THOMAS BATES AND THE DUCHESSES. 73 



to which was the best Colling blood; for this 

 initial purchase was a heifer sired by Ben out 

 of a cow called Venus, that was an own sister 

 to the roan two-year-old heifer Mary which 

 Colling sold to Gen. Simson of Fifeshire, Scot- 

 land, in 1806 for 300 guineas. Subsequently 

 Bates changed his mind about the blood of Ben 

 and expressed great aversion for it. This would 

 indicate that the heifer for some reason did not 

 do well at Halton. The great price (for 1800) 

 of 100 guineas was paid for her, the largest sum 

 Colling had up to that time received for a cow. 

 Mr. Bates and his friends claimed that the pay- 

 ment of this fancy figure was a prime factor in 

 giving the Ketton stock prestige over the other 

 herds of that period. 



In the fall of 1800 Mr. Bates bought from 

 Robert Colling some young steers sired by Fa- 

 vorite (252) for feeding purposes. He hired 

 Daisy Bull (186) from Charles Colling, and aft- 

 erward bought him for thirty guineas. In 1803 

 he hired Styford (629) from Robert Colling. 

 Both were by Favorite (252). Some West 

 Highland heifers had meantime been acquired, 

 as Mr. Bates at that time believed that by cross- 

 ing them with good Short-horn bulls feeding 

 stock could be obtained that would be superior 

 to any but the best types of the Short-horns of 

 that period. The Colling bulls named were 

 therefore obtained mainly for crossing pur- 



