THE ROYAL SHOW
sm,—As I indicated in my previous letter, I believe Mr. Walston's suggestion to the effect that most of the machinery exhibits at the Royal Show could have been seen at smaller, e.g., one- or two-day shows, is -not justified. His subsequent letter does nothing to weaken this belief. It may be, as he now asserts, that not all the exhibits at York were actually in production and available for sale to the English farmer ; but surely that is to be expected and what is desired at the country's premier show ? The tremendous interest in the entries for the R.A.S.E.'s Silver Medal for new implements reflected the fact that many farmers go to the Royal as much to see prototypes and first models as they do to discuss their experience with old models. This surely is further proof, if such were needed, of the essential difference between the Royal and the (I entirely agree, wholly admirable) smaller shows.
As to Mr. Walston's other criticism—that many bf the livestock classes were not representative of the best of their breed—if I did not deal with it specifically before it was not because I accepted it. He now purports to give as "further evidence" that in practically every Press report of the Royal mention was made of the disappointing quality of many of the livestock classes. What are the facts ? A careful analysis of objective reports written for the Society by the judges themselves reveals that
twenty-three comment favourably on their sections, that is, refer to the animals as, e.g., "excellent" or "of extremely high standard " ; only seven reports are unfavourable, e.g. "not up to pre-war standard" or "moderate." My personal impression of Press reports is not the same as that of your correspondent ; but that is of little moment since I agree with him that certain of the breeds were not up to the standard expected at the Royal. Surely, however, that is not unusual ?
May I say in reply to Mr. Heckstall-Smith's comment on the absence of poultry that this was entriely due to the Ministry of Agriculture's control of poultry-exhibiting following the recent widespread outbreaks of fowl pest. We made all arrangements for a big and up-to-date show of poultry, but to our great disappointment were prevented from staging
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