464 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



Noel Hill, dividing them. At the Yorkshire Meet- 

 ing, at Northallerton, they declared Queen of 

 Trumps the best, Mr. Booth's Queen Mab a good 

 second to her, and commended Venus and Rose of 

 Towneley. It will be seen that the Scotch heifer 

 here got her revenge on the two placed above her 

 at Salisbury in the year previous. At the Hexham 

 Show of the Northumberland Society it was still 

 the Queen first, and Venus second. Crossing once 

 more to Ireland, for the National Meeting at Lon- 

 donderry, the beautiful couple met us in the same 

 positions, as first and second of their class, the 

 Queen of Trumps also taking the Gold Medal as 

 the best heifer, and the Purcell Challenge Cup as 

 the best animal of the show. At Aberdeen our 

 history is yet but an echo, the Queen was first, and 

 the white second. But after it was over, one of the 

 judges assured us, he had held out strongly for 

 Venus, not knowing at the time she had ever been 

 preferred by public award to her companion. To 

 the very last, however — and we saw them achieve 

 all their great triumphs — the two had their partizans. 



The Queen of Trumps thus stands recorded as 

 the winner of the three national prizes, at an age 

 when a shorthorn shows better than at any other. 

 Curiously enough Mr. Douglas went the very same 

 successful round only the year previous with the 

 Rose of Athelstane, also by Captain Balco ; the 

 only two occasions, we believe, on which this has 

 been achieved with the same animal. In October 

 last, after returning from Aberdeen, Queen of 

 Trumps was sold to Mr. Barret, of Henderson, 

 Kentucky, for four hundred and fifty guineas, Mr. 

 Douglas warranting her in calf to Sir James the 

 Rose, and due to calve on the 1st of March. She 

 sailed accordingly from Londonderry, in Novem- 

 ber, for New Orleans, with fifteen other head of 

 cattle, all of v/hich but two died on the passage ; 

 the Queen of Trumps lived within a day's sail of 

 port, when she too succumbed. As some of the 

 premiums were awarded under the regulation that 

 she had a calf born alive, Mr. Douglas will lose 

 these ; although there was no question the heifer 

 was heavy in calf when she died. 



Without attempting to write up our subject, a few 

 extracts from our own reports of last year may show 

 the extraordinary and well-merited success which 

 has attended Mr. Douglas, not only with the Queen 

 of Trumps, but many more of his heifers. Thus, 

 at Chester, we said, "In the cow classes Mr. 

 Douglas must on the whole be ranked as only 

 second to Mr. Booth, from whom he will have his 

 best blood." Then, at Londonderry, and we will 

 keep ourselves to the three national shows—" We 

 have to report another famous entry of shorthorns, 

 the numbers of which came very much to a par 

 with those at Waterford last year. But to prove 



the superiority of the sample, it may be added, that 

 the then best of all the animals was only the best of 

 her class here— Mr. Douglas' The Rose of Athel- 

 stane, who took the first prize for cows. She was 

 still beaten for ' the best of all' by one of her own 

 herd, and a half-sister — the now famous Queen of 

 Trumps. The latter was again side by side with 

 Venus de Medicis, and the vexed question as to the 

 pick of the pair was decided in confirmation of the 

 Chester award. In fact, the Queen of Trumps 

 appears to have improved ever since then, and it is 

 difficult now to imagine how the white heifer could 

 have ever had the advantage of her. The quality 

 of either is excellent ; but her majesty is the more 

 roomy and broader, of a better colour, with a better 

 head, and certainly with the preference in point of 

 general appearance. But they are both extraordi- 

 nary animals, and should be painted — as they so 

 often have stood— together. Mr. Douglas thus 

 wins the new Purcell Challenge Cup for the second 

 year in succession, and it looks more than probable 

 that he may follow Colonel Towneley's example, 

 and secure it during the next. He also wins the 

 Gold Medal with the Queen of Trumps as the best 

 cow ; while his especial success does not even end 

 here. The Londonderry meeting inaugurated 

 another challenge cup for the best three horned 

 animals shown in the same section, and the master 

 of Athelstaneford claimed this also with three beau- 

 tiful heifers, all of his own breeding. So generally 

 good were they, that in a remarkably superior class 

 of over thirty, they were only just separated. One 

 took the first prize, and the other two were highly 

 commended." And thirdly and lastly, at Aberdeen : 

 — " In the show of cows and heifers, Mr. Douglas 

 went far to make it all it was, and of course with 

 some old and established favourites. Ringlet was 

 once again the best cow, and Queen of Trumps and 

 Venus de Medicis, for the third and fourth time this 

 year, the two best heifers. The preference was still 

 for the roan, although it is only right to say, one of 

 the judges was all for her companion, who, as Venus 

 should have, has a beautiful bosom, and fine turn 

 of the arm and shoulder. The Queen, however, 

 has now taken the three national honours of her 

 year, having been placed first at Chester, London- 

 derry, and Aberdeen. She is of Mr. Douglas' 

 own breeding ; but Venus was bought, after having 

 been beaten last year, of Mr. Booth, for 300 guineas; 

 and when defeated again at Chester, her former 

 owner ofl[ered 450 gs. to get her back— no bad com- 

 pliment from such a quarter to Mr. Douglas's 

 judgment and management. In the yearling heifers 

 the Athelstaneford herd was yet more pre-eminent — 

 first, second, and third ; the best of these was also 

 the best at Londonderry, and the other two first 

 and second at the Glasgow Show of this summer." 



