Welsh Gazette and West Wales Advertiser

t BREEDING OF SHORTHORNS. BY MR. MORGAN RICHARDSON. The annual general meeting of the Agricultural Association of the University College of Aberyst- wyth, was held on Friday last. At the morning meeting Professor Edward Edwards, M.A., vice- president of the College, presided, when Mr. C. j Morgan Richardson, Cardigan, delivered an address ? on The breeding of shorthorn cattle." There were also present Principal T. F Roberts, Professors Lewis, Alan Murray and Williams, Mr J. L, Pickard, Mr. Edward Davies, Dolcaradog Mr. T. F. Roberts, Rev. W. L. Footman, and a full at- tendance of students. The Chairman said he would not say how pleased he was to see so many of the old students coming back for the re-union. It was perfectly certain that this was one of the most pleasing features in the history of the short course for farmers (hear, bear). Mr. Morgan Richardson, who was received with eheers, said—In the first place I have to express my appreciation of the compliment which has been paid to me by the Committee of this University in inviting me to deliver a lecture on the subject of 44 Breeding shorthorn cattle." I am afraid that it would be difficult for me to deal with the subject so as to make it of general interest, and at the same time to give information to those who require it. I do not suppose that I have any exceptional knowledge upon this subject, but there is this argument for my addressing you that assuming you are young tenant farmers about to start herds of your own, I have recently gone through the difficul- ties which you will have to encounter, and you may be able to profit by my experience. I have had the same difficulties to contend with in the damp climate, a soil that is not exceptionally adapted to cattle breeding, and I have been at the disadvant- age cf distance from the best shows and markets. 11 It is not too much to claim for the shorthorn that it is the premier breed of the world (hear, hear). It is used by the breeders of every country for im- proving their stock. Every year we are sending from this country shorthorn cattle to France, Sweden, Germany, Russia, to the Cape, Australia, Canada, the United States, and hundreds upon hundreds are sent to the Republics of South America. It has been found adapted for every soil, and every climate. It has a literature of its own; and I may say that one side of my small library is devoted to books upon this one subject only. It is in every sense of the word a cosmopolitan breed. The book which I have in my hand is one written by the Hon. Louis Allen, an American Senator and in the United States they have a shorthorn herd book of their own. In France they have another shorthorn herd book; and the late Emperor Napoleon III. was so impressed with the im- portance of the breed that he established at great ex- pensea Fpecial bed for the Government of France. It has been cultivated by great men. and great states- men, and it is a pretty trait, as I think, in the character of Lord Althorp, the distinguished Chancellor of the Exchequer in the first Reform Ministry, that when he was most engaged with public business, and so busy that even Cabinet Ministers were denied access to his room, there was one visitor always welcome, and he was the steward of his farm at Wiseton with his weekly account of the shorthorn herd. At the present moment people so dissimilar in their tastes as Mr. Balfour, Lord Rosebery, and Lord Rothschild, are distinguished breeders. You all know that his Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales has a herd at Sandringham and last, but not least, there is the herd of Her Majesty the Queen, who has some of the finest animals in the world (applause). Nor does Her Gracious Majesty cultivate the shorthorn merely as the appanage of a large establishment, but she takes a special interest in it, and every year she employs a specialist to make a report upon all her shorthorn animals, and upon reading through the report afterwards she makes her own comments upon it (hear, hear). It is hardly necessary for me to go far into the history of the shorthorn. You may know that at one time it was known as the Durham breed, because it is indigenous to the County of Durham, and it was the first breed in the Valley of the Tees. The earliest connection we have is that with the County of Durham, and we find the first shorthorn recorded in an old monkish legend. St. Cuthbert, as some of you may know, was the patron Saint of Durham, and he died in the year 678, and appears to have rested happily in the place in which he was buried for about 200 years afterwards. But in those days there were no gold mines, and the bones of a Saint were a most valuable asset. When the country became disturbed by the incursions of the Danes, the prints found it nace-ssary to remove poor St. Cuthbert from his resting place, to another one more secure. He was tossed about from place to place for about 113 years, and somewhere about the year .1000, there was an attempt to bring him back to the