1850 
THE CULTIVATOR 
189 
Improved Short-horns—Kates’ Stock. 
I N the August (1849) number of The Cultivator , is an article by me 
on the Short-horns, which I imported last year for Mr. Sheafe, 
Col. Sherwood and myself. The January number contains strictures 
by S. P. Chapman, on so much of my article as relates to the bull, 
3d Duke of Cambridge. As Mr. Chapman does not understand my 
views, and therefore mis-states and mis-conslrues them, it is neces¬ 
sary to answer him. He makes many assertions and takes positions, 
which present questions and issues, so numerous, complicated and 
extensive, that, at present, I must leave them unnoticed. There is 
beside, just now , a strong propriety in not discussing these issues. As 
soon as this condition ends, I shall resume the subject, and will fully 
consider them. In this notice, I propose merely to state my meaning 
in the paragraph, to a portion of which Mr. Chapman objects, as he 
understands it, and refute one of his positions. To be clear, I must 
re-produce the passage entire. Speaking of the 3d Duke of Cam- 
bride, I said: 
“ I have great pleasure in knowing that I have brought fb this 
country so superior a bull from the herd of that eminent breeder, 
Mr. Bates. He is the only bull in America got by Mr. Bates’ crack- 
prize bull, Duke of Northumberland (1940,) the best bull Mr. Bates 
ever bred. Mr. Bates has but one more left got by the same bull; 
and Duke of Northumberland is now dead. Mr. Bates repeatedly 
told me that 3d Duke of Cambridge was more like his sire than any 
bull ever got by him. Breeders desiring the blood of Mr. Bates, can 
no where else in this country procure it with such high characteristics 
of style , quality, symmetry and substance. ” 
Mr. Chapman quotes merely the last sentence and discusses it alone. 
The whole paragraph being connected, and the last sentence the con¬ 
clusion or deduction, and the whole having been the subject of re¬ 
mark, I will briefly state what it only means, and was meant only to 
mean. I mean by it, that I have brought to America a superior bull 
from the herd of Mr. Bates ; that this bull, 3d Duke of Cambridge, 
(5941,) is the only bull in America got by Mr. Bates’ Duke of Nor¬ 
thumberland, (1940;) that Duke of Northumberland, (1940,) was Mr. 
Bates’ “ crack prize ” bull, and was the best bull Mr. Bates ever bred; 
that Mr. Bates has but one more bull got by Duke of Northumber¬ 
land, (19400 that the Duke of Northumberland, (1940,) is dead, and 
that Mr. Bates repeatedly told me that 3d Duke of Cambridge, (5941.) 
was more like his sire, (Duke of Northumberland,) than any bull 
ever got by him, (Duke of Northumberland.) In 1845, Duke of 
Northumberland died. In July, 1848, Mr. Bates owned but two bulls 
S ot by Duke of Northumberland, and these two were 2d Duke of 
>xford and 3d Duke of Cambridge. I brought 3d Duke of Cam¬ 
bridge to America, and this left but one son of Duke of Northumber¬ 
land, (1940,) at Mr. Bate^ 5 , and Mr. Bates did not in his lifetime part 
with that son. I designed to place before breeders the fact, that there 
is in this country but one bull, the get of Mr. Bates’ best bull, and that 
if they wish the blood of Mr. Bates’ they could no where else in 
America, than from Cambridge, get Mr. Bates' blood , through the 
particular channel of a resembling and superior son of Mr. Bates’ best 
bull, Duke of Northumberland, (1940.) 
The last sentence of the paragraph which I have quoted from my 
August article, is this:—“ Breeders desiring the blood of Mr. Bates, 
can no where else in this country procure it with such high charac¬ 
teristics of style, quality, symmetry and substance.” This sentence 
is the text; its disproval the object of Mr. Chapman’s whole article. 
