354 



THE t-ARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



" mis-fit" (a calamity fi'om which no tribe of Shorthorns is 

 esemi)t),are to be depended upon more than anj' other breed 

 for steadily yielding the materials out of which a groAver of 

 horned cattle is to make his payment and his profits. A 

 man who professedly breeds for the show-yard is a man 

 who will find himself mistaken, and sooner perhaps than 

 he supposed; but a man who perseveriugly and hopefully 

 adopts the liealtiiy practice of buying nothing that is not 

 really well bred, and using no bulls that are not of the 

 l^urest blood, u-ilh reference only to the possession of good 

 heas/s, may find himself, to the dismay of more ambitious 

 competitors, in a position to enter the lists, if not always 

 with the certain prospect of success, invariably with honour 

 and an increased reputation as a breeder. 



The oldest cow in the herd is Farewell, red and white, 

 calved in ] 851, and bred by the late Mr. John Booth of 

 Killerby. She is a cow of no great apparent pretensions, 

 but is well bred, being by Koyal Buck (10750), and pos- 

 sessing a pedigree that goes as far back as Favourite ; she 

 is the dam of IMr. Carr's best young bull, and, without 

 exhibiting any striking excellences, possesses many pro- 

 perties of great importance. Her appearance is feminine; 

 she has a substantial and truly built frame, with a brisket 

 moulded in a peculiarly sweet fashion, and presents to the 

 touch a hide which could scarcely be objected to by the 

 most fastidious judge of " handling." She is, besides, a 

 deep milker. 



Farewell is grandam of Mr. Ambler's prize-bull, Prince 

 TallejTand, which was bred at Stackhouse, his dam being 

 La Vallicrc, sold by Mr. Carr to Captain Spencer of Dis- 

 tington, for 140 guineas. Farewell is also the dam of 

 Viscount Killerby (by Lord of the Valley), sold by Mx-. 

 Carr at the age of six weeks to Mr. Hewer of Seveuhamp- 

 ton, for the sum of 100 guineas. Imperial Windsor, another 

 of her sous, will be noticed by-and-by. 



Piefore I enter upon a description of Wide Awake and 

 her progeny, it may be interesting to your readers if I 

 record some particulars of Bonnet, lier dam, a cow well 

 known in the sister island. Bonnet was bred by Mr. 

 Eichard Booth, and was presented as a gift to his brother, 

 the late Mr. John Booth of Killerby. She was sold at Mr. 

 John Booth's sale in 1852 to Mr. Anderson, from whom in 

 1854 she passed into the hands of ]\Ir. Wood of Castle 

 Grove, county Donegal, whose property she still remains. 

 Bonnet was calved in 1814, and will consequently be seven- 

 teen years old in the April of 1801. Since Sir. Wood has 

 had her, she has produced every year a living calf, and is 

 again some months gone in calf. But iinfortunately only 

 two of those calves are at present alive, and in his pos- 

 session — Bustle, calved in 1855, by Valiant (10089), and 

 Prince Patrick, calved in 1858, and by Mr. Booth's Prince 

 Arthui-. Bustle, though only five years old, has produced 

 four heifer-calves, and is again in calf. Her eldest daughter. 

 Princess Pioyal, by Prince Arthur, died when two years 

 old, shortly before the time at which slie would have 

 calved. The other three are alive : the eldest of them, 

 Princess Maude, also by Prince Arthur, only two years and 

 a few months old, has produced this year a fine heifer- 

 calf by Mr. John Booth's King Arthur, and is again safe in 

 calf. 



Bonnet is a thick, short-legged cow ; heart and floor of 

 the chest particularly good; a sweet head; especially 

 fine well-placed shoulder ; good neck vein ; splendid fore- 

 flank and fore-rib ; level below, and preserving her shape 

 wonderfully. It need scarcely be said that she is a cow 

 of excellent constitution. Bustle possesses great sub- 

 stance, splendid shoulders, flanks, ribs, quarters, and twist. 



