THE ANGUS-ABERDEEN CATTLE. 159 



We were further informed that this firm now possess one 

 hundred and twenty-five head, including many choice animals ; 

 indeed they owned Judge the Jilt bull, which was the champion 

 at the Paris International Show of 1878. Messrs. Goodwin 

 breed partly for the ranches, but their principal demand is from 

 the small farmers of Kansas, who buy their bulls to improve the 

 common stock of the country. It would be easy to multiply 

 evidence from American breeders and importers as to the 

 increasing demand for these cattle in the States. It is sufficient 

 to state that, previous to the great depression in the cattle trade, 

 many of the best and highest priced animals were exported 

 either to the States or to South America. 



History is silent as to the origin of the breed. Their general 

 resemblance to the Galloway cattle points to a common origin ; 

 the former, being natives of the South of Scotland, were earlier 

 known in the London market, but there is no evidence that their 

 lineage is more ancient ; and although the two breeds have 

 been, as far as any record goes, kept distinct, it is reasonable to 

 suppose that with the red polled cattle of Norfolk and Suffolk 

 they all came from one original stock. The question has no 

 practical importance. The fact remains that whether sprung 

 from a common source or not, the influence of climate and 

 cultivation has resulted in well marked distinctions, audit is well 

 nigh as unsuitable to class them together as to mix up Jerseys 

 and Guernseys under the general title of Channel Island cattle. 



Black polled cattle were first known in the counties of 

 Aberdeen and Forfar as the Buchan and Angus " doddies ;" they 

 have now largely spread into Kincardine and Banff as well as 

 in other directions alluded to. Though originally varying con- 

 siderably from each other according to local influences, the com- 

 bination of the best blood from different sources has resulted in 

 establishing a uniformity of type and character, which may 

 well challenge comparison with any other breed of cattle. For 

 the following details of the history of the Angus-Aberdeen 

 cattle we are indebted to the late Mr. McCombie's charming 

 little book, " Cattle and Cattle Breeders," than whom it would 

 be impossible to find a more qualified historian, or one who from 

 long experience and rare judgment, attained greater success in 

 making the cattle notorious. Very little is known previous to 