neighbourhood of Durham. The Saint did not like the place they chose for him, and the monkish legend said that they could not remove him from the grouud until they learned by direction of Heaven that they were to take him to a place called Dunholme. The difficulty was to find this place, but leaving the Saint on the ground they travelled on until they found two milk-maids, and one was heard to say to the other! We shall find the cow in Dunholme. They followed the milk- maids, and decided that this should be the resting place of the Saint. The Saint moved on readily, was left there, and they built a church of twigs and boughs over his remains. Some years afterwards, in the year 1093, the Normans, those great archi- tects of churches and cathedrals, built the present magnificent fane of Durham over the site and in commemoration of the services which the milk- maids had rendered they carved the statute of a cow with two milkmaids by her side in one of the niches of the cathedral. The extraordinary part of it is that the cow bears a striking resemblance to the Shorthorn of the pre- sent day, and the breed traces a direct lineage in the County of Durham, for a period of at least 900 years. Now I do hot vouch for the tiuth of this story (laughter), although I have seen it in a book, but if any of you are sceptical, the milk- maids and cow are to be seen there now if you onlv take a journey there to satisfy yourselves, and I understand are precisely as they were carved 900 years ago, although at the end of last century it had become necessary to renovate the figures. I said although I have seen it in a book," because I recollect a very old friend of mine, a simple-minded person, whose argument was It must be true, because I read it in a newspaper" (laughter). In justice to my old friend, I must add that he lived before the days ot the Western Mail (renewed laughter). I shall pass over the next period of 900 years, and continue at the time of the brothers Charles and Robert Colling, whose names are so closely associated with the Shorthorn breed. They were two farmers, living on the farms of Kettoij and Barnton, in the valley of the Tees. To them is given most of the credit of the present improved shorthorn, but it is uot to be supposed for a moment that they created the Shorthorn. As I have already told you, the Shorthorn was in existence 900 years ago, and there were many breeders who lived before, and contemporaneously with the Collings, who had cattle as good as they had. Nor were the Collings original in their methods. A still greater man, of whom you must have heard, Robert Bake- well, had discovered the secret that improvement of race could only be attained by selection, and fixity of type by close breeding. Robert Bakewell had adopted these principles in improving the Leicester sheep and the Longhorn cattle, but in the Longhorn cattle he had not the same material which was at the disposal of the CollingB. He improved those cattle to the highest point of which they were capable, but they were as a breed inferior to the shorthorn, and are now hardly known except as ornamental cattle in the parks of noblemen and gentlemen. The Collings with the material at their disposal adopted these principles, and the result is the finest breed in the world. It would be idle to discuss how and where this material was obtained. Books have been written to prove the pedigrees of the bull called Hub- back." and the origin of the famous Stanwick cow, but the speculation is about as profitable as that of deciding who wrote the letters of Junius, or on which side of Whitehall King Charles I. was be- headed. Sufficient for us that the Collings, by adopting Bakewell's principles, manufactured an improved shorthorn. And it was the clever astute- ness of this caeny i'orkshireman, Charles Colling, which has made the breed famous, for without his persistant advertising of his results, it is possible that the breed would not be so widely known to-day. Some of you may have heard of his celebrated Durham ox, which he sold for the sum of Z140 for exhibition purposes. This ox was resold for £250, and carted round England for the public to see at 6d. a time, and at one time the large sum of iE2,000 was refused for him. He must have been a wonder- ful beast, because when slaughtered in his 11th year, although he had wasted somewhat as the result of an accident, he realised the almost fabulous ciead weight of 2,600 pounds. The broth jr, Robert Colling, advertised in the same way another animal from his herd, and this was known as the famous white heifer that travelled." There are many pedigrees at the present day which trace back to the sister or brother of the white heifer that travelled. But: whatever we may t bink of these I Yorkshirenien ns individuals, there is no doubt that thev have rv^'oraplisoed much for English farmers, and if a man is a. public benefactor who grows two blades of o-rsss where cue grew before, much mare is he who has improved the breed of cattle-and advent i. 1 too. if you must say