The Dairy Show is an annual British

agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which selective breeding, bree ...

, organised by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers. It was founded in 1876 and was first held at the Agricultural Hall in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, London; it was later held at Olympia, London, and then moved to the National Agricultural Exhibition Centre at

Stoneleigh Park Stoneleigh Park, known between 1963 and 2013 as the National Agricultural Centre, is a business park located south-west of the village of Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, England. It is home to the Stoneleigh conference and exhibition centre. Histor ...

, in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

. It is now held as part of the annual Livestock Event at the

National Exhibition Centre The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is an exhibition centre located in Marston Green, England, near to Birmingham and Solihull. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham Airport and Birmingham International rail ...

, in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in the

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

. The show was originally known as the Metropolitan Dairy Show. Goats, pigs and poultry were included in the show from its earliest years. The introduction of milking trials and tests of

butterfat Butterfat or milkfat is the fatty portion of milk. Milk and cream are often sold according to the amount of butterfat they contain. Composition Butterfat is mainly composed of triglycerides. Each triglyceride contains three fatty acids. Butt ...

and

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

content of milk at the show in 1879 was both a response to, and a contributory factor in, the progressive trend towards

selection Selection may refer to: Science * Selection (biology), also called natural selection, selection in evolution ** Sex selection, in genetics ** Mate selection, in mating ** Sexual selection in humans, in human sexuality ** Human mating strat ...

of stock for productive traits rather than purely for

physical appearance Human physical appearance is the outward phenotype or look of human beings. There are functionally infinite variations in human phenotypes, though society reduces the variability to distinct categories. The physical appearance of humans, in parti ...

The first Dairy Show

The first Dairy Show was held from 24 – 27 October 1876. Some 150 milch cows were shown; there were prizes of 100

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

each for the best

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

cow and for the best other-breed cow, which went to a

Shorthorn The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late eighteenth century. The breed was developed as dual-purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however, certain blood lines within the breed always em ...

. The total prize-money for cattle was 500 guineas, about half the total for the show. Butter and cheeses were exhibited, and there were demonstrations of cheese-making and butter-churning. One exhibitor entered more than 1000

Stilton cheese Stilton is an English cheese, produced in two varieties: blue, which has ''Penicillium roqueforti'' added to generate a characteristic smell and taste, and white, which does not. Both have been granted the status of a protected designation of o ...

s in the show. Dairy equipment and machinery was exhibited and judged. Other livestock, including goats and poultry, was also shown. There were about 500 entries in the poultry section, which included chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys.

Hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

, grains and

roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

were also exhibited. The attendance at the exhibition was much greater than had been anticipated by the organisers. Special trains were laid on by the major railway companies, including the Great Northern, the Great Western, the London and South-Western, the London and North-Western and the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

. The British Dairy Farmers' Association was formed at a meeting during the exhibition, at the instigation of J. Prince Sheldon. File:Harrison Weir, The Dairy Show at the Agriculture Hall, Prize Cows; The Illustrated London News, 1876.jpg,

Harrison Weir Harrison William Weir (5 May 18243 January 1906), known as "The Father of the animal fancy, Cat Fancy", was a British artist. He organised the first cat show in England, at the The Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace, London, in July 1871. He and ...

, ''The Dairy Show at the Agriculture Hall: Prize Cows''; ''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

'', 1876 File:Cheese and Butter Making and Prize Cheeses at the Dairy Show; The Illustrated London News, 1876.jpg, ''Cheese and Butter Making and Prize Cheeses at the Dairy Show''; ''The Illustrated London News'', 1876 File:Sketches at the Dairy Show, London; The Illustrated London News, 1881.jpg, ''Sketches at the Dairy Show''; ''The Illustrated London News'', 1881 File:Cattle at the Dairy Show, Islington; The Graphic, 1887.jpg, ''Cattle at the Dairy Show, Islington''; ''The Graphic'', 1887

References

1876 establishments in the United Kingdom Agricultural shows in England Dairy farming in the United Kingdom Festivals established in 1876 {{bots, deny=Citation bot