ROBERT COLLING'S CATTLE. 89 



red Turnell blood in South Lincolnshire. The following letter from 

 Mr. Hutchinson relates to lots 35 and 36 : 



"'In October, 1818, when Mr. Robert Ceiling's sale catalogue 

 came out, I was glad to perceive two heifers, Jessy and Jewel (twins) ; 

 their dam from the stock of the late Mr. Hill, of Blackwell, were 

 there advertised, got by Wellington (680), and the former in calf to 

 Barmpton (54), both bulls highly esteemed, and Jessy herself what I 

 thought an excellent heifer, and the better of the two. My idea was 

 that this heifer from the Blackwell herd, with only two crosses by the 

 leading bull of Mr. R. Colling's, would be a better speculation and 

 more likely to breed better stock than any cow or heifer of what was 

 then considered pure blood, all of which had been bred through thick 

 and thin for countless generations. On Jessy's coming to the ham- 

 mer, I became her purchaser at 43 guineas, the very lowest priced 

 cow that day, excepting a six-year-old cow of the same breed, Old 

 Blackwell ; and Mr. Brown^ of Welbourn, Lincolnshire, immediately 

 after bought Jewel, her twin sister, at 50 guineas. I was well satisfied 

 with my bargain, and Mr. Brown expressed himself so with his. In 

 the April following Jessy produced me a heifer calf, very small and 

 very delicate, which, however, with great care was reared, and is now 

 the heifer I invite connoisseurs to inspect. She is a wonderful and 

 beautiful sight, and may safely challenge a comparison for excellence 

 with the highest priced cows of that day. Jessy has since produced 

 me two heifers to my own bulls, which promise to make very large, 

 fine cows, and she is now giving twelve quarts of milk at a meal, six 

 months after calving.' 



"The sale in 1820 contained those Short-horns which were not 

 in condition for sale in 1818. At this sale, Mr. J. G. Dixon of 

 Caistor was the purchaser of two lots. Mrs. Charles Colling was 

 present and told him that Barmpton 's blood should always be kept 

 sight of, as he was one of their best tribes. Strawberry was intended 

 for the first sale, but she calved and did not do well, and so was 

 reserved till 1820. On the long walk home she slipped calf, but bred 

 well afterwards. Young Strawberry, her daughter, took a prize at 

 sixteen years old, and lived till she was twenty-seven.* Descendants 

 of these cows are still in Mr. Dixon 's possession, and their bull pro- 

 duce has been disseminated among the farmers in Lincolnshire to the 

 great improvement of the stock in the district. 



* Who will say that the Short-horns, as a race, lack either constitution, vitality, fertility in 

 breeding, or longevity ? L. F. A . 



