THE KILLERBY HERD. Ill 



bred lady that she was. Mrs. Booth's sister, Miss Wright, had an 

 equally keen appreciation of the merits of a good Short-horn, and 

 would stop any one of kindred tastes, who happened to be passing 

 through Cleasby, to have a chat on her favorite topic, or to lead them 

 to the Garth (since known by his name), where in the fullness of his 

 days and honors repose the remains of Comet (155)."* 



At Killerby the herd was carefully bred, and many fine animals 

 reared, which are duly mentioned and exalted as prize-takers at the 

 shows, truly, no doubt, by Mr. Carr, but which we have not space to 

 record all being represented in the volumes of the English Herd 

 Books of the times. Among the cows, very deep milkers are occa- 

 sionally named. Mr. Carr remarks : 



" It does not appear that Mr. John Booth was a very frequent 

 competitor in the show-fields until the establishment of the Royal 

 and Yorkshire Shows in 1839. Before this time Short-horn cattle 

 were kept chiefly for dairy and grazing purposes ; the majority of 

 the male stock were steered, and many a fine heifer that took the 

 butcher's eye was converted into Christmas beef. Necklace and 

 Bracelet [twin heifer calves of Toy, before named] shared the pas- 

 ture and the straw-yard with the ordinary stock of the farm until 

 nearly two years old. As calves they never had more milk than their 

 dam, who suckled them both, supplied; and, throughout the whole 

 of their victorious career, they derived their chief support from the 

 pasture, with a daily feed of corn meal and [oil] cake. Yet Bracelet 

 won seventeen prizes at the various meetings of the Royal Agricul- 

 tural Society of England, the Highland Society of Scotland, the 

 Yorkshire Society, and other local shows ; and at the Yorkshire Show 

 in 1841, where she won the first prize for extra stock, the sweepstakes 

 for the best lot of cattle not less than four in number, was- awarded 

 to Bracelet, Necklace, Mantalini, and Ladythorn. Necklace won 

 sixteen prizes and one gold and three silver medals at the various 

 meetings above mentioned, as well as at the Smithfield Club, f where 

 she finished her career as a prize-taker in 1846, by winning the first 

 prize of her class and the gold medal (for which there were thirty- 

 seven competitors) as the best animal exhibited in any of the cow or 

 heifer classes." 



After relating at some length the practice of Mr. Booth's close 

 breeding, (for the brothers seldom bred any bulls of strange blood 

 into their herds after they had become permanently established, unless 



* Vide page 75, ante L. F. A. 



+ The Smithfield Show at London, is for fat, and not breeding animals. L. F. A. 



