BREEDING FARMS IN THE BERKSHIRES 



Clingstone another illustration of the value of speed- 

 sustaining blood in the trotter. 



Other breeding establishments at Pittsfield were 

 those of Walter Cutting, W. F. Milton, and William 

 Pollock, but all of the Berkshire breeding farms 

 were dwarfed by the venture of Wm. Russell Allen. 

 This gentleman spent hundreds of thousands of dol- 

 lars on Allen Farm, and he gathered his stallions and 

 brood mares from the cream of such renowned estab- 

 lishments as Stony Ford, Woodburn, Indian Hill, 

 Palo Alto, and San Mateo Stock Farm. His special 

 aim was to secure the immediate descendants of such 

 great brood mares as Green Mountain Maid, Miss 

 Russell, Clara, Belle, Beautiful Bells, Vara, Water- 

 witch, Primrose, Fleetwing, Woodbine, Sable, and 

 Young Portia, and price did not stop him. The clus- 

 ter of gems was awe-inspiring, and visitors from all 

 parts of the civilized world took the trains for Pitts- 

 field and passed through the massive arch of sye- 

 nite granite which guards the approach to the stables 

 at Allen Farm. I recall an excursion there which 

 was the talk of the neighborhood. Mr. Allen re- 

 quested me to charter a private car, stock it, and 

 bring in it a prominent delegation from New York. 

 The June rose was in bloom and the Berkshire hills, 

 always charming, never looked more beautiful. A 

 big six-horse coach met us at the railway station and 

 took us to the farm, where three hours were given 

 to the horses, and then we drove to the top of a 

 mountain, over a road especially built for the occasion, 



289 