so,—and so secured for his -'u;-try 1 h market of the world (hear, hear). Now. as I said before, I assume that I am addressing tenant farmer. men who are about to breed shorthorns for themselves, and il is quite possible that, some such argument as ehis is run- ning tlir the naiads of many of you It ij aU very well for this man to come here, and teach us how to breed shorthorns. Possibly he has himself more money than brains, and has every advantage on his own farm for breeding them. The cattle would not be hardy enough for us, as farmers. Now, my best answer to this is that I farm myself on land which is more than usually exposed to wind and rain. "Mv land is exposed to the full force of the Atlantic gales, and it is almost impossible for me to grow trees upon it. I think you would sav if you saw the farm that if cattle will thrive upon it they ought to thrive upon any land in this countrv. In my opinion the pedigree shorthorn, if selected from sound parents, is quite as hardy as any non-pedigree animal; and in reply to the argu- ment that it is the amateurs' breed, I would remind you that the most successful breeders of the short- horn at the present time are the tenant farmers of Scotland (hear, hear.) I believe it is true that Mr Duthie and Mr Marrr who are quite at the head of the shorthorn breeding world, are tenant farmers, and I am quite sure that many Aberdeenshire men, who are getting now prices of 100, 200, and 300 guineas, for the bulls they breed, are men who pay rents for the farms they occupy. I am going next week to the Bingley Hall sale, and I shall see between 500 and 600 pedigree shorthorn cattle, the great majority of which belong to tenant farmers, many of them from the county of Gloucester. In Cumberland and Westmoreland, where the con- ditions of farming are very similar to our own, z, with the same wet climate, the tenant farmeis are breeding pedigree cattle. I can recollect my own surprise when I went over the farm cc Mr. Handley, a successful breeder in Westmoreland. I had got my first bull from Mr. Handley, and I have bought several bulls since from him. I had noticed that year after year he cleared the prizes at the Royal and other shows, and one year he did the record feat of winning first in all the bull classes. When I was staying at the Lakes I took the opportunity to visit Mr. Handley's herd. I expected to find a substantial country house, with elaborate farm buildings and an ample provision of boxes. Much to my surprise then, when I arrived at his farm, I found a small white-washed farmhouse in the centre of a farmyard, and most ordinary farm buildings, in which were stalled, and almost crowded, the animals that were sweeping the English showyards. Nor have Welsh tenant farmers been wholly unsuccessful as breeders (applause). I can see an enormous improvement in the cattle kept by the Welsh tenant farmers, particularly in the county of Carmarthen, and in answer to the argument that they are unable to bring cattle into show condition I may tell you one story about a Carmarthen farmer. I saw him buy at Bingley Hall a young bull for 23 or 25 guineas. He put the animal into good condition, and I think he won over E40 in prizes last season (hear, hear). I know, too, that I was commissioned by an Argentine friend to offer him 80 guineas for the bull for exportation (applause). I have known tenant farmers in many cases buying bull calves, and turning them out in a condition at all events equal to that of my own. It is only a question of time, thought, and attention, and who can do better foran animal than the man to whom he belongs (hear, hear). As I said before, I see a great improvement in ten- ant farmers' cattle. I consider that the animals in the tenant farmers' classes last year at Carmarthen were better than some of those that won prizes at the Carmarthen shows five or seven years ago. I am hoping that that improvement will continue, and now that the Shorthorn Society has taken the United Counties Society under its wing, and given its valuable prizes there instead of in Glamorgan- shire, and at the Herefordshire and Worcestershire shows, the farmers will take advantage of the prize given to them, and bring their cattle out in better condition than ever (applause). For my own part I see no reason why the Welsh tenant farmer should not compete for some part of the trade of supply- ing bulls to the world (hear, hear). Now, one of the objections which farmers will have to starting a herd is the difficulty in finding money to buy pedigree animals. It may mean a large outlay, and it may mean a risky outlay. There is an alterna- tive scheme that occurs to me, and that is the adoption of the practice of grading-up, which is the one adopted in North and South America. It would not be necessary to get rid of the cows in their herd if they are already of a useful character, but merely to purchase a first-rate shorthorn sire, and repeat the process three or four times. The result would be in the fourth or fifth generation that the farmer would have a herd