ENGRAVED BY E. HACKER, FROM A PAINTING BY E. CORBET.

With the cattle again scratched, while

"The Shorthorn o'er his fate must brood,

The weary Devon loathes his food,
The Whiteface tires of his stall,"

the horse will once more be the Hamlet of the Summer Shows, as, in fact, every preparation is being made for even a better display than usual in this way. So thoroughly established, indeed, have these meetings become, that we are inclined to renew a suggestion which we made a few years back as to the Government offering some official recognition of such occasions. If the breed of horses in times gone by could ever have been improved by the annual gift of a certain number of Royal Plates, we feel very confident that the same object might now be more directly encouraged by the grant of a few Royal Hundreds, to be competed for on the show-ground rather than the racecourse. Just the very sort of horse we want-the hunter, the charger, and the hack-would be developed more systematically by these means, as the uses of such an incentive might be gradually extended to the breeds of carriage and heavy draught-horses. The Emperor of the French-a wise man in his generation-has for a considerable period been pursuing something of this plan, and, as we all know, nothing is more marked than the advancement of late years in the fashion and character of the French horse. In this country, however, private enterprize supplies very much the place of Government patronage, and the Horse Show, strong as it has become, has been left pretty much to take care of itself. Still, as a speculation it pays, and at Islington and Birmingham these exhibitions will be continued mainly, if not entirely, as remunerative undertakings. The Directors of the Agricultural Hall have issued a very attractive prize-shect, opening with the highest prize ever yet offered for a hunter-viz., one hundred guineas, although as much has been given at the Royal Meetings, and, as the example at the little Cleveland Show, for a thorough-bred stallion. Although the entries do not close until Saturday, May 15th, we hear that this offer is already being responded to, and that amongst others Mr. Anstruther Thomson will have even a better horse than Rainbow up. We assume this gentleman must be " the very celebrated Master of Hounds" who has addressed a letter to Mr. Clayden, the Chairman of the Directors, on "the irregular proceedings" which took place on the interim Sunday of the last show, and expressing every confidence that "your resolution will prevent anything of the kind occurring again." The Board, indeed, has issued the following wholesome orders to its secretary, so that the Sunday dealing and trying, however proper in Paris, will not be again permitted in London: No visitor will be admitted to the Hall on Sunday, and no horse will be allowed to be removed from his stall on that day on any account, except in case of serious illness." Some of the other rules and regulations are amusing

enough, such as: "Servants are expected to be neatly dressed during the hours of exhibition, in hats; and in boots and breeches, if possible. They will not be allowed to come into the ring in caps or stable dresses." This is rather a funny way of putting; while we really do not see that a man who looks after a stallion, for instance, should be in boots and breeches, if possible. This proviso, if possible, reminds one of the old school of dandy, who gradually forced himself into his pantaloons across the banisters, and who, in ordering his breeches to fit tight, swore he would not have them if he could ever get them on! Another of the conditions is very open to objection: "No horse can take a First Prize in the same class in two following years." Why not? This is in mere imitation of the Royal Agricultural Society's similar rule; but there is little or no reason for such a clause. On the contrary, it might be serviceable to see how such a horse as Voyageur, for example, who was afterwards thoroughly beaten at York, could hold his own again at Islington. Then there is to be jumping over gates stuffed with gorse, if the Judges order it, or the exhibitors afterwards wish their horses to be so proved; and on the last day jumping matches and trotting races, 66 for horses which leap artificial fences in the best style," and for "the fastest trotter in single harness." A trotting match we take to be quite out of character with such exhibitions, or if not, surely a steeple-chase, after the manner of the Circus, might be provided, to be ridden by real jockeys, in boots and breeches, if possible.

