lb). These beasts, it will be observed, were all under two years
old. Amongst prize steers of two and a half to three years
old, on the same occasion, the three highest daily average
gains in live weight were 2.07 lb. for an Aberdeen-Angus,
1.99 lb. for a Shorthorn-Aberdeen cross-bred and 1.97 lb. for a
Sussex. In the sheep section of the Smithfield show the
classes for ewes were finally abolished in 1898, and the
classes restricted to wethers and wether lambs, whose function
is exclusively the production of meat. At the 1905 show,
sheep of each breed, and also cross-breds, competed as (1)
wether lambs under twelve months old, and (2) wether sheep
above twelve and under twenty-four months old. The only
exception was in the case of the slowly-maturing Cheviot and
mountain breeds, for which the second class was for wether
sheep of any age above twelve months. Of prize sheep at the
centenary show the largest average daily gain was 0.77 lb. per
head given by Oxford-Hampshire cross-bred wether lambs, aged
nine months two weeks. In the case of wether sheep, twelve
to twenty-four months old, the highest daily increase was
0.56 lb per head as yielded by Lincolns, aged twenty-one
months. Within the last quarter of the 19th century the
stock-feeding practices of the country were much modified
in accordance with these ideas of early maturity. The
three-year-old wethers and older oxen that used to be common
in the fat stock markets are now rarely seen, excepting
perhaps in the case of mountain breeds of sheep and Highland
cattle. It was in 1875 that the Smithfield Club first provided
the competitive classes for lambs, and in 1883 the champion
plate offered for the best pen of sheep of any age in the
show was for the first time won by lambs, a pen of Hampshire
Downs. The young classes for bullocks were established in
1880. The time-honoured notion that an animal must have
completed its growth before it could be profitably fattened is
no longer held, and the improved breeds which now exist rival
one another as regards the early period at which they may be
made ready for the butcher by appropriate feeding and management.
In 1895 the Smithfield Club instituted a carcase competition
in association with its annual show of fat stock, and it
has been continued each year since. The cattle and sheep
entered for this competition are shown alive on the first
day, at the close of which they are slaughtered and the
carcases hung up for exhibition, with details of live and dead
weights. The competition thus constitutes what is termed
a ``block test,'' and it is instructive in affording the
opportunity of seeing the quality of the carcases furnished by
the several animals, and in particular the relative proportion
and distribution of fat and lean meat. The live animals are
judged and subsequently the carcases, and, though the results
sometimes agree, more often they do not. Tables are constructed
showing the fasted live weight, the carcase weight, and the
weight of the various parts that are separated from and not
included with the carcase. An abundance of lean meat and a
moderate amount of fat well distributed constitutes a better
carcase, and a more economical one for the consumer, than a
carcase in which gross accumulations of fat are prominent.
To add to the educational value of the display, information
as to the methods of feeding would be desirable, as it would
then be possible to correlate the quality of the meat with the
mode of its manufacture. A point of high practical interest
is the ratio of carcase weight to fasted live weight, and
in the case of prize-winning carcases these ratios usually
fluctuate within very narrow limits. At the 1890 show, for
example, the highest proportion of the carcase weight to
live weight was 68% in the case of an Aberdeen-Angus steer
and of a Cheviot wether, whilst the lowest was 61%, afforded
alike by a Shorthorn-Sussex cross-bred heifer and a mountain
lamb. A familiar practical method of estimating carcase
weight from live weight is to reckon one Smithfield stone
(8 lb) of carcase for each imperial stone (14 lb) of live
weight. This gives carcase weight as equal to 57% of live
weight, a ratio much inferior to the best results obtained
at the carcase competition promoted by the Smithfield Club.
Breed societies.
A noteworthy feature of the closing decades of the 19th
century was the formation of voluntary associations of
stockbreeders, with the object of promoting the interests of
the respective breeds of live stock. As a typical example of
these organizations the Shire Horse Society may be mentioned.
It was incorporated in 1878 to improve and promote the breeding
of the Shire or old English race of cart-horses, and to effect
the distribution of sound and healthy sires throughout the
country. The society holds annual shows, publishes annually
the Shire Horse Stud Book and offers gold and silver medals
for competition amongst Shire horses at agricultural shows
in different parts of the country, The society has carried
on a work of high national importance, and has effected a
marked improvement in the character and quality of the Shire
horse. What has thus voluntarily been done in England
would in most other countries be left to the state, or would
not be attempted at all. It is hardly necessary to say
that the Shire Horse Society has never received a penny of
public money, nor has any other of the voluntary breeders'
societies. The Hackney Horse Society and the Hunters'
Improvement Society are conducted on much the same lines as
the Shire Horse Society, and, like it, they each hold a show
in London in the spring of the year and publish an annual
volume. Other horsebreeders' associations, all doing useful
work in the interests of their respective breeds, are the
Suffolk Horse Society, the Clydesdale Horse Society, the
Yorkshire Coach Horse Society, the Cleveland Bay Horse
Society, the Polo Pony Society, the Shetland Pony Stud Book
Society, the Welsh Pony and Cob Society and the New Forest Pony
Association. Thoroughbred race-horses are registered in the
General Stud Book. The Royal Commission on Horse Breeding,
which dates from 1887, is, as its name implies, not a voluntary
organization. Through the commission the money previously
spent upon Queen's Plates is offered in the form of ``King's
Premiums'' (to the number of twenty-eight in 1907) of L. 150 each
for thoroughbred stallions, on condition that each stallion
winning a premium shall serve not less than fifty half-bred
mares, if required. The winning stallions are distributed
in districts throughout Great Britain, and the use of these
selected sires has resulted in a decided improvement in the
quality of half-bred horses. The annual show of the Royal
Commission on Horse Breeding is held in London jointly. and
concurrently with that of the Hunters' Improvement Society.
