OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Volume 23, Issue 2684, 23 August 1905, Page 7

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

<Feom Otru Special Correspondent.) BRADFORD Jrr 30. SHEEP AT THE ROYAL. It is weii known 10 sh-e-ou breeders <i, -on-.lv, tit. ibi -vvorkl that the English Royal show is by far Ihe leading exhibit •n oiw umtad Kingdom, and anything winning here can indeed he put down as champion stock. In ideal weather tho Royal show has taken place this week, in London, and when I say that royalty have been on the ground for two Jays the reader will see that it still maintains the position it has long held. As this letter is onlyinterested in shsep and wool I naturally pass over other classes of stock, and though merinos are pracrically unkrown to English -breeders, still our m vtton sheep is well known to breeders throughout tho ■world. With a total entry of 591 the aggregate is not enly greater, but the different breeds are more widely represented than last_ year, when some of the classes were conspicuous by iheir absence altogether. The lead is again taken by the Southdo-wns, numbering; altogether 104, and public interest has been stimulated in this section above all others by the fact lhat his Majesty was the leading exhibitor, and justified the renown of his flock by his success. Shropshires came next with 79, and Hampshire Downs with 58. Lineolns. too, with \b, asserted the importance of the' breed, and while some of the other classes were numerically weak it can be said with confidence that the stock all rGund was of first-rate quality. The rivalry which has long existed between Mr Tom Cassw-ell, tf Pointon, Folkingham, and Mr Henry Dudding, Riby Grove, Graat Grimsby, as leading breeders of Lincoins, has again been evident, and the latter had to give way before the judges's decision, and accept a second priz» for a two-she ir i am. Mr Oasswell's ram,' Pcinton Record, which obtained the first

Jroard and the champion medal, was champion at the Bath chow, and has been considered' one of the finest rams that has been brought out for 20 years, having size, character, and undeniable wool. The shearling rams are considered as good » lot ac nave ever been showni Afessrs Robert jmd William Wright come to the front here With a ram of grand quality, reserved for *he championship, Mr Dudding being placed second and Mr Oasswell third. The lame three exhibitors come to tho front with their pens of five from the same flock, Messrs Wright being first, Mr Caesvre\l second, and Mr Dudding third. The x»putatiou which Messrs S. E. Dean and Sons, Dowsby Hall, have as breeders of [ancoln ewe hoggete is once more sustained n this class, and again they are the reoi- ] pients of the first and second prizes offered j »y the Lincoln Long-wool Sheep Breeders' j {Association. I Border Leicesters have had their ups and Vk>wns at the Royal fehow. Last year they ,Were not represented at all, and a lover : !of the breed, in regretting the falling off, j can recall the time, only five- years ago, . When at York there were fully 100 entries. 3*o-"day* there -are 13 in the four... classes. It has been, as it has often been before, practically a contest for supremacy .between the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour and Mr Thomas . Winter; - of " Lothertbn ' Park, Aber- ; - ford^with the result that -the Prime Minister'^'flock at Whittingehame is proved the better of the two. It was; however, by a very narrow margin of points that Mr • Balfour's shearing ram got tho first tirize, • for the judges admitted that Mr Winter's was - a very improving sheep, notably strong in his quarters. In pens of three ram lambs Mr Balfour again leads the way; likewise in shearling gimmers (though it was observed that one of the pens was so sadly overfed that it could thirdly walk), aJso in pens of three «w« j Bambs. In like manner the competition in ifche four classes of Leicesters resolved itself j 'into a duel, between two breeders— Mr Gco. Harrison, of Gainford Hall, Darlington, »nd Mr E. F. Jordan, of Eastburn, Drif- j field. The shearling ram belonging to the- \ former gains th© chief award, as he did j fct the Bath and West of Eengland show, j !Tbe position was reversed when the judges j considered the respective, merits of th© ■ toens of three shearling ewes, Mr Jordan j toeing an easy first, while the awards show , %hat Mr Harrison is able to produce ibo ibest pens of ram and ewe lambs. There are 21 entries of Wensleydales, in Eve classes, as against seven last year. Seedless to bay, Lord llenry ißeirtinck, mJP., Kirkby Lonsdale, is a conspicuous ' prize-winner, and po also are the executors bf the late Thomas Wallis, of Manor House, Capp«rby. Each gained two first prizes. flChe shearling rams und pens of gimmers Jwe particularly -,good, being conspicuous lor the fine- quality of wool and form and toolour of head, which are characteristics lot- the breed. The representatives of the ■ IVVallis flock, which were entered in the 'Shearling ram- class, "are compensated for losing the._first prize to Lord Bentinck by winning both the .second and third prizes. fThey'win also the first in the class for tho ram lambs, and- that for shearling ewes; (while his lordship has to be content with Sthird place in. the latter competition, comSng again to the front, however, with his •(pen of ewe lambs. There are a couple of «ela.?ses of Cheviots, and! a like number of Sblack-faced mountain sheep. The Cheviots tof Mr John Robson and Mr Jacob Robson jmonopolise the prize list, the former exploiting the best ram and the latter the best pen of ewes, and the same may be kaid of the black-faced sheep of Mr John Jtobson and Mr- John Dargue, of Burnside flail, Kendal. Mr Dargue showing the best jtam and Mr Robson the best ewes. The pick of. the Sandringham flock left ftheir mark upon th© prize list of the dSouthdown section. In three out of the •«ix large olasses the King's name stands at the head of the list, and his Majesty is well placed in two others. Not only !did these honours fall upon the royal selecftitm but his Majesty's splendid shearling yam, which is first in its class, is also .Awarded the champion gold medal offered Iby the Southdown Sheep Society, while the silver medal is given to the pen of 'three shearling ewes which stand first in ftheir class. In two other classes the King fetands third in that for Iwo-shear rams the Duke of Northumberland taking first place, and Mr Jeremiah Colman, Gatton Park, Trecohd ; and that for the pen of three «ra tombs, where the first place is held to Mr Edwin Ellis, Summersbury Hall Guildford, md the second by Mr O. R. W Adeans, Cambridge. His Majesty failed to win honours with his pen of three 'am lambs ' being outclassed by Mr Edwin Ellis antMr O. B. W. Adeana.