would ask t "What good) does ' artificial : 'fat feeding do ;to. the world;? The' attifijGial..|eel&er x it_iOij^^^sj&L f pnze, and " gets his name jjp ;" but is ; the pountry benefited. ??; Not Jin any.. w^aj, while his poorer and certainly 'more h'6ne's£ ; neighbor is unfustly-liandi-only are the places of tne same ip'rize animals, when they 80&ft9ffib®pz ireqiiently reversed, but overlooked beast!' W a j&evioiis^ow^geij and! prize ones Sfil D SM r t W^o«h? s ,. there no way, I ask. of getting some standard, tf kwMiiM^W^f*

.thing that would,- at least, 1 keep fr ju;d^ng^^p^i ; becohii^ a Jby T wpls at agricultural ! 'exhibitions ?*" It' 'is " within .my, .repolleationT; ,'that , a prize r animal had aievel,lbroa"d,^well-i;overe& bacjc j -neat h^ad'and well shaped^orns 1 ; clean, but : \<well-d&velop'ed! neclc:van*d T , throat ; deep, fall brisk&tj round, xrodmy . •fore-ribs," and a broad, arching . r back r rib^ j full loin and flank & welf set-bn tail :' Well-fijrmed^'^idelsetile^sj^ -while the touch, the color, the hair, aria . the j fineness of the bone were<€lljcbn? J sidered in judging. Recently I have .seeij very different sorts of prize^beSstsr Coairse-boned, hand to the tbucivpatchy. and uneaven— in fat and flesh, pot--bellied'j'with'&\\ thefiner pbints burfedl in a plethora of artificial food — good big ,ungainly beasts that lackle'the eye of the-niob in the yard, l and make ah immense sensation among the masses, when nicely dressed and hung outside butchers' shops. But I contend this is not | what is wanted by the breeder, the feedez*, ox* the public. At all hazards, . however, let symmetry not give way to fat.'