Country Life
BY IAN NIALL
ArrutsrEnNo cattle shows is something to which certain country folk—farmers, farm labourers and those who can make or borrow time by any expedient—become strongly addicted. To them it is of great importance to see how the animal that won the cup at the local show will fare in competition ten or twenty miles away. One show leads to another. The farming year is not what it used to be. The urgency of har- vest leaves no lull between sowing and reaping these days when there is grass drying, hay baling, silage making and a variety of crops. Not all the rural population makes hay at the same time even now, and not all have roots to thin or sheep to shear, and the show addicts find their excuses and make the time to dress in their best clothes, put flowers in their button- holes and go hurrying for buses with folded raincoats lying over their shoulders. To have been at the local show and not have followed it up with the one two parishes distant is to be out of things and admit a lack of know- ledge of the treads of judging and the quality of stock.
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