Never was an unfortunate sentence so misconstrued. In an article 
printed In Canada, it is made the basis on which to charge me with 
having asserted, “ that from Mr. Sherwood, [through 3d Duke of 
Cambridge,] and from him alone, the Duchess blood can be procur¬ 
ed ” [in this country.] In letters addressed to others, and by the re¬ 
ceivers shown to me, this sentence is made to mean, “ that the 3d 
Duke of Cambridge possesses more of Mr. Bates’ Dutchess blood 
than any other bull in America,” and I am charged by its use with 
so saying, and designing so to say. Mr. Chapman makes it mean 
the same thing, but does so by way of inference, or deduction. His 
words are:—■ No one will deny, that if any one animal from a herd 
possesses the power of imparting to his produce ‘ higher characteris¬ 
tics of style, quality, symmetry and substance,’ than any other ani¬ 
mal from the same herd, he must possess more of the choice blood of 
that particular herd. To question this, is at once doubling the effica¬ 
cy of blood animals.” That is, my position, if it be true, must be 
true, because 3d Duke of Cambridge has more of Mr. Bates’ choice 
blood than any other bull in America. This is the meaning which, 
by deduction Mr. Chapman places on my words. Having done this, 
he proceeds to prove, by quoting Mr. Bates’ opinions, in his own 
words, from public printed letters, that the choice blood of his herd, 
in Mr. Bates’ opinion, is the Duchess blood. No one ever doubted 
that this was his opinion, who either knew Mr. Bates or had read his 
printed or private letters. I know such was his opinion. Mr. Chap¬ 
man then gives from the 4th vol. of the Herd Book the pedigrees of 
3d Duke of Cambridge, and Mr. Vail’s Duke of Wellington, and by 
these pedigrees shows that Cambridge has by his sire one cross of 
Duchess blood, and that Wellington has two by his sire and the sire 
of his dam. The precise quantity which Mr. Chapman gives to each 
is }, i. e. 2-8, of Duchess blood, to Cambridge, and 3-8 to Wellington; 
and therefore he concludes, that Wellington must be a better bull 
than Cambridge. Logical conclusion! Now all this shows a total 
want of knowledge of breeding and of pedigrees in general; and in 
in special of the particular pedigrees which Mr. C. gives of the ani¬ 
mals under his consideration. But to explain this as to the pedigrees, 
would require too much space noio, and I pass it. 
If Mr. Chapman be correct, then it would be true that a bull got 
by one of Mr. Bates’ Dutchess bulls, dam by a Dutchess bull, grand- 
dain, a poor roadside tack, would be a better getter—would impart 
more ‘ high characteristics of style, quality, symmetry and sub¬ 
stance ’—than a bull got by a Duchess bnll, out of a pure, full bred, 
stylish, shorthorn cow, of another approved tribe. Such an absurdi¬ 
ty no one, I think, would maintain, save Mr. C. and those who helped 
him to produce his article. 
On Mr. Chapman’s rule, if sires have each the same amount of 
Duchess blood, they would possess and impart equal “ style, quality, 
symmetry and substance.” Yet no two full brothers were ever 
equally good animals and equally good getters. Duke of Northum¬ 
berland, [1940,] and 2d Duke of Northumberland, [3646,] were full 
brothers. The first was superior as an individual, and very superior 
as a getter. The last was far inferior to his brother as an individual; 
far inferior as a getter. The 3d and 4th Dukes of Northumberland 
were full brothers and twins. The 3d Duke Mr. Bates never used ; 
he was far inferior, both as an individual and as a getter, to the 4th 
Duke. The 3d and 4th Dukes had more Duchess blood than their 
half-brother Duke of Northumberland, (1940,) and were far, veryfar, 
inferior to the Duke of Northumberland, as individuals and as get¬ 
ters. Mr. Vail’s Duke of Wellington, (3654,) has more Duchess 
blood than his half brother Locomotive, (4242,) and yet Locomotive 
was a far better animal and better getter than Wellington. Mr. Har¬ 
vey’s bull, (6658,) son of Locomotive, a distinguished winner even 
in Great Britain, is vastly superior to any thing ever got by Welling¬ 
ton. Duke of Cleveland, (1937,) the sire of the dam of Mr. Vail’s 
Duke of Wellington, (3654,) was a Duchess bull, and was so inferi¬ 
or, that Mr. Bates says of him, “this bull never exceeded in weight 
forty stones of fourteen pounds per stone, when above three years 
old;” that is, 560 pounds, deadweight; not half the proper weight 
of a merely fair animal of that age. (See the London New Farmer’s 
Journal, Aug. 8, 1842.) Duke of Northumberland, (1940,) at the same 
age, weighed, live weight, 2520 lbs. Sink one-third live weight, and 
his dead weight would be 16S0 pounds; just three limes the weight 
of Duke of Cleveland. Could any thing be more despicable than the 
Duke of Cleveland, (1937)? Yet, he had more Duchess blood than 
Duke of Northumberland, (1940,) by one-half. 
