RUS IN URBE

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1666, 3 February 1904, Page 20

RUS IN URBE

' Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON. December 18. was -once a pretty country Tillage, what time the bailiff'V daughter tlWelt there. To-day it is a grimy London suburb, with nothing in its exterior tn suggest the country save perhaps the cabbages in the masters’ barrows. Lu inside a spacious building in Islington there is to he seen each winter one Yruly rural feature —the cattle show, the Smithfield Club held its annual fow in the Royal Agricultural Hall JEis week. and cattle being quite a novelty in London the club -has had no difficulty in attracting large crowds day and night throughout the week. The * colonial farmer who chances to he in the metropolis naturally visits the Smithfield show, and equally naturally finds much to interest him there. But even so there is much that he misses greatlythe freedom of the open-air show and! its holiday aspect - the sunshine, ' the music, the gay dresses of the ladies, the sideshows, the riding and jumping contests, the meetings with old friends from far and near. These are elements of pleasure which the Smithfield show does not possess; but as it is a winter show, to institute comparisons ishairdly fair. But what Smithfield can and 'does pride itself {upon is the exceeding fatness and general excellence of its fat stock. Some of the prize-winners this week were magnificent specimens of scientific breed-•ing—-marvels of quality and weight. I ®ee by the papers that the Devon breed *of cattle “were charmingly represented.” It sounds like a garden-party, and j makes one forget that the dainty guests Weighed something like 17 or 18 cwt apiece! The'-Herefords made a better show than has been the case for several years, and Shorthorns were well up to the mark in number and quality alike. Sussex cattle, it is said, were never before better represented in quality, and the Scots breeds were Dip to the usual high standard. A picturesque feature of the show were the Highland cattle, great shaggy monsters, looking fierce enough with their heavy fringes and wide-spread horns. Youths of the ’Any type seemed to find delight- in prodding the ribs of the bovine aristocrats, and catching hold of them playfully by their huge horns. It .made one inclined to wonder what ’Arry’s attitude towardls the lordly hull would be supposing the two were left alone in a- ten-acre paddock ! Of sheep and lambs there were only 152, as against 286 entries_ in the cattle division. The heaviest weight this year for lambs was scwt 3qr 261 b for a pen of three Suffolk lambs, nine months and two weeks old, while four pens of crossbred Lambs averaged scwt Iqr 151 b per pen, and eleven pens of Hampshires scwt lqr 14£lb per pen. The heaviest sheepj as usual, were the Lincolns, some of which exceeded 3cwt a head!. One pen of three Lincolns, twenty-one months and three weeks old, weighed 9cwt Iqr 231 b. What the sheep division lacked in numbers it mafle up i n variety and quality of breeds. The King was a very extensive exhibitor, showing 21 cattle in the Devon, Hereford, Shorthorn, Highland and small cattle divisions; four pens of Southdown sheep, and two pens of two pigs and a single pig of the Middle White breed. Besides highly commended and commended tickets, the Royal winnings were five first, five second, and five third-class prizes, three breed! craps (for a Devon, a Hereford and a High land), and the reserve ticket for the silver cup, awarded for the best steer in the show; a fourth prize for Southdown lambs; and a second prize for one of the pens of two pigs.' His Majesty visited the show on the opening day, and made a careful round of inspection.