THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



471 



first man who winkeil ; while the beer -drinkers, chiefly men 

 iu fustian jackets and smock-fiocks, kept their eyelids down 

 and rubbed their hands across their mouths, as if their 

 draughts of beer had been a funereal duty attended with em- 

 barrassing sadness. At last, Mr. Snell, the landlord, a mnn 

 of neutral disposition, accustomed to stand aloof from human 

 differences as those of beings who were all alike in need of 

 liquor, broke silence, by saying in a doubtful tone to his 

 ccusin the butcher : " Some folks 'ud say that was a fine 

 beast you druv in yesterda}-, Bob?" The butcher, a jolly, 

 smiling, red-haired man, was not disposed to answer rashly. 

 He gave a few puffs before he spat, and replied : " And they 

 wouldn't be fur wrong, John." After this feeble delusive 

 thaw, the silence set in as severely as before. " Was it a 

 red Durham?" said the farrier, taking up the thread of dis- 

 course, after the lapse of a few minutes. The farrier looked 

 at the landlord, and the landlord looked at the batcher, as 

 the person who must take the responsibility of answering. 

 " Eed it was," said the butcher, in his good-humoured husky 

 treble— "and a Durham it was." "Then you needn't tell 

 me who you bought it of," said the farrier, looking round 

 with some triumph ; " I know who it is has got the red 

 Durhams o' this counti^-side. And she'd a white star on 

 her brow, I'll bet a penny ?" The farrier leaned forward 

 with his hands on his knees as he put his question, and his 

 eyes twinkled knowingl}'. "Well; yes— she might," said 

 the butcher, slowly, considering that he was giving a decided 

 affirmative. " I don't say contrary." " I knew that very 

 well," said the farrier, throwing himself backward again 

 and speaking defiantly ; " If J don't know Mr. Lammeter's 

 cows, r should like to know who does — that's all. And as 

 for the cow you've bought, bargain or no bargain, I've been 

 at the drenching of her — contradick me who will." The 

 farrier looked fierce, and the mild butcher's conversational 

 spirit was roused a little. " I'm not for contradicking no 

 man," he said ; " I'm for peace and quietness. Some are for 

 cutting long ribs — I'm for cutting 'em short, myself; but I 

 don't quarrel with 'em. All I say is, it's a lovely carkiss — 

 and anybody as was reasonable, it 'ud bring tears into their 

 eyes to look at it." " Well, it's the cow as I drenched ^ 

 whatever it is," pursued the farrier, angrily; "and it was 

 Mr. Lammeter's cow, else you told a lie when you said it 

 was a red Durham." '' I tell no lies," said the butcher 

 with the same mild huskiness as before ; " and I contra- 

 dick none — not if a man was to swear himself black : he's 

 no meat o' mine, nor none o' my bargains. All I say is, its 

 a lovely carkiss, And what I say, I'll stick to; but I'll 

 quarrel ^vi' no man." " No," said the farrier, with bitter sar- 

 cam, looking at the company generally; and p'rhaps you 

 didn't say the cow was a red Durham ; and p'rhaps you 

 did't say she'd got a star on her brow— stick to that now 

 you're at it." " Come, come," said the landlord ; " let the 

 cow alone. The truth lies atween you : you're both right 

 and both wrong, as I allays say. And as for the cow's being 

 Mr. Lammeter's I say nothing to that." — Silas Marner. 



" OUR AMERICAN COUSIN." 



