70 CATTLE SHORTHORNS 



when Bates had by intense in-breeding reduced the power of 

 reproduction in the females to the vanishing point, that he 

 introduced the Princess bull "Belvedere" (1706) one of a 

 number of successful and historic bulls associated with his 

 name. "He had up to 1831 bred but thirty-two Duchess 

 cows in as many years," and of fifty-eight Duchess cows in 

 the herd at his death, twenty-four had never borne a calf. 

 By the Princess and Duchess union Bates almost, if not quite, 

 fulfilled his boast that he " would produce Shorthorns such as 

 the world had never seen." Before this time Sanders says : 

 " The breeding of bulls to their own dams or daughters was a 

 common occurrence " in Bates' practice. Darwin says : 



" For thirteen years he bred most closely in-and-in ; but 

 during the next seventeen years, although he had the most 

 exalted notion of his own stock, he thrice infused fresh blood 

 into his herd ; it is said he did this not to improve the form 

 of the animals, but on account of their lessened fertility." 



Bates' greatest bull was the " Duke of Northumberland " 

 (1940), champion of England in 1842, a roan by " Belvedere " 

 and his daughter " Duchess 34th," descended in the Duchess 

 line from "Comet" (155) and "Favourite" (252), but like 

 the Princess-and-Oxford blend, he retained but little, only 25 

 per cent., of blood descended from the early Duchess. 1 His 

 live-weight at three years and eight months was 2520 Ibs. 



The Oxford tribe formed the second most important 

 branch of the Bates blood ; and the two branches were most 

 intimately related through frequent intercrossing by bulls 

 taken from the one to the other. 



The name " Oxfords " originated out of the conspicuous 

 success obtajned at the Oxford Royal Agricultural Society's 

 Show in 1839, when Bates carried off four 1st prizes with the 

 " Duke of Northumberland," two Duchesscows (42nd and 43rd), 

 and what was afterwards known as the " Oxford Premium 

 Cow," which gave the name to the tribe. This last was a 

 heifer bred from the historic " Matchem Cow," bought as a 

 four-year-old for 15, IDS. She was got by a Mason-bred 

 sire, which contributed a share of blood to both the Booth 

 and Bates herds. The two Cleveland Lads (3407) and (3408), 



1 " The Princess-and-Oxford crossed stock that acquired fame under 

 the Duchess name in the Shorthorn world were in truth Bates cattle, but 

 had only a small percentage of the old Duchess blood." Sanders. 



