182 CATTLE-BREEDING. 



not because it was outbreeding, but chiefly 

 because it was the only means by which the 

 Sittyton herd could secure the best that En- 

 gland and Scotland produced. But none the 

 less while these models of excellence were 

 being secured the highest advantages of the 

 outbreeding or natural method were gained. 

 The constant infusion of fresh, vigorous strains 

 from widely separated districts made the herd 

 one of the most vigorous in the land. While 

 other herds were growing smaller every year, 

 were showing broad marks of enfeeblement, 

 and were wasting to a bare skeleton of what 

 they once had been, this one had grown from 

 1837 to 1870 to one of the most numerous and 

 one of the most vigorous in Great Britain. It 

 was under such circumstances that Mr. Cruick- 

 shank began to use almost exclusively home- 

 bred bulls. But he fell into no incestuous 

 breeding. His herd was large, full of many 

 strains, and as fresh in blood as were the cattle 

 which Maynard and Colling and Booth began 

 their careers with. The famous Champion of 

 England (17526), regarded by Mr. Cruickshank 

 not merely as the best breeder he ever bred, 

 but even as the best he ever used, began the 

 new regime. From his time of service dates 

 the beginning of nearly twenty years of effort 

 to breed not only fine animals but also animals 

 of a common type. In his object of fixing a 



