388 A HISTORY OF SHORT-HORN CATTLE. 



his herd and devote his entire time to the 

 leather trade in New York city, the business 

 that had been his father's chief source of rev- 

 enue, and Sheldon with characteristic shrewd- 

 ness bought the entire Thorndale Herd of 

 Duchesses, Oxfords, etc., at a reported price of 

 about $40,000. This gave him a monopoly of 

 the so-called "pure" Duchess blood in Amer- 

 ica; and as the English landed proprietors, as 

 well as prominent Kentucky breeders, were de- 

 veloping a marked preference for Duke and Ox- 

 ford bulls he now occupied a strong speculative 

 position. 



Geneva cattle abroad, In the fall of 1867 

 Mr. Sheldon exported to England two bulls 

 and a heifer of the Duchess tribe, and six Ox- 

 ford heifers. They were taken to the Queen's 

 farm, Windsor Park, and sold at auction Oct. 

 15 of that year. After inspecting the Ameri- 

 can cattle the company adjourned for business 

 to the cafe of the Castle Hotel, where cham- 

 pagne flowed freely, and for the first time in a 

 long professional career Mr. Strafford, as auc- 

 tioneer, sold cattle by candlelight. The white 

 7th Duchess of Geneva was knocked off to Mr. 

 Leney of Kent at 700 guineas. In fact Leney 

 was the chief bidder, and his persistency and 

 activity added great zest to the proceedings. 

 8th Lady of Oxford and 6th Maid of Oxford 

 were taken respectively by Col. Towneley at 



