Cattle 1853 - Lewis Family Farm

SHORT-HORNS. US
„" The bull Hubback being now pronounced the grand cause of improvement
of- the Ketton and Barmptons, it behooves every breederto
prove his stock related to this wonderful animal." Yet Mr. Hunter
bred Hubback, and not Charles Colling.
Mr. Bates in a letter relating to his Duchess tribe of cattle, says,
" I purchased my original cow of. this tribe of cattle, of the late
Charles Colling, Esq., of Ketton ; they had been in the possession of
Mr. Colling twenty years, who purchased his original cow from Stanwix,
and called her Duehess, which Mr. C. Colling repeatedly assured
me was the best he ever had or ever saw, and that he never was able to
improve upon her, although put to his best bulls."
Mr. Charles Colling never bred out of the cow Lady Maynard,
(Favorite), so good and fine a cow as she was herself. Mr. A. B. Allen,
editor of the Agriculturist, in his " History and Traditions of Shorthorn
Cattle," says :
" It was conceded by a company of old breeders
in 1812, in discussing the question of the improvement of shorthorns,
that no stock, of Mr. Colling's breeding ever equalled "Lady
Maynard," the dam of-Phoenix and grandam of Favorite." And Mr.
Bates states the same as having again taken place in 1822, at another
meeting of old breeders, of whom Mr. Colling was one ; and
that Mr. C. himself admitted that he had never, in the descendants
of Lady Maynard, bred anything better than herself.
It is evident from these authorities, that Mr. C. Colling procured
originally some animals, than which he never bred anything better
and beside those named, this was the case with Haugbton, by Hubback,
bought by Mr. Colling of Alexander Hall ; and the original of
the Daisy tribe, bought of Mr. Waistel, of Great Burdon. There is
no doubt that he obtained the very best material, for his breeding, to
be had. His brother Robert did the same.
Hutchinson says, " no breeders acted with so much foresight and
sound policy—for who but themselves, would have thought of feeding
any animal from calfhood until seven years of age, in so extravagant
a manner as the White Heifer (and the Durham Ox) was fed
and made a monster of. The scheme was a deep one, and succeeded
to a miracle. She, (as well as the Durham ox,) was shown all over
the kingdom, and raised the character of their breed, in the opinion
of the world, to the highest pitch of eminence."
Great credit is due to the Messrs. Colling for the herds they
reared and disseminated ; and while it is true that in their career
they had the best herds then in existence, it is equally true that they
never bred better animals than they procured originally, with which
to commence breeding.
The obvious and great merit of the Collings was, that they
brought the short-horns into general notice, out of a local reputation,
and made them as well known abroad as they were in the valley of
the Tees river ; not that they improved on their good originals.
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