COMET. — BREEDERS OF SHORT-HORNS. 33 



to him. He was calved in 1777, and his descendants, 

 Foljambe, Bolingbroke, Favorite, and Comet, perma- 

 nently fixed the characteristics of the breed. Comet 

 was so highly esteemed among breeders, that he sold 

 at one thousand guineas, or over five thousand dollars. 

 Hubback is thought by some to have been a pure short- 

 horn, and by others a grade or mixture. 



Many breeders had labored long previous to the 

 brothers Charles and Robert Colling, especially on the 

 old Teeswater short-horns ; yet a large share of the 

 credit of improving and establishing the reputation of 

 the improved short-horns is generally accorded to the 

 Collings. Certain it is that the spirit and discrimination 

 with which they selected and bred soon became known, 

 and a general interest was awakened in the breed at 

 the time of the sale of Charles Colling's herd, October 

 11, 1810. It was then that Mr. Bates, of Kirkleaving- 

 ton, purchased the celebrated heifer Duchess I., whose 

 family sold, in 1850, after his decease, at an average of 

 one hundred and sixteen pounds five shillings per head, 

 including young calves. Many representatives of the 

 Duchess family, which laid the foundation of Mr. Bates' 

 success as a breeder, have been brought to this country. 

 They may, perhaps, be regarded as an exception to the 

 modern improved short-horns, their milking qualities 

 being generally very superior. 



The sale referred to, and those of R. Colling's herd, 

 in 1818, and that of Lord Spencer, in 1846, as well as that 

 of the Kirkleavington herd, in 1850, and especially that 

 of the herd of Lord Ducie, two years later, are marked 

 eras in the history of improved short-horns ; and 

 through these sales, and the universal enthusiasm awak- 

 ened by them, the short-horns have become more widely 

 spread over Great Britain, and more generally fashion- 

 able, than any other breed. They have also been largely 



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