THE PRINCESS TRIBE OF SHORT HORNS, ETC. 
125 
THE PRINCESS TRIBE OF SHORT HORNS. 
The following is an extract from a letter recently 
written by Thomas Bates, Esq., Kirkleavington, 
England, to Mr. Geo. Vail, of Troy, New York. 
No animals of the Princess blood can now be 
had in England, worth sending to America, except 
what I have, descended from the Matchem cow, the 
grandam of your Wellington; and that tribe was 
only preserved by putting the Matchem cow to 
bulls of my Duchess family. Mr. Harvey, of 
Liverpool, instructed me to buy one for him, last 
year, for which I gave twenty pounds, but he soon 
sold her for less than prime cost. 
I will give you the particulars of the breeding of 
the Matcnem cow. I bought her at a public sale 
(and all the most conspicuous breeders were there); 
the price was £11. I bought sixteen other cows 
at the same sale, and not one of them bred anything 
good, except the Matchem cow. She had bred 
two calves, both indifferent, and was in calf when I 
bought her, to Young Monarch, a bull of Mr. 
Mason’s tribe. They are now attempting to hold 
this tribe in high estimation in England, but they never 
were good, and never can be made good, let breed¬ 
ers try as long as they please. I put this cow after¬ 
wards to two bulls (one of Mr. Whittaker’s tribe). 
Her first five calves were all very indifferent. 
The Matchem cow’s looks and character were 
all one could wish, white in color, with fine waxy 
horns. She was a very great milker, and was 
always, when in milk, very low in condition, and 
always milked through to calving. When she 
ceased breeding, having had ten calves, she was 
fed off at seventeen years of age, and in three 
months, she made an excellent carcass of beef ; 
which was of beautiful color and well marbled, fat 
mixed with lean, which is a mark of excellence; and 
very few tribes of cattle are so, except the Duchess 
tribe or blood. Fine marbled beef can only be had 
from really good handlers, with good hair. 
I let my tenants, the Messrs. Bell, have this 
cow after 1 had bought her. She leaped the fences 
and led all the other cattle astray ; and Messrs. 
Bell desired me to let them sell her at Darlington, 
which I did, saying, “ ask £12 for her, and do not 
take less than prime cost, £11. If you cannot get 
that bring her home again. In the evening, Mr. 
Bell came home with the cow, and on inquiry, I 
found he was once offered £9 15 shillings, and 
she stood at £11, and no one w T ould give it. I 
asked him if he still washed to part with her; he 
said yes, at £11. I said I would take her at that 
price, if he wished ; but would tell him beforehand, 
that I would put her to bulls having Duchess blood, 
and I was sure she would not breed a calf worth 
less than 100 guineas. After so telling him, he said 
he would be glad to have £11 for her, which I 
gave him. 
I put her, the first two years, to my bull, Duke of 
Cleveland, and the last three years to my bull, 
Short Tail. The Oxford premium cow (the dam of 
your Wellington), washer first calf. I never saw 
calves so promising from the calving, and all the 
stock descended from them has been superior. 
Now I have at different times bought near forty 
cows of the Princess tribe, the best of that tribe 
then left in England, and this one , the Matchem 
cow T , alone , has been the only one that I have con¬ 
tinued to breed from. I have never seen one of 
the Princess tribe after a cross of any other blood, 
than the Duchess tribe of bulls, ever breed well 
again. They breed well to pure-bred Princess tribe 
of bulls; but the purchasers of them have had no 
judgment and used other tribes of Short Horns. 
Now this fact speaks volumes of the danger of 
using blood not properly descended on both sides, 
sire and dam. Had the Princess family, sold at 
Sir Henry Vane Tempest’s sale after his death in 
1813, been properly preserved, and put to m3 T 
Duchess tribe of bulls, they would now have been 
the best in England; but there is not one now 
good, except those I have from the Matchem cow, 
and her descendants—and without one exception , 
these have all been good, and all descended from 
them. Your Wellington is a proof; and I have 
now four calves from the own sister of my two 
Cleveland Lads, which I would not take two thou¬ 
sand guineas for, nor indeed sell at any price. Two 
of these were by my Duke of Northumberland, a 
bull and a heifer; the other two, also, a bull and a 
heifer, by my 2d Duke of Northumberland. The 
dam of these is now in calf to my 4th Duke of 
Northumberland. 
I have been thus particular to let you know how 
highly I prize this tribe, the only one left of any 
value from the Princess tribe of cows. 
THE RIDGING OR DOUBLE MOULD-BOARD 
PLOW. 
This implement is sufficiently light to be worked 
by one horse, and is used for opening drills to plant 
potatoes, corn, &c. In plowing out between narrow 
rows, it throws the dirt both ways to the plants, and 
thus does the work of two plows. It is also very use¬ 
ful in digging potatoes, as well as a very convenient 
implement for various kinds of work, ditching, 
&c., and should always be kept on the farm. 
Fig. 29.— Side View. 
No. 2 Double Mould Board. —Of same construc¬ 
tion and use as the above, but one size larger. 
This is also used in furrowing for planting cane, 
and making light ditches. It has an extra point 
made, of an additional width, for the purpose of 
digging potatoes. 
The Fluke or Double-Expanding Mould-Board 
Plow, for planting Sugar Cane. —This is a plow 
recently made, expressly for the use of sugar 
planters, by which a furrow is opened ten to twelve 
inches wide, and four to five inches deep. 
