630 A HISTORY OF SHORT-HORN CATTLE. 



one dealing with the period before his intro- 

 duction and the other a record of what followed 

 after that date. 



Champion of England (17526), From the 

 foundation of the herd in 1837 down to 1860 it 

 had been with Amos Cruickshank one long, con- 

 tinuous and but partially successful search for 

 the type of cattle he so earnestly desired. Dur- 

 ing that time great numbers of cows, heifers 

 and bulls had been bought from the best Scotch 

 and English herds, but in spite of a long list of 

 show-yard victories, and notwithstanding the 

 production of at least an average percentage 

 of good cattle, Amos Cruickshank's ideal had 

 scarcely been realized. As yet there was a 

 lack of uniformity in essential characteristics. 

 Lancaster Comet, however, supplied, through 

 Champion of England out of the cow Virtue by 

 Plantagenet (11906), the means of correcting 

 this fault. He was a roan, dropped Nov. 29, 

 1859, and although not a phenomenal calf at 

 the start was deemed good enough to be sent 

 to the Royal English Show at Leeds in 1861. 

 Being a November calf he had to compete upon 

 that occasion against two-year-olds, and as he 

 was only a yearling he failed to secure a place. 

 He was also shown at Aberdeen, but was only 

 able to secure a third prize. On account of this 

 non-success he came near being disposed of, 

 but there was something about the young 