Of organizations of cattle-breeders the English Jersey Cattle
Society, established in 1878, may be taken as a type. It
offers prizes in butter-test competitions and milking trials
at various agricultural shows, and publishes the English Herd
Book and Register of Pure-Bred Jersey Cattle. This volume
records the births in the herds of members of the society,
and gives the pedigrees of cows and bulls, besides furnishing
lists of prize-winners at the principal shows and butter-test
awards, and reports of sales by auction of Jersey cattle.
Other cattle societies, all well caring for the interest of
their respective breeds, are the Shorthorn Society of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Lincolnshire Red Shorthorn Association,
the Hereford Herd Book Society, the Devon Cattle Breeders'
Society, the South Devon Herd Book Society, the Sussex Herd
Book Society, the Long-horned Cattle Society, the Red Polled
Society, the English Guernsey Cattle Society, the English Kerry
and Dexter Cattle Society, the Welsh Black Cattle Society,
the Polled Cattle Society (for the Aberdeen-Angus breed), the
English Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Association, the Galloway Cattle
Society, the Ayrshire Cattle Herd Book Society, the Highland
Cattle Society of Scotland and the Dairy Shorthorn Association.
In the case of sheep the National Sheep Breeders' Association
looks after the interests of flockmasters in general, whilst
most of the pure breeds are represented also by separate
organizations. The Hampshire Down Sheep Breeders' Association
may be taken as a type of the latter, its principal object being
to encourage the breeding of Hampshire Down sheep at home and
abroad, and to maintain the purity of the breed. It publishes
an annual Flock Book, the first volume of which appeared in
1890. In this book are named the recognized and pure-bred
sires which have been used, and ewes which have been bred
from, whilst there are also registered the pedigrees of such
sheep as are proved to be eligible for entry. Prizes are
offered by the society at various agricultural shows where
Hampshire Down sheep are exhibited. Other sheep societies
include the Leicester Sheep Breeders' Association, the
Cotswold Sheep Society, the Lincoln Longwool Sheep Breeders'
Association, the Oxford Down Sheep Breeders' Association,
the Shropshire Sheep Breeders' Association and Flock Book
Society, the Southdown Sheep Society, the Suffolk Sheep
Society, the Border Leicester Sheep Breeders' Society, the
Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders' Association and Flock
Book Society, the Incorporated Wensleydale Blue-faced Sheep
Breeders' Association and Flock Book Society, the Kent Sheep
Breeders' Association, the Devon Longwool Sheep Breeders'
Society, the Dorset Horn Sheep Breeders' Association, the Cheviot
Sheep Society and the Roscommon Sheep Breeders' Association.
The interests of pig-breeders are the care of the
National Pig Breeders' Association, in addition to which
there exist the British Berkshire, the Large Black Pig,
and the Lincoln Curly-Coated White Pig Societies, and
the Incorporated Tamworth Pig Breeders' Association.
The addresses of the secretaries of the various
live-stock societies in the United Kingdom are
published annually in the Live Stock Journal Almanac.
The Maintenance of the Health of Live Stock.
It was not till the closing decade of the 19th century that
the stock-breeders of the United Kingdom found themselves in
a position to prosecute their industry free from the fear of
the introduction of contagious disease through the medium of
store animals imported from abroad for fattening on the native
pastures. By the Diseases of Animals Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict.
c. 15) it was provided that cattle, sheep and pigs imported
into the United Kingdom should be slaughtered at the place of
landing. The effect was to reduce to a minimum the risk
of the introduction of disease amongst the herds and flocks
of the country, and at the same time to confine the trade in
store stock exclusively to the breeders of Great Britain and
Ireland. This arrangement makes no difference to the food-supply
of the people, for dead meat continues to arrive at British
ports in ever-increasing quantity. Moreover, live animals are
admitted freely from certain countries, provided such animals are
slaughtered at the place of landing. At Deptford, for example,
large numbers of cattle and sheep which thus arrive--mainly
from Argentina, Canada and the United States--are at once
slaughtered, and so furnish a steady supply of fresh-killed
beef and mutton. The animals which are shipped in this way
are necessarily of the best quality, because the freight