Mr. Wood, on more than one occasion, could have had 

 500 guineas for her, and an equal sum for her daughter 

 Princess Boyal. The whole tribe is remarkable for sub- 

 stance, constitution, and milking qualities. Mr. Wood 

 has for some years been using Crown Prince bulls out of 

 Buckingham cows, or cows with a good deal of Bucking- 

 ham blood ; so that the descendants of Bonnet arc full cf 

 Crown Prince and Buckingham blood. 



The writer of this paper had the ofi'er of Wide Awake, 

 a daughter of Bonnet, for 60 guineas. She was then a 

 plain, small, mean-looking cow of five years of age; and 

 as there seemed to be nothing except Iter pedigree whicli 

 could possibly make her a good piurchase at that price, she 

 was declined; and Mr. CaiT, relying entii'ely on the blood, 

 immediately secured her. He was right. On the rich 

 land to the east of the river Kibble she very soon began to 

 put forth the qualities and characteristics of her race ; and 

 before twelve months had passed away, Wide Awake as- 

 sumed in the eyes of all competent Aisitors the undoubted 

 aspect of a pure Booth cow. Wide, deep, round-ribbed, 

 well-haired, thick-fleshed in every part, but especially so in 

 the best parts, she at once attracts the notice of beholders, 

 and obtains theLr commendations. Mr. Carr was unfortu- 

 nate in losing the first two calves she produced after her 

 arrival at Stackhouse— Lady Lucinda, by a bull of Mr. 

 Robert Emmerson's, Exquisite (14524), to whom she was 

 in calf when Mr. Carr bought her; and Princess Warlaby, 

 by Prince of Warlaby. This calf, a beautiful roan, only 

 lived to be nine weeks old ; but Mr. Carr had already re- 

 fused an offer of 150 guineas for her, from the agent of a 

 well-known and successful breeder. Wide Awake has, 

 however, produced two heifer-calves since then — Lady of 

 the Valley by Lord of the Valley, and Windsor's Queen by 

 Windsor. Besides these, Mr. Carr possesses a Windsor 

 heifer-calf. Lady Windsor, out of Iiady Grandison, a 

 daughter of Wide Awake, by Gainford 5th ( 12013 j. Lady 

 Grandison was recently disposed of to I^ady Pigot. Here, 

 then, is the nucleus of a splendid herd — Wide Awake, 

 Lady of tlie Valley, Windsor's Queen, and Lady Windsor ; 

 and if these animals do not belie their antecedents, Mr. 

 Carr may reasonably expect within the next few years a 

 gootUy number of pure Booth females of the famous Bonnet 

 tribe, a family i-emarkable for its early and long-continued 

 fecundity. 



Lady of the Valley, not quite two years old, and in calf 

 to Valasco, is a heifer of more than ordinary promise. 

 More level and even than her dam, she exhibits her dam's 

 tendency to width and substance, but is superior to Wide 

 Awake in symmetry and general style, and has the advan- 

 tage of a rich deep colour very much resembling that of 

 her sire. Lady of the Valley spreads out a wonderful 

 back, and has the thick strong loin of her grandsire. Crown 

 Prince. A person familiar with the '\^^arlaby herd can 

 hardly fail to be reminded, when beholding this fiiir heifer, 

 of Red Rose, her paternal grandam. Her brisket drops 

 down and is shaped according to the pattern of the brisket 

 of that most lovely cow. 



But Windsor's Queen, the other daughter of Wide 

 Awake, by Windsor, is a better calf than ever Lady 

 of the Valley was, and may possibly make a better 

 cow. She was calved on the 1st of August; is a 

 beautiful cool roau, lias crops as wide as her loins, a 

 quantity of long fine hair, a neater and sweeter head than 

 cither her dam or sister, and stands wide apart on the 

 fore-legs. Her hind- quarters, like the hind-quarters of all 

 Windsor's calves, are long and level ; the flank lineable 

 with the belly, wide and heavy; and the side, just below 



