THE RIVAL BREEDERS, BOOTH AND BATES.

North Otago Times, 3 December 1910, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE RIVAL BREEDERS, BOOTH AND BATES.

....— —t—■rr:; . . By the Hon. J. Dryden, Pres. Canadian Nat. Live Stock; Ass. In the beginning of the- nineteenth centuryi there were several prominent breeders in England, and later in Scotland, all of whom,were producing good cattle, and from whose herds, individual animals found their way into Canada, examples of which have already been noticed,. The breed/had now become 'firmly .established in public favour, and new men on both sides of the Atlantic were constantly embarking in the business. Choice specimens were constantly iti demand, and at prices which would be considered high, in our day. Up to this '■ time the Shorthorns had held to their original record as heavy milkers, but influences were at' work-silently at first and more openly later—which' would have the cfieci! of burning aside a large percentage of breeders from the dual purpose idea to the single object of producing beef, Prominent among these, and gradually forcing himself to the front, was Thos. Booth, of Killerby, followed by his. two sons, Richard and John. With this object in view, Mr. Booth did not seek to purchase high-blood-ed females of the more fashionable blood, but made his selections from among the lower-priced animals having the characteristics required, namely, robustness, form, weight of carcase, and feeding quality. One of his purchases was selected in the market at Darlington, and consisted of a yellow-red and white cow, which from her general appearance attracted Mr, Booth's attention, This cow crossed with the inbred Colling bull i produced Young Albion (15), one of i the noted bulls of that day. Several I others of Mr. Booth's great prizej winners, including the twin cpws ! Necklace and Bracelet, trace to this | cow. It turned out a most fortunate I purchase. Prom another breeder he | selected five heifer calves, and one 'of these became the foundation of another of Mr, Booth's great families. Upon these selected females he used the stronglybrcd bulls of Messrs Colling and others of that time. Whatever of extra milking propensity some of these individual females may have possessed, Mr, Booth did not.seek to perpetuate it, paying attention only, to the production of the carcase for beef,; nor did he ascribe great importance to some of the minor points, such as the turn of the horn, delicacy of the head. Some of his cows are said to have presented rather a steery appearance. He was, however, a skilful breeder, and continued his work with much success. Some would say his ideal was wrong, otherwise all admit he was among the most noted breeders of his time, and made a high reputation for himself. Many of his females were successful as showyard winners, and within the writer's recollection their descendants when matured were beautiful animals. It is easily seen that the success achieved could not have been reached in so short a time had it not been possible to use the inbred bulls from the herds of Messrs. Colling. These were followed by bulls from his own herd, which had in other -hands

proved themselves as superior sires, While the Booth cattle, were being developed, another breeder, with an ideal somewhat different, was endeavouring with slightly different material to work out his idea to a successful issue. This man was Thomas Bates, the originator of Bates' Shorthorns. Judged by the values reached for individual, animals his success was quite beyond that of Mr. Booth. He clung tenaciously to the thought that the dual purpose idea' should not be lost, and boasted of the strong milking propensity of his cattle throughout his entire course, The foundation of his herd was different from that of Mr. Booth. Instead of selecting his early purchases. in the market or from some breeder not at all famous, as Mr. Booth did, he purchased what he declared to be the best cow in Mr. Oolling's herd. This cow was Duchess by Daisy Bull, and cost 100 guineas.. Some years afterwards he bought her granddaughter, Young Duchess, sired by the £I,OOO bull Comet (155), for 183 guineas, These were the foundation of the Duchess tribe, which after 'Mr,, Bates' life was ended, became the most fashionable family of Shorthorns ever known

