Live Stock Breeders' Association. 229 



tie, introducing fresh blood when required and inbreeding, sooner 

 or later, going over to the other side and securing fresh blood. 

 While it is absolutely impossible to dispense with inbreeding in 

 founding a herd, if carried to excess it tends to reduce the strength 

 of the animals, and ultimately to sterility and weakness in every 

 possible direction. Mr. Bates used fresh blood over and over in 

 order to restrain the waning fertility of his herd. The Booth 

 family had been more careful, but frequently were compelled to 

 introduce fresh blood, again welding the material together by in- 

 breeding stronger and stronger. 



You know the history of the two strains in this country. 

 Shorthorns were brought over at an early time. With the colonists 

 came to this country good Shorthorn cattle. I can remember hear- 

 ing my grandfather talk about the "Roan Durhams" in Loudoun 

 and Fauquier counties, Virginia, one hundred years ago or more. 

 So we see everywhere the English people have gone they have car- 

 ried the Shorthorn. 



We began at first with the most catholic idea. We accepted 

 anything that was brought over here. When Felix Rennick 

 went to England in 1733, he cared little for family or pedigree, so 

 far as a particular strain was concerned, and Mr. Bates attempted 

 to convince him no strain other than his was worth bringing to this 

 country. He labored with single eye as to purity and individual- 

 ity, but not with regard to any particular strain. And he secured 

 some of the best individuals in England. We have brought over 

 immense numbers of cattle from that time on. In 1817 Sanders' 

 herd was composed of splendid cattle and well bred, but that was 

 prior to the establishment of a herd book. About 1815 old George 

 Coates rode around Northumberland picking up information in re- 

 gard to the pedigrees of cattle, and in 1822 he published the first 

 English herdbook. That was the first time anything had been 

 given out as a guide to people in purchasing cattle ; and these cows 

 brought over to this country in 1817 had no record, but it seems 

 fairly certain that they were carefully selected and purely bred in 

 every possible way. We had other importations, and from time to 

 time other enterprising men went over. It was a serious propo- 

 sition in those days to go to England and import cattle. 



We have gone on and we have discarded the line-bred Bates 

 cattle and the line-bred Booth cattle, because we found that a limit 

 had been reached in this line-breeding and in-breeding; that it 

 was coming to be detrimental and injurious, because these cattle 

 would not respond to the demands we made upon them and did 



