548 A HISTORY OF SHORT-HORN CATTLE. 



Scotch cattle to the fore. Naturally in such 

 an emergency the character of the Short-horns 

 available at the time for repelling the newly- 

 introduced breeds became the subject of close 

 scrutiny. Examination of the breeding of the 

 cattle that had been sustaining and were still 

 battling for the honor of the breed at leading 

 shows in the West revealed the fact that the 

 fighting line was not held, as a general propo- 

 sition, by animals representing the prevailing 

 fashionable blood. It so happened that at this 

 critical juncture in Short-horn affairs on this 

 side the Atlantic some of the stoutest defend- 

 ers of 'Short-horn fame against rival breeds had 

 been brought from the old-established herds of 

 Scotland. Baron Booth of Lancaster (half-Booth, 

 half-Scotch), Violet's Forth, the Golden Drops, 

 Orange Blossom 18th, and other North Country 

 cattle that had been seen in the West in former 

 years were recalled as types of the stamp now 

 demanded. The Scotch-bred Duke of Rich- 

 mond 21525 and other cattle of his compact, 

 fleshy conformation were even then holding 

 back the Hereford host. The hour had struck; 

 and the early "eighties" found the Aberdeen- 

 shire Short-horn claiming the center of the 

 American Short-horn stage. 