of a useful character, almost indistinguishable from short- horns. But he should buy the best shire possible, not minding so much any question of colour, and if a man is not fastidious as to colour, who would take a white calf, or a plain coloured one, he could suit himself with a good animal at very reasonable terms. It has always puzzled me to know why farmers should not co-operate more than they do in the purchase of sires. Two farmers living close together would be much wiser if, instead of two indifferent bulls worth £ 15 a-piece, they bought one bull for B30 and used him jointly, the result would be far better, and the keep of one bull would be entirely saved (hear, hear). I have often been struck when driving through Carmarthenshire to see two farms on opposite sides of the road, each farm too small to possess a bull of its own, yet keep- ing some useless brutes for that purpose. There is a prejudice against what is called a second cross, and this may be one reason why the grading up process is not more generally adopted. Now it is not my experience that the second cross is a failure. What really is a failure is the attempt to breed first crosses together, and this may be the reason why the second cross is so unpopular. My own experience is that the second cross is frequently superior to the first, and that the third and fourth improve in the same proportion, but it is absolutely essential that in the case of every cross the sire should be of pure and registered blood. And it may be that an inbred sire, that is to say a closely bred sire, would be the most useful for that purpose. An Argentine friend who stayed with me last summer, and who possessed a very large farm in 'Argentina-I may say that he had 16,000 head of horned cattle on one farm, with a thousand breed- ing mares-told me that the Argentinas peferred for their purpose an inbred, because this closely bred bull would in a few generations from their common Spanish animals produce animals equal to tho registered Shorthorn. For this reason the Argen- tinas would buy a bull from the closely bred herd of Warlaby, in preference to a better looking one from the ordinarily bred cattle of this countryj And while you are adopting this grading up process you would have the advantage of knowing that you are not only improving your females, but the males you would rear as steers would be more valuable. They would probably be worth £1 or P,2 a head more than those you are rearing at the present time. I can tell you an instance of this. Some time ago I had a plain coloured bull calf in my herd which was not worth my while taking to Birmingham, because the colour was almost un- saleable. A tenant farmer in my neighbourhood asked for a bull calf, and I put a price upon it. He came and protested that the price was too high, and went away. But he returned again and bought 1 it, protesting still that the bull was to* dear. Three years afterwards the same farmer returned to me and asked for another bull, telling me that I might name my own price. He told me that the first bull had been the best investment he had ever made, that he had got R2 a head more for his yearlings, and that in the dry year of 1893, when all cattle were unsaleable, he had been able to pass all that he took to the fair (hear, hear). There is yet another alternative, and that is, instead of grading up the whole herd, to buy one or two pedigree animals and build up a herd from that material. This has been done by many great breeders, and I can recollect in particular a herd of a Mr Trethewy, in Cornwall, which were all descended from a grand cow called Ruth.' The herd was well-known all over the world, and when it was dispersed a number of the best animals were bought for Her Majesty's herd at Windsor Castle. But whatever method you adopt take my advice and register your cattle. If you are only grading up you must keep a register, and enter your calving, and show the breeding of every animal you have. It would be impossible otherwise to breed upon any prin- ciple, as there is no head in the world that could carry in it all the relationships in a large herd of cattle. It is by reason of the carelessness of farmers and others in this respect that some of the most valuable families of shorthorns have been lost altogether. It is important from an investment point of view, as rhore can be no doubt that animals which are properly registered are worth more than those which are not. You are aware that it requires four crosses of registered blood to enable you to enter a female in 'the shorthorn herd book, and five crosses in the case of a male, and without thus registering crosses you cannot enter one of your calves in the herd book. nor can you exhibit at the principal shorthorn shows. But I will assume that some of you will neither intend to grade up, nor to adopt the plan of build- ing up from one or two pedigree females, and that you intend to purcaase a peaigree herd. in that case I do not think I can do anything better than quote to you from an article which