Mr. Samuel Thome, Thorndale, Washington Hollow, 

 Duchess Co., N.Y., occupiea a very diatinguiahed position as 

 a short-horn breeder, having formed his herd, at very great 

 expense, on some of the beat blood which could be procured 

 ia Great Britain and Ireland. Thus, amongst other animals 

 of high mark he owns Duchess 66th, bred by the late Lord 

 Ducie, and for which 700 guineas were paid at the sale of his 

 lordship's herd, her calf being sold at the same time for 300 



guineas ; also Frederics, Lalla Rookh, Buttercup 2nd, Miss 

 Butterfly, and Pearlette, from Col. Towneley's herd ; Peri, bred 

 by Mr. Boldea ; Minerva 4th, bred by Tanqueray ; Victoria 

 2fJth, bred by Mr. K. Holmes; Maria Louisa— by Hopewell, 

 out of Rose de Means— from the late Mr. St. George Gray's 

 herd; and, finally, without enumerating the rest, he has 

 been using those famous bulU, Grand Turk (12,9fJ9), and 

 2nd Grand Duke (12,961). Such a collection naturally drew 

 many longing looks " across the western ocean," until at last 

 the desire, on the part of some breeders on this side, became 

 a fixed determination to have, and accordingly we find that 

 towards the close of last year Mr. Langstone, M.P., Sarsden 

 Lodge, bad hired " .5th Duke of Thorndale," a son of Grand 

 Turk and Duchess 66th, from Mr. Thome, and that Messrs. 

 Robinson, Clifton Pastures, and Charles Howard, of Bidden- 

 hara, had entered into a similar arrangement for Mr. Thome's 

 "2nd Duke of Thorndale," by 2nd Grand Duke, dam 

 Duchess 7l3t, a 650-guinea daughter of Duchess 66th. Dur- 

 log the course of last autumn the occupants of the Thorndale 

 pastures were diligeutly examined by a very plucky specimen 

 of an Irishman— Mr. Fitzwilliam Welsh— who had deter- 

 mined on establishing a thoroughly good herd of Short- 

 horns at Trough House, Co. Clare. The magnificent pro- 

 portions of Lalla Rookh very soon took his fancy, and he 

 lost no time in securing her splendid bull calf— then about 

 nine months old— by Grand Turk. Prudence, however, dic- 

 tated the propriety of leaving the young 'un with his dam for 

 some time longer, and it was only, therefore, just before 

 Eaater that a special ambassador was sent ever to America 

 for the purpose of attending on " Our American Cousin" in 

 his various perils " by flood and field" in his passage from 

 Duchess Co., New York, to Co. Clare, Ireland. Fortu- 

 nately, all has gone well, although the voyage was both stormy 

 and longer than usual, and on Sunday, May 12, the illustrious 

 stranger reposed for the first time on Irish soil, where we 

 trust he is destined to spend many useful days, and be the 

 means of filling many entries in our Royal prize lists. Hav- 

 ing been afforded an opportunity of seeing "Our Ame- 

 rican Cousin"— the name given him by his new owner— 

 we must say, the first point which struck us was his great 

 size for his age. He was calved on the 13th of December, 

 1859, but he looks nearly as large and furnished 

 as many two-j ear-old bulls. This feature he inherits 

 from both sire and dam, and he promises to be fully as large 

 an animal in every respect as Grand Turk. His head and eye 

 tell at once of his sire, and the former is well set on to a 

 moderately lengthy neck, which runs into a deep, wide breast. 

 He is very rich in the flank, and his quality all over is all that 

 could be desired. His constitution is evidently remarkably 

 good ; his hair is beautiful, and of a beautiful colour. 

 Notwithstanding the fatigue of the voyage, he looked won- 

 derfully fresh and Hvely, weighing over 13 cwt. as he stood. 

 His first coat was 1,000 dollars, and adding freight and all 

 other expenses, he now stands Mr. Welah 1,200 dollars, or 

 say £240, and he is well worth every farthing of the money. 

 Everybody knows what Grand Turk was and did before 

 he left England, and Lalla Rookh was the winner of the 

 first prize at the great Yorkehire show in 1853, and the first 

 prize at the Royal North Lancashire show in the same year. 

 Upon both these occasions she beat " Vestris," and the next 

 year, Lalla Rookh being in America, " Vestris" carried all the 

 first prizes in her class wherever she was shown ; " thus 

 showing," as the Thorndale catalogue remarks, " that Lalla 

 Rookh's equal was not left in England." She was also winner 

 of the first prize as the best cow at the United States Show at 

 Philadelphia in 1856. We may also state that she is a re- 

 markably prolific cow. With such a parentage, combined 

 with his own good qualities, we feel justified in thinking that 

 " Our American Cousin" will prove creditable to Mr. Welsh's 

 discrimination, and profitable both to him and to the country. 

 —Irish Farmers' Gazette. 



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