542 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



us all to stand for better cattle, which must mean in reality "better 

 pedigrees." 



May I offer another suggestion? It is that we should have annually 

 more history of leading Short-horns. Let it take the form of a book of 

 actual photographs, accompanied by the pedigree, also prizes won, if any, 

 and a fair and full description. Such a book would be valuable for refer- 

 ence in after years and greatly help the breeder of the future in studying 

 the proper mixture of blood to attain his ideal. To be certain of im- 

 provement it must be clear, not merely that the blood runs steadily 

 along one line, thus making it prepotent, but that the individual animals 

 were each superior. Otherwise you will find no prepotent strength or ex- 

 cellence, but in its place weakness and inferiority. At that stage the 

 end of your "pure" this or that, be it Bates, Booth, Scotch or Cruick- 

 shank, is very near. 



PREPARATION OF CATTLE FOR SHOWS. 

 Breeders' Gazette. 



Among the most famous and most successful of the world's cattle feed- 

 ers Wm. Watson stands in a conspicuous position. He was born in May, 

 1827, and was the eldest son of Hugh Watson of Keillor, Scotland, whose 

 fame as the eldest great improver of the Angus cattle is world wide in 

 its extent. 



Mr. Watson claimed to have been raised up on the milk of the historical 

 Aberdeen-Angus "Prima" cow, "Old Grannie." He received the full benefit 

 of a liberal education at the leading seminaries in England and Scotland; 

 but when seventeen years of age and after a two years' study in Edin- 

 burg university, he bade a farewell to classics. Born a stockman, his 

 indulgent father gave him ample scope for his talents and handed him 

 over for several years to the tuition of such eminent breeders as Bates, 

 John and Robert Booth, Maynard, Torr, William Wetherell and Earl 

 Spencer, under whose training he soon became deeply versed in Short- 

 horn lore and general cattle management. To his father and Jonas Webb 

 he practically owed his knowledge of sheep and he stoutly maintained 

 that they understood the management and handling of the flock better 

 than any other breeder he had ever met. 



For eighteen years Mr. Watson was the manager of his father's herd 

 of Keillor "doddies," renting also a farm on his own account where he 

 bred Angus cattle, sheep and horses. He was widely sought after in all 

 the three kingdoms. In 1865 he left his native heath for the colonies, 

 landing in New Zealand. On arrival he was appointed and for several 

 years was manager of the Clydevale ranch, where general agriculture and 

 breeding of live stock of all kinds was carried on upon a princely scale. 

 Anxious for variety and fresh knowledge he next steered his bark for 

 Australia, where he spent twelve months devoted exclusively to traveling 

 and inquiring into all the live stock industries that continent could 

 boast. Leaving Australia, he crossed the Pacific, landing in San Fran- 

 cisco, taking a stockman's glance in passing at the Fiji and Sandwich 

 Islands. On American soil he was first appointed by the San Francisco 