I have written recently on the subject, and which appeared in the i Live Stock Journal Almanac" for the present year There are some hints in that which are derived from my own experience, and it is possible that by impressing them upon you. you may avoid some mistakes which were made by me:— The chief difficulty is that of securing suitable females. The fortunate man is he who inherits a herd, or he who can afford to buy from an able and experienced n?:ghi,our one ready made, for there is a great, deal in the question of acclimatisation, and it is a much slower process to build up gradually a herd which not only suits your own individual taste but is also inured to your soil and climate. I call such a man who inherits or bnys such a herd fortunate, but I think the breeder who has, after years of patient work, built up a herd from materials which he has himself selected is, vv ii n his work has been done, more to be envied and more to be admired. The question is how this material is to be got? The usual plan, and almost the only plan, is to attend shorthorn sales. To buy privately from the best herds is an expensive business. If you are a rich Australian, or fresh from the Rand, nothing can be more delightful. You can walk round the farm of some famous breeder, pick our the best yearlings, and the best two-year-olds, return to lunch, harden your heart, write cut a cheque, and hey-presto the thing is done. The herd is then to hand, all of a type, all acclimatised, and you have the feeling that, given only a bull equal to that the famous t reeder is using, you can at once turn out stock equal to his twr. But it is not given to us all to be Colonel North's or Barney Barnatos, and the ordinary process is, as I have already said, that of attending sales, and picking up here and there animals of the type we mean to cultivate. The herd is generally a herd of a mixed character, with more or less of Booth, Bates, or Cruckshank blood, and some may possibly be Lincoln reds, or dairy shorthorns from Gloucestershire and Cumberland. Some aie bought from dry counties like Norfolk or Essex some from the jmoister climates of Lancashire or Westmoreland." To breed successfully under these conditions you require for mating purposes to have as many bulls as there are females, and the breeder must wait for at least four generations,born in his own herd, before he can attain anything like certainty in results. There are a few rules the wisdom of which I have myself learned by experience- sometimes painful experience. In the first place, be certain of the type to which you intend to breed. So much time is wasted in changing and chopping from one kind to another. Attend a few shows and sales to decide what style of animals you rrost. admire, and buy accordingly or if you -are absolutely ignorant on the subject, be guided by a friend on whose judgment you can rely. Buy locally for climate's sake, if you can, and at dispersal rather than at draught sales, j There are always plenty of clearance sales in every year, and you may rely upon it that sensible breeders rarely play the part of philanthropists in jetting rid of their best cattle when they are offer- ing selections," Sometimes a few good ones are included, but it is dangerous to look for these unless you are a safe judge, or unless you have special means of information. The best looking ones in these selections are generally bad getters, or doubtful breeders. Study your catalogue well before you attend the sale, and with the aid of that and the herd book, write in the margin of each entry the number of calvings of every cow, and the sex of the progeny; you will in this way satisfy yourself whether she is a regular breeder or not, and if she has not brought a calf in every twelve months for her last owner, she is not likely to do better for you. Note what her calves have done in the show ring. Look carefully at each in the sale, for the best looking cow is often the best parent. Never buy a very thin cow. There may be a reason for the leanness in a deep milking cow three months or so after calving, but more often than not the leanness is a sign of tuberculosis. Never buy a very fat one; the extra flesh for which you will have to pay in such a case an extra price, is of no use to you. It is generally the result of the corn and cake which is used so generally before every sale, and it must come off again at once if you buy, and mean to keep her as a breeding animal. Be- ware of the neatly tilled heifer or calf, level and round, true as a garden roller, and for the very same reason. Well brought out she may be, and she may pay you if you wish to keep her for show pur- poses, but there is a great element of risk if you want her for a breeding cow, and her compara- tively ragged four-year-old sister, looking perhaps at her worst because she is reduced in flesh after calving and suckling, will be a far safer purchase. One is an unknown quantity, for there is always a danger of the young ones going to pieces, and in the case of the high conditioned