848 A HISTORY OF SHORT-HORN CATTLE. 



this blood, another day about that. There is a bad want of 

 sobriety and stability of judgment in it all, to my poor way of 

 thinking. Looking at the matter in that aspect I have not a 

 strong desire to go much or often into the question of the merits 

 of this or the other cross the fashion of the day. However good 

 Booth, Bates, Cruickshank or any other " blood " may be, there 

 are plenty of persons out of breath in their haste to make a mess 

 of their breeding through the indiscriminate use of it, and so to 

 discredit what one might- fairly say in its favor. 



A little steadiness is the best I have at the moment to suggest 

 as to the course for the future ; but it must be coupled with recog- 

 nition of merit, which I believe to be plentiful, outside the cover 

 of the very biggest names. 



You will see that at our shows the Scotch and Scotch-cross Short- 

 horns are well to the front. This is a hard fact to answer. Still 

 it affords no good reason for crossing everything with Scotch 

 bulls, flooding the herds with that which may be eminently suit- 

 able in one case and as thoroughly unsuitable in another. 



William Duthie of Colly nie, clearly recognizes 

 the desirability of finding a suitable outcross 

 for the Sittyton tribes, and has recently pur- 

 chased in England several very grand cows of 

 mixed breeding, which he proposes to mate 

 with Cruickshank-bred sires with a view toward 

 introducing in a diluted form a dash of fresh 

 blood in the hope that something may be 

 gained in the way of size and style. Among 

 these cows we may mention Cowslip 26th, bred 

 by Lord Brougham and Vaux, a magnificent 

 cow of wonderful scale, symmetry and finish, 

 winner of many prizes in England ; Primrose 

 4th, bred by Mr. Scott of Softlaw, Kelso, winner 

 of first prize at Edinburgh, and of same breed- 

 ing as the great show cow Softlaw Rose; and 

 Lady Meredith, carrying the blood of the great 



