THE LONGHORNS. 137 



where the milkers were waiting their approach ; a solitary 

 pigeon was keeping watch on the topmost pinnacle of the 

 ancient church ; this appeared the only probable lineal descendant 

 of a century ago. The Longhorn has now been superseded by 

 the universal intruder, the Shorthorn, and the Leicester has 

 been supplanted by the ubiquitous black face. The shrill whistle 

 of a railway engine in the distance awoke us from our reverie. 



Twenty years ago the late Mr. Bakewell, a descendant of the 

 celebrated breeder of that ilk, kept a large herd of Longhorns 

 on his farm at Lockington on the south banks of the Trent, and 

 just within the confines of the county of Leicester, whilst down 

 to a more recent period the late Sir John Harpur Crewe, Bart., 

 kept a large and fine herd at Calke Abbey, his seat in Derby- 

 shire. This herd was sold in the autumn of 1885 through the 

 death of the owner. The late T. W. Cox, of Spondon, near 

 Derby, had a small but select herd which had been carefully 

 cultivated for generations by his ancestors. Mr. E. H. Chapman, 

 of Upton, Nuneaton, was long known as a skilful breeder. Mr. 

 Eichard Hall, of Thulston Grove, Derby, was for years a large 

 breeder and successful exhibitor. Mr. Prinsep, of Croxhall, was 

 another well-known name in the annals of the breed. With 

 the exception of Mr. E. Hall, who still retains a nucleus, all the 

 other herds have been dispersed through the death of the 

 owners or other causes. Long before root cultivation had 

 become general in Derbyshire, and prior to the use of artificial 

 foods or stall feeding was generally practised, we have it on 

 authentic authority that Christmas oxen which had never known 

 the shelter of a roof-tree, and whose only food from weaning 

 time consisted exclusively of hay and grass, would frequently 

 reach the great weight of 3601bs. per quarter ; this would be at 

 the mature age of five years. Such results could not but stamp 

 their merits and enhance their reputation amongst breeders. 



The Darwinian axiom is as clearly exemplified in the case of 

 the Longhorn as it is in many other of the ancient races of 

 domesticated animals : in times of keen competition the survival 

 of the fittest becomes a dire necessity. The Longhorn, though 

 surrounded by a halo of ancient prestige, is nevertheless a slow 

 grower, hence finds little favour in the eye of the rent-paying 

 farmer. The breed is now chiefly in the hands of rich men ; 



