HISTORICAL TESTIMONY. 167 



race. * * * Isabella was the Rev. Henry 

 Berry's [no mean judge] beau ideal of a Short- 

 horn. * * * Isabella and her descendants 

 brought the massive, yet exquisitely moulded 

 fore quarters into the herd, and also that 

 straight under line of the belly for which the 

 Warlaby animals are remarkable. That such 

 a cow should have had but three crosses of 

 blood is striking evidence of the impressive 

 efficacy of these early bulls, and confirms Mr. 

 R. Booth's* opinion that four crosses of really 

 first-rate bulls of sterling blood upon a good 

 market cow of the ordinary Short-horn breed 

 should suffice for the production of animals 

 with all the characteristics of the high caste 

 Short-horn." The Darlington cow was sold to 

 the master of a boarding school, eventually, as 

 a milch cow, and she left behind her there a 

 lasting memory for the "brimming pails of milk 

 she gave." Mr. Booth's confidence in the effect 

 of a few crosses on fresh, vigorous, outbred stock 

 led to many more noble animals and notable 

 families besides those sprung from the Fair- 

 holme and Darlington cows. There is many a 

 show-yard record which reveals how hard cer- 

 tain short-pedigreed Booth cattle were to beat. 

 Perhaps it is permissible to think that the 

 fresh blood of the cows was as potent a factor 

 in the product as the concentrated blood of 

 the sires. But this digression has already pro- 

 ceeded too far. 