heifer, there is more than a possibility that she may never breed, and more than a possibility that she may prove an indifferent milker. The other has all her faults and virtues ascertained, and the buyer has the ad- vantage of knowing not only that she will breed, but that she can breed. Besides, the competition is generally for the young ores, and the cow will pro- bably be bought less than half the price of the heifer. Have nothing to do with a cow that has broken service two or three times before the sale. You may depend upon it that she is what is called upset" for a few months or more, and you will be fortunate indeed if after buying her she does not infect others in the herd with the same complaint. As to old cows there is more than one opinion. If they are healthy and breeding there is the argu- ment in their favour, when they are offered from the herd of a competent breeder, that they must have been good, or he would not have kept them so lorg, and there is always the advantage in the old cow that she can be bought cheap. A prudent buyer can rarely go wrong by purchasing a regularly breeding cow six months gone in calf, even though she may be as much as nine or ten years old." Some of you may ask whether I advise you to breed Bates or Booth cattle. I do not ask you to do either. I think a tenant farmer had better not trouble his mind about breeding from any particular line, or family. I think he should buy good, straight, square cattle, with good milking vessels, and cross them with a first-rate bull. The craze for line breeding has really been a curse to the English shorthorn. As you are aware, there were two rival houses of Bates and Booth, and the followers of these two houses quarrelled one with another like the blue and green factions of Con- stantinople. The Bates cattle were the more popular of the two, and especially in America. The result was that animals became valuable on account of their pedigree on paper, and without any regard to constitution or symmetry. In this way, instead of the fittest surviving, the worst sur- vived, and the breed deteriorated. While English farmers and American farmers were making this mistake, the canny Scotch farmers, many of them tenant farmers, were buying the best cattle in the English show-yards and crossing Bates blood and Booth blood indiscriminately, and so fixing a new type altogether. That genius of a breeder, Cruick- shank, evolved from these miscellaneous elements a new family of shorthorns, and the English farmer who had ruined his herds by paper pedigrees and line breeding, has been obliged to seek salvation by sending from beyond the Tweed for draughts of this Cruickshank blood, and it is this Cruick- shank blood which is now sought by breeders, not only in England, Wales, and Ireland, but in North and South America. I have already advised you to adopt a first-rate sire. It is a well-known fact that a good sire is half the herd, and it is no economy to pay a small price for one. I think we-most of us— make the mistake of destroying our bulls when they are too young. There is a prejudice in Wales, I know, against keeping a bull after he is 3 or 4 years of age, but to my mind the best calves are those given by a bull after he has arrived at maturity. I have kept them to 7, 8, and 10 years of age. I had one bull, "Reformer," which I kept until he was 12, and his last calf was one of the best I got from him. In Yorkshire they keep them until they are 14 and 16 years of age, and I have read of a bull being kept until he was 21 years of age. Buying an old bull you can buy him at a much more moderate price, and it is possible, too, to get even a Royal Show winner at a low figure if you are content to take him at 5 or 6 years of age. Perhaps I should say a few words about tuberculosis. You understand what it is, and I believe you have had classes here upon the subject. You know that it is very similar in its character to consumption in the human being, and it is a curious thing now that the same open-air treatment is being recom- mend for both diseases. There can be no doubt that it is due in a great measure to close breeding of those animals which were only valuable on account of their paper pedigrees. Whether it is hereditary, or not, I am not prepared to say, but I should think it hereditary in the female line, especially as we know that certain females are more prone to it than others. You are aware that this question is of great importance to farmers at the present time, because animals cannot be im- ported into France or Argentina, unless they have passed the test. I think this test has already been explained to you by one of your professors. It is merely the injection under the skin of a substance known as tuberculin, the effect of which is to raise the normal temperature from about 102 degrees to something varying between 104 to 108 degrees in the tuberculous animal. The animal that is not tuberculous is supposed not to "re-act," as it is called, at all, but the knowledge of the test so far is in its infancy, and the