110 HISTORY OF THE SHORT-HORNS. 



on the farm for summer grazing, the staple stock are pure Leicesters, 

 for the wool of which Mr. J. B. Booth, the present owner, has gained 

 several prizes at the Yorkshire shows. 



" The late Mr. John Booth, of Killerby, was known and beloved 

 throughout the county as a strikingly genial example of the \vorthy 

 and hospitable northern agriculturist, ever devoting himself to the 

 service of his friends (and he had many) to the advancement of 

 agricultural improvement. The humblest, equally with the most 

 important, agricultural societies might always rely on his good offices, 

 whether as patron or judge, in which latter capacity being confessedly 

 unrivaled, he was in great request, and would most good naturedly 

 consent to officiate, though his doing so involved the exclusion of 

 his own cattle from competition. As might have been expected, 

 from his fine and manly character, he was also a keen sportsman ; 

 like Chaucer's squire, 



' Well could he sitte a horse and faire y-ride ;' 



and Yorkshire, that modern Thessaly of horsemen, knew no more 

 thorough judge of hack or hunter. Has skill in this respect still 

 survives in his sons ; many a field and many a showyard testify that 

 in this regard, as in others, Killerby has not degenerated from its 

 ancient fame. He had, too, a natural taste for the fine arts, and 

 when from illness he could not go far from home, he had his horses 

 led out, and would sit on the lawn, or in the hall, to paint them. 

 Here, too, his taste survives, and if I touch lightly on the subject it. 

 is because more delicate fingers now hold the brush, and I would 

 not trespass unbidden upon the elegant recreations of Killerby 's fair 

 Mistress. 



"When, on the establishment of the national shows in 1839, the 

 superiority of the Killerby Short-horns had been proved in contest 

 with the best animals of the day, the herd attracted many visitors, 

 and its inspection was as free to all classes as were the fruits of its 

 owner's experience in breeding, which he was ever ready to commu- 

 nicate to the neophyte. It may not be uninteresting to the present 

 fair enthusiasts in Short-horn matters to learn, that in the absence of 

 her husband, the late Mrs. Booth a lady who will long be remem- 

 bered in that neighborhood for her benevolent disposition and 

 engaging manners would herself most affably do the honors of the 

 herd, leading the way to her especial favorites, and expatiating on 

 their pedigrees, points, and perfections, sometimes with a dash of 

 arch humor, and always with the grace and delicacy of the thorough- 