The second best bull, as an animal, ever bred by Mr. Bates, in his 
opinion, was the first Duke of Cambridge, (3638,) a full brother of 
3d Duke of Cambridge, and winner of the head prize in his class at 
the show of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, in 1840—an 
animal for which he was offered more money than for any other, ex¬ 
cept Duke of Northumberland, (1940.) And yet 1st Duke of Cam¬ 
bridge had only one-fourth as much Duchess blood as Duke of Cleve¬ 
land, (1937.) 1st Duke of Cambridge was refused to Earl Spencer 
by Mr. Bates, at a very large price, and when sold to go to Austra¬ 
lia, Mr. Bates said of him, “ He is too good a bull to remain in Eng¬ 
land, out of my own herd.” And so he was exported at twenty-one 
months old. Mr. Bates’ Duchess bull, Short-tail, (2621,) the sire of 
Mr. Vail’s Duke of Wellington, had more Duchess blood than Bel¬ 
vedere, (1706,) for Belvedere had none; and yet Short-tail was an 
inferior animal, deficient in every point, except his brisket and his 
handling, and was at best only a moderate getter; while Belvedere, 
(1706,) was magnificent as an animal, and the best getter that Mr. 
Bates ever used, and was the sire of the best animals he ever bred. 
Mr. Renick, the agent of the Ohio Cattle Company, who went to 
England to purchase for them, said of Belvedere, that “ lie was the 
best and finest bull he ever saw in England or America.” The best 
cow which I saw in Mr. Bates’ herd was a Duchess, and was not got 
by a Duchess bull; but was by Belvedere, (1806.) The poorest of 
the whole herd was a Duchess, and ivas got by a Duchess bull. An¬ 
other Duchess cow, got by a Duchess bull, was a very superior 
cow. The two last were equal in Duchess blood; and yet, their pro¬ 
duce were like themselves—from the superior one, superior, from 
the inferior one, inferior. 
Oxford premium cow, the dam of Mr. Vail’s imported Duke of 
Wellington, (3654,) was got by Duke of Cleveland, (1937.) Her 
half-sister, Oxford 2d, was got by Short-tail, (2621.) Short-tail and 
Duke of Cleveland had the same precise amount of Duchess blood, and 
of course Oxford premium cow and her half-sister Oxford, 2d, had 
also the same precise amount of Duchess blood. Yet Mr. Bates ne¬ 
ver kept on his place any thing out of Oxford premium cow, which 
he could sell; never used a bull out of Oxford premium cow, for any 
purpose, even to get steers. Yet he never sold an animal out of Ox¬ 
ford 2d. at all—and in a letter to Mr. Vail, printed in the American 
Agriculturist, he says he would not sell her produce, of which he then 
had four, for five hundred guineas [$2,500] each; nor, indeed, would 
he sell them at any price. The full brother and the sons of Oxford, 
2d he used to his whole herd, except herself and her daughters. And 
Mr. Bates was right; for Oxford 2d, and all her produce, are vastly 
superior to Oxford premium cow and her produce. 
Mr. Vail commissioned me, when in England, to select from Mr. 
Bates’ herd a young bull. I could not get for him such a one as I 
approved, at a suiting price ; and I did not, therefore, execute the 
commission. Mr. Bates offered me, for Mr. Vail, a bull calf, by 2d 
Beverly, (5963,)—(a good Duchess bull)—dam Oxford, 4th, by 
Duke of Northumberland, (1940.) grand-dam, Oxford premium cow; 
but a regard for Mr. Vail’s interest made me refuse the offer, though 
the price suited. I saw the calf's dam; I saw Mr. Bates’ opinion, 
as shown by his practice, and acting accordingly, refused the calf. 
I have cited these peculiar examples, to show by animals having 
Duchess blood, the utter absurdity of Mr. Chapman’s notions of 
breeding. I have compared animals to show his errors, and he set 
me the example. I have confined myself, in my comparisons, to the 
blood that he selects for his comparisons, and have, like Mr. C., quo¬ 
ted Mr. Bates’ opinions, as printed, and his practical ones, as shown 
by his breeding. 
Having refuted the positions of Mr. Chapman, shown him in error, 
and proved that ray position may be true, and not in consequence of 
the reasons he assigns, let me state what my words so often quoted, 
do mean, and what they only can be made to mean, by any construc¬ 
tion of the sentence. I mean, and only mean that 3d Duke of Cam¬ 
bridge will impart Mr. Bates’ blood, in some degree, more or less; 
that in himself he is [he bull having the most “style, quality, sym¬ 
metry and substance,” of all the bulls that have ever come to Ame¬ 
rica from Mr. Bates' herd; that he will get produce with more “style, 
quality, symmetry, and substance,” than any bull from Mr. Bates’ 
herd in America. Now I mean this, and nothing more ; and not that 
he had or would impart more Duchess blood. 
