144 
Agricultural Worthies. 
he owed his country, so long as he deemed that the sacrifice of 
all his domestic comforts could prove serviceahle to his public 
principles." He nevertheless availed himself of every oppor- 
tunity (even after the death of his wife) to visit Wiseton, which 
ever held the first place in his affections and thoughts ; and 
he never failed to spend a portion of the year there. 
Having given up hunting after Lady Althorp's death, his 
interest in horses and dogs was transferred to cattle, and he 
became an enthusiastic admirer and successful breeder of Short- 
horns. The story goes that the keeping of Shorthorns at 
Wiseton, and in the district generally, was initiated in the 
hunting field. The Rev. Thomas Harrison, a sporting cleric 
from Yorkshire, who used to hunt with the Pytchley, urged 
Lord Althorp, Sir Charles Knightley, and other country gentle- 
men whom he came across at the meets, to breed better cattle, 
advising them to come into Yorkshire if they wished to see 
what good cattle were. The result of this was a visit by Lord 
Althorp to Mr. Robert Colling's sale at Barmpton in 1818, when 
he purchased the bull " Regent " (544) and several cows. It was 
his lordship's boast that he had reformed his whole stock with 
" Regent," when that animal was condemned to the butcher as 
useless. 
At Mr. Christopher Mason's sale at Chilton in 1829, sixteen 
cows and heifers were also obtained for the Wiseton herd, 
which became one of the largest in the kingdom, numbering 
about one hundred and fifty head at the time of his lordship's 
death in 1845. Many celebrated animals were exhibited from 
this herd, notably "Hecatomb," winner at York in 1838. His 
lordship was also a frequent winner with his Shorthorns at the 
Shows of the Sinithfield Club, taking in 1834 and again in 
1840 the Gold Medal for the best beast in the classes. 
" Sweet William," " Orontes," " Wiseton" (whose portrait is 
given in the frontispiece of this number), and " Ranunculus " 
(the sire of "Belinda"') were all leading bulls, and eo was 
" Usurer," of which Lord Ducie said that " he could give 
shoulders to anything." 
Mr. John Gamble, a noted Norfolk breeder of Shorthorns, 
who often visited Wiseton in Lord Althorp's time, has been 
kind enough to send the following interesting particulars as to 
some of the animals in the herd : — " ' Wiseton,' like all the herd, 
possessed a superior quality of flesh peculiarly their own. 
'Orontes' (4628) was hard to the touch. 'Wizard' (6688) 
was of superior quality, and quite the type of the pure Short- 
horn, a beautiful roan, the colour of ' Comet' (155). Many of 
the cows — especially the older ones — resembled Mason's of 