The highest priced cow of the breed ever-sold at auction belonged to this family, The writer was present at the great sale at New York Mills, U.S., in 1873, where 80th Duchess of Geneva was knocked down to an English buyer at 40,600 dollars. Pour others followed at 19,000, 15,600, 15,300, and 25,000 dollars respectively, Pour more followed at 19,000/ 15,600, 15,300, and 15,000 dollars, The highest-priced bull was 12,000 dollars for -2nd Duke of Oneida, It was worth going a long distance to witness this sale, We have only seen one and never shall see another. The excitement was most intense. It is surely not too much to say that no one expected such high prices before the sale started. The purchasers were driven forward far beyond their original intention by force of circumstances which could not be controlled, It was surmised that one -syndicate; had thought of i 20,000 dollars, as it was a matter of rumour that 60,000 had been pro-1 vided for the purchase of three individuals, It was the evident surprise of every individual purchaser, as well as every spectator,, which gave such intensity of feeling to all present. Talk about the excitement of a horse race I Such an event is not in it at all. On several of the animals the excitement grew as the bids rose, until with the vast audience assembled not a sound could be heard. The stillness of death'prevailed, interrupted only by the quiet voice of the auctioneer, repeating the bid. J. R. Page, the- noted artist, wielded the hammer, and for that crowd and that occasion no better could have been selected. Perfectly calm throughout the greatest strain of the excitement among others, and with that dignity which seemed to say "I am dealing with gentlemen,'" he held the crowd under entire control. No one talked but himself until the last bid whs in and he declared.the animal "sold." Then the reaction came, and cheer after cheer arose from, the onlookers, It was a great day, and a great sale, land a great privilege to be present, [mm MM tlPf[Mf H thirty

years after it is passed. Other,sales followed in -that and the following year, where comparatively high prices prevailed; but none approached this one. The highest priced female was . sold in America in 1873, while the highestrprlced bull ever sold, was the Duke'of Connaught (33604), sold 'in Great Britain in 1875 for 26,904 dollars. This hull was traced to the original Duchess cow purchased by Bates from Colling. These high prices turned the, attention of all! more and more to Bates-breed cat-! tie. Booth cattle, from this time on j seemed to be neglected, a nd wherever j offered at public auction prices were ! greatly reduced; This undoubtedly led to. careless mating, which further tended* to loosen their, hold on the. general public ou both sides oi the Atlantic. ... ! The exceedingly high prices paid. for certain individuals among.the< Bates cattle set more and more persons ' on the chase for that blood, and that only. The result "was that a particular pedigree began to increase in value in the mind of the • purchaser, regardless of individual' merit, The result was the same as, that reached in the Booth cattle, only it came alout from another reason. Men became enamoured with pedigree, regardless of what it should represent, and from this point the, downfall of the Bates cattle began.; To add to this pedigree fad, which, seized great numbers of the breeders, j another crazy idea became prevalent' l —that, while the Shorthorns from the first had shown a variety of colours, from a yellow-red to clear, white, now Otoly one colour was per-i missible,' and that must be dark; red. This naturally limited the selec-; tion of superior males, as no one' would 'for some years consider seriously a proposal to use at- the head of their herd a white bull, nor even a beautiful roan. It is easily, seen that, with these two ideas becoming more and more prevalent, individual excellence was, in many cases, lost sight of. The splendid furry coats of the days of Colling or of Bates and Booth were seldom sean, but, instead, a. certain harshness of hair and hardness of skin, which was the certain premonition of failure to hold the first place in the esteem of the masses of the people. Both of these tribes seemed to be growing farther away from the early-matur-ing qualities sought after. Many breeders looked more for gay appearance than superior feeding qualities. But the man standing next to the consumer could not satisfy him with mere style, or even pedigree, These both' went into the waste basket when the animal was killed. Good flesh, and lots of it, alone met the demand then. With this lacking, we cannot wonder that the practical man of that day refused to accept the results reached,

While this was going on in Shorthorn breeding, the owners of other beef breeds were moving in exactly the opposite direction, and began to present cattle for public criticism of another type. But no breed exists to-day which by a cross of any kind can improve the Shorthorn. On the contrary, it is asserted that an im fusion of Shorthorn blood improves the grade crosses of any other breed, and in most cases the pure breed also,

Notwithstanding this fact, ' there was a time' within the writer's recollection when the ascendancy of the Shorthorn hung in the balance, Style colour, and pedigree had taken them, far away from the original ideal of Bates, or even Booth. Many of the best and most fashionably-bred presented long necks, shallow bodies, and hard •feeders. But, fortunately, another sun was even then rising which would infuse new life and new hopes in the Shorthorn world, Another ideal, better than the old, was to. be created, Baby 1 beef was asked for-everywhere, which meant the old weight at a much earlier age. Quick growers, easy feeders, good handlers, thicker bodies, shorter necks, with. thick flesh a ll over, was to be worked out of the old foundation left by the breeders. of the days of Bates and Booth.