test can hardly be considered -infallible seeing that the most tuberculous cattle will not re- act at all under treatment. Milking is a question which you must consider as of great importance, especially as the animal that does not milk well very rarely breeds well. There can be no reason why a pedigree cow should not milk as well as a non pedigree cow, and I think if any of you are married, you will find your wives have something to sav on the matter if your cows are not good enougn to rear tneir own caives. AS i nave aireaay said, there is no reason why they should not do so, and at the present time the best cow I have is the one that has the best shape, the best lineage, and is the best parent of stock in my herd. On the subject of showing I have very little to say. If you are guing to breed bulls for sale, you must show, as it is impossible to bring your name before the public unless you do so. Unfortunately it is a very expensive matter, and there is a good deal to be learned in the art of getting up animals for show, but a knowledge of this will soon come to you. If you are unsuccessful at one or two shews you will probably know why you do not succeed. To find a market for your animals is an important point. If you have a first rate one, the best place to sell him is at the Bath and West of England Show, or the Royal Show; but for the ordinary farmer who has good yearling bulls for sale, there is no better place to take them than to Bingley Hall. You have the attraction there of very good prizes, vary- ing from Z20 to £40, and there are six prizes in each class. There is, moreover, one champion prize J of £50, which I have been fortunate enough to win I on one occasion, and nearly winning it on two others (applause) and if your bull takes this prize you are certain of securing a handsome price for t him. Whether you can breed to make it pay depends very much upon yourself. There can be no doubt about it that there is nothing worth doing which is not worth doing welli,and that the best animals are always saleable. Inferior animals are (litricitit to sell, but there is always plenty of room at the top. The argument for employing z-t competent herdsman does not apply to the tenant farmer who will be his own herdsman. As I have said, he would soon master the tricks of the showyard, and a blank ticket in the prize ring will often prove a good investment (hear, hear.) The building up of a herd is a slow process. It is a long climb up. It is not done in a day. But for the encouragement of young breeders I would say that what looks difficult now will be only a simple matter when you are able to look back upon it. When I first began to breed, I bought a bull for 30 guineas. 1 thought that I should be quite satisfied if I could only sell a bud at such a price. I can remember now when I took two young bulls for the first time to Bingley Hall hoping to get 20 or 25 gnineasor them. I felt as if it were almost presumption to take bulls from a remote corner of Wales for English breeders. It was like carrying coals to Newcastle. And I was afraid that nobody would buy my bulls. I was de- lighted when I got rid of them for 25 or 26 guineas a-piece (applause). My next wish was to secure a price of 40 or 50 guineas. That soon came to me, and I then wished to get as much as 80 guineas (hear. hear.) That came to me, and I wondered whether I should ever sell a bull for as much as 100 guineas. I felt then I should be quite satisfied to give up shorthorn breeding if I could attain that point. That came to me soon afterwards. I sold two bulls one after another at over 100 guineas and last year I sold a pair for 300 guineas, and might have had 200 guineas for another young bull of my own breeding (cheers). As I have said I mention this only by way of encouragement to other breeders. I should be very much interested to help any of you in any way I can, and to give you what advice I am able to give by letter, or other- wise. If any of you are in my neighbourhood and would like to see my herd you would always find a hearty welcome, and if I am not there myself my bailiff will show you the animals (applause). I have to thank you for your kind attention, and the uppreciation you have shown during my remarks, and I conclude by saying that I shall be quite satisfied if I have by this lecture awakened a spark of enthusiasm in some one of you for the subject of shorthorn breeding. I think you will find that it will add a new interest to your life, and if the bobby is prudently and carefully followed, I think it should prove a most remunerative one (loud cheers). After the address, questions were invited from the audience, and many availed themselves of the invitation. Mr It Roberts, clerk of the Peace for :the county, asked if the lecturer recommended bulls from the north of the Tweed as suitable for the county. And secondly, what could be tell them about the rearing of shorthorn calves. Mr Richardson said that it was not absolutely essential in the case of tenant farmers but only in the case of farmers