THE SHORTHORN 



209 



Thomas Bates, Thomas Booth and his sons John and Richard, 

 and Amos Cruickshank. There were many other prominent and 

 successful breeders, but these men distinguished themselves as 

 epoch makers, about whose careers clusters much of the best in 

 Shorthorn history. 



The Colling brothers. These were Charles and Robert. Charles 

 was born in 1750 and lived at Ketton, just north of Darlington in 

 Durham ; Robert, born in 1 749, lived at Barmpton, about a mile 

 from Ketton. Robert, a bachelor, died in 1820, and Charles died 



FIG. 81. Ketton Hall, the home of Charles Colling, near Darlington, England. 

 From photograph by the author 



in 1836, leaving a widow but no children. Charles is somewhat 

 the more famous of the two brothers, although Robert was in 

 fact quite his equal as a breeder. The Colling brothers have often 

 been referred to as the founders of the Shorthorn breed, but 

 this is not exactly the fact, although they were the first real con- 

 structive breeders of these cattle. The Collings sought to produce 

 better feeders, to have their cattle mature early, with more con- 

 stitution than the usual sort, and to dress out with less offal. 

 The great superiority of the cattle at Ketton has been attrib- 

 uted to their remarkable fattening tendency and to their superior 

 handling quality. These brothers developed two very famous 

 herds which had a great influence in improving the breed. At 



