264 A HISTORY OF SHORT-HORN CATTLE. 



the great estate but worthy tenants for its lux- 

 urious fields. 



During the winter of 1852-53 Mr. Alexander 

 and his brother, A. J., visited Great Britain. 

 The now rapidly reviving interest in cattle- 

 breeding in America had not escaped his no- 

 tice, and it was determined upon the occasion 

 of this visit to the motherland to lay the foun- 

 dation for a great herd of Short-horns at Wood- 

 burn.* 31 " In the selection of the stock, aggregat- 

 ing about sixty-eight head of cows and heifers 

 and some fifteen head of bulls, Mr. Alexander 

 early gave evidence of his intention to give 

 American cattle-breeders the benefit of a wide 

 range of choice as between the different noted 

 strains of blood then prominent in Great Britain. 

 This phase of Mr. Alexander's character has been 

 well commented upon by Mr. Warfield in the 

 following language: 



"No importations ever made to America have been of more 

 value to this county than those of Mr. Alexander, and perhaps no 

 man in America has done more for the cultivation of pure-bred 

 stock than did the late Robert Aitcheson Alexander, whether we 

 speak of the Thoroughbred racer or the more sturdy trotter, or of 

 Short-horn, Ayrshire or Alderney cattle, or of Cotswold or South- 

 down sheep. He had an eye for the beauties in each and all. Pos- 

 sessed of a large estate he used it unsparingly in the cultivation 

 of the best quality of stock. Possessed of the power that comes 



*Woodburn Farm afterward became quite as noted for its rare collec- 

 tion of Thoroughbred and trotting horses as for its Short-horns. It was 

 the home of the great four-mile racer Lexington, and in later years, after 

 the property had passed into the hands of A. J. Alexander, the farm, under 

 the management of Mr. Lucas Brodhead, achieved world-wide fame as a 

 nursery of great performers on the trotting turf. Jersey cattle and Cots- 

 wold and Southdown sheep were also bred. 



