ROMANCE OF THE DUKES AND DUCHESSES 93 



good property is when nobody else seems to want 

 it even at less than its obvious intrinsic value. To 

 a service of her half-brother the 2d Duke of Athol 

 or of a bull called Valiant the exact fact as to 

 the coupling never having been established the 

 young Duchess of Athol produced a heifer which 

 Mr. ALEXANDER named Duchess of Airdrie. 



Allusion has already been made to the fact that 

 LORD DUCIE was the principal buyer of the Dukes 

 and Duchesses at the BATES dispersion. His Lord- 

 ship was at this time, next to EARL SPENCER, 

 probably the closest student of cattle-breeding 

 problems among all the noblemen of his time in 

 England. He knew of the BATES contention as to 

 the "exclusive" breeding of the Duchesses, and 

 probably sensing a good speculation in them, se- 

 cured most of them at the bargain prices prevailing 

 at the time they were disposed of by Mr. BATES' 

 executors. He had an idea, however, that they 

 needed an infusion of fresh blood, and when Duch- 

 ess 55th was knocked down to his bidding at 110 

 guineas he remarked that he would send her to 

 EARL SPENCER'S to be bulled by his MASON-bred 

 Usurer, "to improve her shoulders." This he sub- 

 sequently did, the cow producing a white heifer to 

 the service, which he did not like; whereupon he 



