XIII 



CHAMPION OF ENGLAND 



(17526) 



Up in north Scotland, in a land of 

 rugged worth, developed Scotland's 

 greatest Shorthorn breeder, Amos- 

 Cruickshank. Taking up his work along 

 in the latter years of the days of Thomas 

 Bates, he sought to develop a class of 

 Shorthorns of pronounced constitutional 

 vigor, thick fleshed, early maturing and 

 compact of form. Patient, quiet, deter- 

 mined, he held to his task and sought 

 to create his ideals. Finally, after more 

 than a score of years, came a bull calf 

 into his hands that furnished the' long 

 lacking medium of improvement. 



Champion of England (17526) was 

 dropped on Nov. 29, 1859. He was a roan 

 in color and had for a sire Lancaster 

 Comet (11663), while he was out of Virtue 

 by Plantagenet (11906). Lancaster Comet 

 was used in the herd of Mr. Wilkinson, 

 and he was a grandson of Will Honey- 

 comb (5660) on both sire and dam's side, 

 a thick-fleshed, level-backed, deep- 

 bodied, short-legged bull of much qual- 

 ity. Lancaster Comet had a coarse horn 

 and head and was not much admired by 

 Cruickshank until his real worth as a 

 breeder became demonstrated. Verdant, 

 by The Exchequer (9721), the dam of 

 Virtue, was a thick-fleshed cow of real 

 merit, bred by Cruickshank. She had 

 twin heifers, Virtue and Verdure, by 

 Plantagenet, and they both proved great 

 breeders. Verdure was the dam of Scar- 

 let Velvet (16916), a bull of much value 

 in the herd of Campbell of Kinellar. 

 Virtue, the dam of Champion of Eng- 

 land, is said to have been a red cow 

 with some white, rather given to ex- 

 cessive milk production when suckling 

 a calf, and fleshing readily when dry. 

 The ancestry of Champion of England 

 shows that he was entitled to inherit 

 the valued qualities of the beef-produc- 

 ing Shorthorn. 



As a calf Champion of England did 

 not excite large expectations. He was 



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