THE KING FIRST.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XLV, Issue 6135, 7 February 1914, Page 4

THE KING FIRST.

" REST NOWHERE" THE SMITHFIELD SHOW, As,6«m as the judges had well startei.on their.laborious day.at the Smithfield Show at the Agriculural Hall, Islington, on December. 9 it became apparent . who was ,to be the most nil exhibitor. The King was first and the rest nowhere.. Probably never has there been so large an entry in, soiriauy departments front' the itoyal farms. Windsor, Sandringham, and' Balmoral were all represented, and the entries in all 'totalled 36. The King, who spent rather more tune at Islington than his engagements and his subsequent visit to Ohateworih strictly allowed, inspected all his entries, and, indeed, handled many ot .them..

, Perhaps tho King chiefly differed from most specialist exhibitors in the particular interest he took in the men who tended his stock. As he stroked the forehead of his beautiful shorthorn heifer he inquired of the'herdsman how many years he had served at Windsor; and if'ever a Scotsman rolled his "r's' it was that herdsman when he replied with obvious pride, "Nearly 30 years," Hut in those 30 years he had never seen Windsor so unrivalled.

Someone propounded tho theory that the soil of Windsor, which used to prtduce the best English oak trees, must have similar properties in stock production. Out of 12 entries, from Windsor three special cups were won in Devohs, Herefords and Shorthorns—of which tho first two are sometimes supposed to need west-country' air—and seven first prizes and'two seconds. The Sandriugham farm won a few firsts, principally in small classes for small cattle, kerrios and crossbreds of this breed. OLD-TYPE FAIUIER. The King was accompanied throughout the cattle section by Mr Saiuuel Ivulner, beyond question the molt characteristic old-type farmer in England. iiis sterotyped dress, his clean-cut, merry face —which nothing can discompose—framed in spacious whiskers, has been kmown to a generation or two ot farmers and frequenters of the various shows. Under his guidance the King agaiii and again laughed heartily and throughout nia extended tour of tb* show looked full of enjoyment. He had to leave before the championships were decided, and merrily urged his shepherd, who was holding his pel} of Southdowns, to use their best devices when it came to a contest with the pen of Hampshires which were known tobe dangerous rivals, as they proved. The immense zeal of the guardians of somo of the stock to show their animals to the best advantage before the juaug produced an almost embarrassing situation in the Gilbey Hall, which was devoted to machinery and pigs. As soon us tho King, accompanied by Sir Bowon Bowen-Jones, this year's president, uppeared in the hall almost an the urizo pigs were roused from their recumbent ease by vigorous slaps with ilat "bats" that aro the technical weapon. White pigs and black pigs and red pigs at once started such a chorus of protest, some upsetting their troughs and shaking the Hour from their "fleeces," tnat the spic and span Uilbey Hall might have been an Irish lair; and so it continued. GEOMETIUO CATTLE.

The King was highly amused at the scene and spent quite a loug time in inspecting tho various breeds. Ho expressed amused wonderment at the gigantic proportions of the champion crossbred, winch weighed the vast amount of seven hundredweight at less than nine months old. Tho question of color especially, interested him. He asked if the black patches were any disqualification and if the very vivid red of the Tamworths' hair was in any way "assisted," as the whiteness of the white pigs is assisted by flour. Before leaving the King inspoifod his own Buckinghamshire cup for roots displayed on the stand of Messrs Toogood, whose mangolds, swedes and potato seed had won it. A colossal potato weighing 411b was displayed in tho middle of tne stand.

The cliauipionship, which was decided > immediately after the King's departure, . was at any rate the quickest on record , in judging. Once again heifers were i much, too neat and well shaped in com- • pimspn with the steers, and the polled - or hornless cattle were too good tor the , horned breeds. One could scarcely im- • agine an animal more adjacent to the • ideal fat-stock shape than the winner; i ■ that is, more fat at the top, more! s round at the sides and more recti- • lineal below; and it was comely in spite of its geometric pattern. The same heifer, a purebred Aberdeen Angus shown by the Duke of Portland, won at Birmingham, though not, by some curious accident, at Norfolk, it won everything that it was possible for an animal to win. Its nearest rival was the Norfolk, champion, also a, polled heifer, a crossbred between shorthorn and Aberdeen' Angus, shown by Mr Raphael. The King's shorthorn heifer was apparently the nearest rival to these two, and some thought she deserved a higher place. That female animals not remarkable in weight should be champions in a show called a fat-stock show and designed for increasing the quality of Christmas meat, i s a curious result of fashion, but if the great improvement of stock in recent years is the result it is justified. MONSTER MANGOLDS. There is no such disregard of weight in the ponderous exhibits of mangolds and roots which oppress the galleries. Quite a few, would weigh down even Mr Hiecock'a Do/set pigs. Among them were many things new and interesting. The King's Sandringham farm had contributed swedes to Messrs Sutton's great exhibit, the most conspicuous stand in the hall. It was a good idea to show an appalling example of the black scab potato disease that'is fright-' euing north-west country growers close beside that excellent new disease-resist-ing potato Carisbrooke Castle. Tobacco and sugar beet from France were both exhibited as new English crops on this, stand. An interesting sugar-mangold was shown by Carters, along with the roots; and on Messrs Garten's stand were some very striking four and live foot plants of the new narrow-stemmed kale, which is on the way to become one of the most popular feeding crops, as it is the heaviest' yet discovered. Among the wheats Messrs barton's "Victor," Messrs Webb's Standard Red," which recently won a championship, and Mr Charles Marster and heavy yielding "Champion, a Swedish discovery, were shown in preat perfection.