At the Birmingham Show which follows in June, a companion show of fox-hounds is arranged for, although we can scarcely understand how the limited accommodation of Bingley Hall can be made to accomplish so much. However, it is promised that Stewards who do know something of such a business will be this year on duty, so that "the irregular proceedings," as the M. F. H. calls it, will not be suffered here either. The Bath and West of England meeting at Salisbury is unfortunately fixed for the same week, or rather the Birmingham authorities went into opposition with their eyes open; and the Royal Meeting at Bury St. Edmunds follows about the middle of July, with the only £100 we now have for a thorough-bred stallion. But the best horse-show of the year comes early in August, when the Yorkshire Society holds its meeting at Northallerton, where the Islington manager might very profitably add to his experience of the Paris, Dublin, and Birmingham horse shows. Only fancy the famous Mr. Tom Parrington, who has done more for the proper conduct of such exhibitions than any other man in the world, being quite left out of it! We would really suggest, if only in the way of a little mutual advantage, that the Yorkshire Council put Mr. John Clayden, the chairman of the Agricultural Hall, into office as a judge of cart-horses at Northallerton. But then it would seem from the following hints, which we take from a paper by Mr. Corbet in the new number of the Bath and West of England Journal, that the All-Yorkshire Society does not "jump" the hunters, whereas this is a great feature at Islington :

"So soon as twelve o'clock comes, so surely do the people gather round the horse-ring. The shorthorn breeders fairly forsake the prize bull, Captain Davy turns his back on the Devons, and Mr. Stearn, for the nonce, becomes oblivious of the white sow and her wonderful litter.

Even the implement makers desert their stands, for, as one of them confessed to me, 'It is of no use our stopping here while the horses are out!' Care, then, should be taken, in the first instance, to provide a good roomy ring, the larger the better, in which two or three classes, if found necessary, may be exhibited at the same time, but, above all, with the object of giving the spectators plenty of space to dispose themselves at the sides. As a rule, the rings, however equal to the business of judging, are too small for the afternoon parade, when the crowd has increased and comes to a focus hereabouts. In the next place, the horses should enter strictly according to their numbers on the catalogue, while these should be plainly discernible on each side of the animal's head. The parchment label soon curls up, and the best insignia of the sort I have seen are small metal plates, with the black figures painted on a white ground. These, of course, could be returned at the close of the meeting, and made use of year after year. I hold it, however, to be very essential that the horse should have his number on either side, as this plan must save a deal of trouble in the way of cross questions and crooked answers, for a man naturally gets sick of saying this is ' one hundred and twenty-five' a hundred times over, particularly if he has not taken a prize. The prize horses must be further distinguished by winning colours, and it would be very convenient if the societies of the kingdom would agree to some uniform recognition of what these rosettes should stand for. Let us say purple for first, crimson for second, and green for third. Any lighter hues, such as pale blue, white, or yellow, soon become discoloured, especially in wet weather, when they are not easily noticed. Some years since, I recommended the use of a telegram-board, something similar to that on race-courses, upon which the winning numbers should be placed as soon as a decision was arrived at, and this plan is now adopted at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society's meeting, and also in the Agricultural Hall. If, however, the colours be given out at the time, there is not so much call for the telegram, and indeed I suggested its use rather where the ribands were not handed over, as was then the case with one or two of our leading societies. Further, no horse should be suffered to leave his box out of his turn or his class; for if such a privilege be granted to one, others will be sure to claim it, and the whole business quickly come to confusion.

"Of perhaps the most popular feature of the horse show, that is the 'jumping' of the hunters, I hardly know how to speak. It may sound like affectation, but for my own part I would prefer to judge a hunter without seeing him jump in the ring, rather than after going through such a performance. As a matter of proof it really stands for little or nothing. Old seasoned hunters would be many above such a business as charging hurdles twenty times in succession, and for young horses the test is still more unfair, with thousands of people shouting and yelling in their faces, and none of the legitimate incentive of hounds running to carry them over their fences. One of our best judges recently paid me the compliment of asking me how they should act in a difficulty of this kind, 'We should give the chesnut horse the prize if he would only jump;' to which I answered, 'Give him the prize first, and see if he will jump afterwards '-as, with much persuasion he eventually did. Still there is no denying but that such a placard as that