whose stock was already allied to certain breeds. As to the rearing of calves, he thought nothing beat the use of fresh milk. He fed his bulls on ficsh milk for twelve months before going to the skows (laughter). Yes, but it paid them if they got 150 guineas for the bull (cheers.) The Rev W. L. Footman, who took a great inter- est in the subject, said that the high prices obtained for shorthorn calves bad almost induced a big breeder of black cattle in that town to go in for shorthorns only (hear, hear). A student asked ir Mr Richardson recommended high feeding for rf tg shorthorns. Mr Richardson I should not. If you began high feedinr verv soon have no calves at all (hear, h found that straw was very good for ca Mr Edwa: ''caradog, paid a tribute to Mr Richard; ure. Principal proposing a vote of thanks to th, r" did so not only on behalf of th< .e Short Course and the Agricultt but also on behalf of the College in' -emed to him that this meeting and her meetings he had attended in < this Association showed one tb;, that agriculture was a subject whic eply interesting to those who had vjear, hear). He did not think there igs in connection with which the; ven the same condi- tions, to get t< e number of young men, showing; has had been got together that c "i with this subject. And he t1,0P" -if 1hp triost hopeful elements in connection with the future of agri- culture that it was so deeply an interesting pursuit. It was quite true that long, depressed conditions had a depressing effect upotf men and feelings, but in the case of agriculture surely the interesting nature of the work itself would be-unless those depressing conditions were too long and too strongly-a very valuable antidote to them. Speak- ing of the part taken by the College in general in connection with this movement, he felt it a privilege to them to be able to take a part in furthering the interests of agriculture in these counties (applause). And he felt it to have been a privilege in taking part in bringing together such an audience as Mr. Richardson had bad that day (hear, hear). It consisted of a very fair proportion at any rate of the best future farmers of these counties. They came not only from South but North Wales, and he was one of those who believed profoundly in the new light and new methods that could be secured for the benefit of Wales through a co-operation between these counties, and he thought the history of this Associa- tion so far had gone to prove that (hear, hear). So far as he could see as a general observer, the young farmers who came there were certainly hopeful as to the future of their calling in Wales. In the second place he thought they were determined to proceed with their work as far as they could with the fullest assistance from knowledge, from modern science and modern methods. And in the third place they seemed to him to be bent on facing their work in future in a spirit of co-operation rather than in the isolation of the past (cheers). He had the greatest pleasure in moving that their most hearty thanks be given to Mr Richard- son for what even he could understand to be a most valuable treatment of the subject (ap- plause). Mr. Richardson, however, was not only an expert on questions relating to agriculture, but as a Welshman—and they were proitd of him as a Welshman (applause)—he took a wide interest in all matters relating to education (hear, hear). He knew him as a very strong supporter of the county intermediate school at Cardigan, and also as a generous sympathiser with the work of this University College (cheers), and he felt certain that the broader the point of view in regard to questions of science and know- ledge of which agriculture was composed, the better it was for agriculture. And perhaps the chief problem they had before them in connection with agriculture was the uplifting of the general standard and knowledge, especially in regard to natural sciences, of the younger generation (cheers). Professor Murray, in seconding the vote of thanks, said he might take this opportunity of springing a surprise upon Mr. Richardson. At the business meeting of the Association, held the previous night, they for the first time decided to elect honorary members, and they elected very distinguished men, viz.: Mr. J. W. Fordyce, lecturer in agriculture, Aberdeen; Professor Middleton, and Mr. Morgan Richardson (applause). Professor Murray also was of the opinion that the shorthorn breed was the best all round cattle, although that opinion was not absolutely universal. He bad been told that recently Lampeter bad started a Bull Club, and had decided to go in for shorthorns, and some of the members had gone to'Birmingham that day to buy four bulls. Prof. Williams also supported the proposition, which was carried with acclamation. In acknowledging the vote, Mr Richardson said he did not hold a brief for shorthorn cattle, but if they bred black cattle, they should breed the best. He appreciated very much the honour of being elected a honorary member of the College Agricultural Society.