174 CATTLE-BREEDING. 



that at occasional intervals a fresh strain of 

 blood was necessary to the health and profit 

 of the herd. Mr. Richard Booth was not so 

 staunch after Exquisite failed to "nick" to suit 

 him, yet through his exquisite judgment and 

 the sturdiness of his stock, already full of 

 the out-blood of Lord Lieutenant, Mussulman, 

 Water King, Exquisite, and Lord Stanley, he 

 was able to put off the evil day till after his 

 time; but Nemesis was not to follow his course 

 in vain, and she wreaked her revenge when his 

 successor was forced to incorporate the Ton* 

 cattle with his herd because of impaired fecun- 

 dity. It was Richard Booth who first sent 

 White Strawberry to Lord Lieutenant in 1839, 

 though it was John Booth who apparently 

 selected both Lord Lieutenant and Mussulman 

 as the bulls with which to introduce fresh 

 blood into their herds. Whoever made the 

 choice it was made "with infinite judgment," 

 says Mr. Dixon, and the event justifies his 

 opinion; moreover, there was, until a some- 

 what later date, no difference in opinion or 

 practice between the brothers. It was only as 

 Richard grew into old age that he changed his 

 practice radically. This divergence was no 

 doubt largely the result of natural disposition. 

 Richard Booth is said to have been "a dignified 

 recluse, and thought there was no place like 

 home"; while John was always fond of going 



