1866.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
249 
Gophers—The Striped Gopher. 
It would be a rather dilficult task to describe 
all the animals which go by the name of 
Gopher. In March 1864, (p. 77), we published a 
description of the Pouched Gopher (fig. 2) which 
does much damage in many parts of the West, 
and is reputed hard to catch. If persistently 
followed up with the traps described in the 
April Number, (p. 138,) they would probably 
leave the farms. This 
animal is readily rec¬ 
ognized by its very 
large cheek-pouches, 
short tail, big head, 
and peculiar claws, 
adapted for tinder- 
ground W'ork. It is 
9 to 10 inches or more 
in length to the tail, 
W'hich is only about 
2 inches long, and 
sparsely covered with 
short hairs. A fam¬ 
ily of them will do 
great damage to grain 
fields, and in laying 
in their winter stores. 
We are led to give this 
notice of the gopher, 
because a Wisconsin 
“ critic,” writes us 
about his gopher, as 
follows; “ I find you 
have an erroneous 
idea of the gophers. 
They are not nearly 
as large as musk-rats, 
[we own here to a 
little not altogether 
unintentional exaggeration], but about the size of 
a weasel, and nearly of the same shape. One 
can carry about as much grain in its cheeks as 
a chipmunk, and they are similarly striped, ex¬ 
cept the lightest colored stripes are dotted with 
black dots. In heavy soils one or two pailfulls 
of water will drive them out of their holes ; in 
sandy soil, it will take more. They do not like 
to have their holes disturbed, and in woi'kiug 
my corn, I dig into and 
fill up their holes, and 
drive off most of them.” 
The animal described by 
our friend, is the striped 
gopher, represented in fig. 
1. The wiseacres have 
given it fire pleasant little 
Latin name of Spervio- 
philus tridecem-Uneatus. 
This beautiful little ani¬ 
mal is about the size of 
the common Eed squir¬ 
rel, the tail is somewhat 
bushy, and half the length 
of the body. The color 
was called Duchess. She was called by Mr. 
Bates, “ Duchess by Comet No. 1,” and was 
produced by a remarkable course of in-and-in 
breeding, and gives the name to this most re¬ 
markable and valuable of all the tribes of 
Short-horns.” After he became possessed of 
his first Duchess, he “never,” as he says, 
“ used any bull that had not Duchess blgod.” 
The first Duchess was an extraordinary butter 
maker, and of Duchess 34tli, dam to the fa¬ 
1.— STRIPED GOPHER. 
{Spermophilus tridecem-Uneatus.) —% natural size, 
mous bull Duke of Northumberland, Mr. Bates 
says, as a proof that Short-horns had improved 
under his care, that this cow “ consumes one- 
third less food than my first Duchess (purchased 
in 1804), and her milk yields one-third more 
butter to each quart of milk. There is also a 
greater growth of carcass and an increased apt¬ 
itude to fatten.” We presume she did not give 
so much' milk, or he would have mentioned it. 
is dark brown above, with light stripes, and 
lines of light spots alternating with each other. 
The fourteen species of this genus are charac¬ 
terized by their squirrel like bodies, well devel¬ 
oped cheek pouches, and by burrowing. 
--- < . - - 
The Duchess Family of Short-Horns. 
We give upon our first page a fine portrait 
of the head of Mr. Thorne’s “4th Duchess 
of Thoriidale.” The Duchess family was 
brought into notice by the late Thomas Bates, 
of Ku'kleavington, Eng., he having bought a 
fine cow of Mr. Clias. Colling, in 1810, which 
Fig. 2.— POUCHED GOPHER. —(Gcomys bursaritis .)— natural size. 
The Oxfords originated in the Matchem cow, 
with wdiich Mr. B. took the first prize at Ox¬ 
ford, and were used by him to cross with the 
Duchesses, and they have been so bred in wdth 
them that now-a-days Oxfords and Duchesses 
mean pretty much the same thing, and in this 
tribe also the family name follows the dam. 
Our readers should remember that by the com¬ 
mon consent of breeders no cattle are now 
named Duke or Duchess, except those of that 
family. Nor is the name Oxford used except 
for animals belonging to the fiimily of that name. 
The reputation of Mr. Bates’ herd has been 
long established, and many fine animals from it 
have been brought to this country, for some of 
which prices, considered in England enormous, 
were paid by our enterprizing countrymen. Al¬ 
together, 15 head have been brought here, 
and 3 others purchased, died on the passage.* 
In 1857, Mr. Samuel Thorne purchased of 
Morris & Becar, their entire herd, and as they 
had never sold a female of pure Bates blood, he 
obtained all the imported ones then living, and 
their female progeny. The cow “ 4th Duchess 
of Thorndale,” is one 
of the best in the 
herd of Mr. Thorne, 
and is the mother 
of his famous bull, 
“ 6th Duke of Thorn- 
dale,” an animal 
w^hich has been re¬ 
peatedly pronounced, 
by gentlemen fa¬ 
miliar with the best 
herds of England, the 
best bull they ever 
saw. There has never 
been a public sale 
at Thorndale, but 
Mr. Thorne’s private 
sales, 32 in number, 
all of Duchesses or 
Oxfords, and these 
mostly calves, and, 
with 7 exceptions, 
bulls, brought the 
sum total of $45,650, 
or an average of 
$1,427.50 each. Of 
these, 12 head were 
sold to English breed¬ 
ers and shipped thith¬ 
er in 1861 and 1862. 
That the credit of this tribe of the combined 
Duchess and Oxford families has not lost 
strength, but rather gained among English 
breeders, notwithstanding their natural jealous¬ 
ies, is evinced by the most recent sales both 
public and private of this stock. At Mr. He- 
gan’s sale which took place a year ago, at 
Dawpool, Eng., 17 of the descendents of Duch¬ 
ess 51st, brought £481 3s. each, as we usually 
calculate, equal to $2,405, 
which is by far the largest 
price ever brought, by a 
herd of Short-horns at 
public sale. The herd was 
small and very choice- 
The heads of the Duch¬ 
esses are quite peculiar, 
and are well represented 
in the engraving referred 
to. The whole poise of 
the head is peculiar; the 
dishing face, giving the 
marked prominence to the 
eyes and nose; the large, 
full eye; the clean jaws 
and jowls, mark the family quite as distinctly 
as they do particular individuals. 
* They were brought out in the following order; 
Imported by Lewis G. Morris, N. Y. 
“ by N. J. Becar, N. Y. 
I “ by Iv. A. Alexander, Ky. 
“ by Lorillard & Spencer, N. Y. 
“ by Jonathan Thorne, N. Y. 
1 Cow, Oxford 5th, 
“ Oxford 10th, 
“ Oxford 13th, 
4 2d Duke of Athol, 
5 Duchess of Athol, 
6 Duke of Athol, 
7 Duchess 59th, 
8 Duchess G4th, 
9 Duchess 68th,* 
10 Grand Duke, 
11 4th Duke of York, 
12 Duke of Gloster, 
13 Duchess 66th, 
14 Oxford 6th, 
15 Oxford nth, 
16 2(1 Grand Duke, 
17 Duke of Dorset,! 
18 Grand Duke of Oxford, 
* Killed on the voyage. 
by .Jonathan Thorne, N. Y. 
‘ by Cadwaliader & Vail, N.Y. 
by Morris & Becar, N. Y. 
by Samuel Thorne, N. Y. 
‘ by Samuel Thorne, N. Y. 
by Jas. 0. Sheldon, N. Y. 
t Died on the passage. 
