A BOOM IN SHORTHORNS 



acceptance of fifteen hundred guineas for " Lady 

 Grateful," sister of the first-named; whilst Capt. 

 Gunter's pair of cows, "Duchesses 101 and 103," 

 went for two thousand five hundred guineas. 



In the 'seventies there was an absolute mania 

 for shorthorn pedigree stock, as is shown by the 

 extraordinary prices paid for some of the fashion- 

 ably bred types, especially of the Bates and 

 Knightly lines. At Lord Dunmore's sale in 1875, 

 with the late John Thornton in the rostrum, the 

 whole world was astonished when the shorthorn 

 bull, " Duke of Connaught," was knocked down 

 to Lord Fitzhardinge president of the Bath and 

 West Society in 1893 for the sum of 4500 guineas, 

 the largest amount for a shorthorn ever realized 

 in England at a public sale. Visitors from near 

 and far made pilgrimages to Berkeley Castle to 

 see what so redoubtable an animal looked like. 

 He was a very harmless, well-behaved, domesti- 

 cated sort of beast, with none of the savage attri- 

 butes bestowed by timorous females upon bulls in 

 general, for he would answer to his stable name 

 of " Tommy," and follow his lordship round the 

 yard from his box like a dog when the pole-star 

 was a carrot. I never beheld this notable bull 

 in the flesh, but I have seen his skin in the hall 

 of Berkeley Castle, where it formed a fine mat 

 in front of the large, old-fashioned hearth. About 

 the same time Lord Bective gave 3500 in America 

 for the shorthorn cow, " 6th Duchess of Oneida." 

 Verily there were giants in those days in the way 

 of bidders. 



Within the last year or two there has been 

 a recrudescence of this demand for shorthorn 



97 H 



