330 In Memoriam.— The late Mr. T. C. Booth. 
Chief," &c., will remind some of my readers of the exciting 
Showjard conflicts of a few years ago. At the time of the Meet- 
ing of the Royal Agricultural Society of England at Oxford, in 
1870, Mr. Booth's herd was in magnificent order ; and pro- 
bably no one man could have shown 13 such grand cows as 
were then running in the Burnaston Hill pasture at Warlaby, 
" Commander-in-Chief," the Sultan of the harem, being in his 
box a few hundred yards distant. A curious circumstance 
happened at this time, which 1 think I may be excused for 
recording here. Mr. Wright, of Chesterfield, once well known 
as a Judge of Shorthorns, and, at the time of which I am speaking, 
between eighty and ninety years of age, came to see the herd, and 
whilst looking at the cows, said, " It is almost fifty years to a day 
since I stood in this field with your grandfather. There were then, 
as now, 13 cows, as good as these, but of a different stamp, and the 
best of them was a cow called ' Dairymaid ; ' have you any of that 
family left?" Mr. Booth was happily able to reply, "Yes; and 
the one you selected to-day as the best animal here is descended 
directly from her." This anecdote Mr. Booth related to me 
a few days after it occurred, as we were admiring " Soldier's 
Daughter," the cow in question. After suffering such heavy 
losses through foot-and-mouth disease, Mr. Booth considered it 
advisable to relinquish exhibiting ; his herd being so greatly 
reduced in numbers, he was afraid to run the risks which arise 
from over-feeding. He felt that the reputation of the Booth 
cattle was firmly established in the public mind, and their 
successes would not easily be forgotten ; in addition to which 
many breeders, using his bulls, were exhibiting, and doing battle 
for him in public, whilst he at home was quietly preparing for 
them the means by which they achieved their victories. At 
first he had considerable difficulty in supplying the wants of 
his customers, who were anxiously awaiting the arrival of young 
bulls, to take the place of the veterans with which they were 
obliged to content themselves. The few young animals to be 
let were eagerly snapped up, and still the cry was " More ; 
more." In the year 1875 took place the sale of the late Mr. W. 
Torr's Shorthorns at Aylesby, and here, after due consuftation 
with his most intimate friends and supporters, Mr. Booth deter- 
mined to purchase the larger portion of the " Bright " and 
" Riby " families, both of which were descended from " Anna " 
by "Pilot" (49(5), sold at Mr. R. Booth's sale at Studley, near 
Ripon, in 1834. Accordingly, twelve of the best of these 
animals came into Mr. Booth's possession, at an average of about 
1000 guineas each, and were taken back to the pastures whence 
they originally sprang. In their ancestral home they have been 
most fortunate, and have multi])licd in a thoroughly satisfactory 
