132 THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY 



sum of $2,000 was voted for the purpose. The trustees 

 employed as the agent of the society, Alexander 

 Bickett of Andover, a Scotchman by birth, and an 

 expert in cattle and cattle breeding. He visited the 

 regions in Great Britain where Ayrshire and North 

 Devon stock abound, and made judicious selections, 

 as is evinced by a letter addressed to him by Henry 

 Codman, one of the committee of importation and 

 treasurer of the society, in acknowledgment of the 

 fidelity of his service. The two herds, upon arrival, 

 were sent to the farm, in Lexington, owned by Elias 

 Phinney, the recording secretary of the society. There 

 they were maintained during four years (or until the 

 decease of Mr. Phinney) as the property of the 

 society, and were managed according to the strictness 

 of breeders' rules, the surplus being sold each year to 

 persons living within the state. In 1849 or 1850 those 

 which had not been disposed of were divided in a 

 manner designed to preserve the purity of each breed. 

 The principal part of the Ayrshires were bought by 

 Mr. George W. Lyman, then a trustee and later the 

 president of the society, and in his possession they 

 became a stock of great celebrity. Others of the col- 

 lection were distributed by gift among the county 

 societies of the State; that is, one pair of Ayrshires, or 

 one pair of Devons, to a society, thus enabling each 

 "so to dispose of the animals as to keep the breed 

 unmixed, and give character to the stock of the respec- 

 tive counties." 



The file of vouchers, and the letters written by the 

 society's agent while abroad, permit the progress of 

 the enterprise, from its inception to the arrival at the 

 port of Boston, to be traced in detail. The Ayrshire 

 bull purchased was known in the Scotch herd book as 

 "Prince Albert." It had been breed by Andrew 



