This account of the prize-winning cattle at Bapton was first published in a magazine in July 1902:
Bapton, which is passing into the nomenclature of shorthorn cattle, and becoming as familiar as Collynynie, Kirklevington, or Sittyton, is the name of the country seat of Mr. Deane Willis. The Manor is in the Vale of Wylye, not far from Wylye Station, and in the parish of Codford St. Mary, which, as the parish councillor said, is “contagious” to Salisbury. The estate possesses much of the scenic charm associated with the Wiltshire Downland, but one would scarcely select it for the special purpose of grazing cattle, as the light soil resting on chalk holds small promise of good feed. Looking from a commanding down over the breadth of several estates one finds the natural green diversified with tints of the poppy, the moon daisy, the wild mustard, hues more satisfactory to the landscape painter than to the farmer.
However, as a good workman is independent of his tools, so a born breeder can succeed almost anywhere; and without making odious comparisons, it may be said at once that there is no finer herd of beef shorthorns in England than that belonging to Mr. Deane Willis. We lay the emphasis on beef because some owners, notable among whom is Lord Rothschild, are giving all their attention to developing the milking properties of the breed, and do not show where the importance of dairy points is not fully recognised.
Mr. Deane Willis represents the other side, and works exclusively for beef. His story as a breeder is most interesting. The taste was not inherited, and simply grew on him by degrees. About fifteen years ago, while his father still was living, he exhibited one shorthorn, and was immensely pleased to be able to carry away a prize of one guinea. Since then his cattle have won 1,095 prizes, amounting in total value to over £8,000 – an immense sum if we consider the usual modest dimensions of such awards.
The herd originated in the purchase in 1890 of thirty-two heifers from the famous Sittyton herd of Mr. Amos Cruikshank. For these Mr. Willis paid £3,200, or an average of £100 apiece, and he relates with zest how he telegraphed for his father’s permission to complete the bargain and the advice given him. After deep consideration the bulls chosen for use in the herd were Count Lavender, a great winning bull of his day, bred by Mr. W. Duthie, and Captain of the Guard, a red bull bred by Mr. Cruickshank. The result completely justified the sagacity of those who had worked out this arrangement, and the offspring of these bulls and heifers soon began to win wherever they were exhibited.
No doubt there was another factor in the welcome change of climate. At that time, it is generally conceded, breeding was too much in-and-in. The average breeder had his Bates blood or his Booth blood and stuck to it. Mr. Willis is not himself a great advocate of crossing, but the complete change of climate appears to have produced the invigorating effect often expected from a cross. Scotch owners have found it answer well to reverse the process and to take back to Scotland new blood from Bapton Manor. In regard to crossing, the experience of Mr. Willis is that the introduction of blood from other tribes is not always successful in the first instance, but tells when the produce of the first cross is bred from.
However, his principles will be apparent from a brief account of a few of the more remarkable animals at present in the herd. First and foremost comes, of course, the white bull C.I.V., who created so much sensation at Reading by beating the King’s great bull Royal Duke. Some exception was taken to the judging on that occasion. The objectors complained of the shortness of neck in C.I.V., but probably that was the first occasion on which a short neck was considered a defect in a shorthorn bull. As a matter of fact the animal is in his finest bloom as a two year old and the other, as a four year old, is past his bloom. Both are magnificent animals, and a finer struggle than that between them was never seen in a show-ring. Most of us would like to see the King win everything just now, but, loyalty apart, and considering the animals simply as shorthorns, the reversal of the verdict at Carlisle is surprising.
Curiously enough, the only previous occasion on which Royal Duke had to be content with second was at the Maidstone Show, when he was beaten by one of Mr. Deane Willis’s yearlings, afterwards sold to the United States for 800 guineas. The sire of C.I.V. was Brave Archer, a champion bull sold by Mr. Deane Willis for £1,250 to go to the United States, and his dam was Carnation, a winner of many prizes, who came from the Cruickshank Crocus tribe. Her sire was Count Lavender, mentioned above. One of the most successful of the show bulls, he won fifty-three first and champion prizes, and was hired for one season by her late Majesty Queen Victoria for use in the herd at Windsor. At present C.I.V. is only twenty-three months old, and yet the following extraordinary list of prizes has gone to his credit:
1901.
First and champion Lincoln.
First Essex.
First and champion shorthorn bull Newport.
First and champion Chippenham.
1902.
First and champion Bath and West.
First and champion Wiltshire.
First and champion Essex.
First and champion Royal Counties.
At Reading he won the King’s prize for best shorthorn, beating His Majesty’s Royal Duke. Such a record must be well-nigh unprecedented at his age, and the best of it is that he has every appearance of maintaining it in days to come. Looked at at home, with his magnificent wide front, back as level as a billiard-table, and heavy buttocks, he is well-nigh faultless, and every inch a champion shorthorn.
Bapton Florist is almost as good a bull as C.I.V. He is aged sixteen months, and his sire is that good bull Silver Plate, at present hired by the King for use at Windsor. His dam is Moon Daisy, one of the old Daisy tribe which has furnished so many prize-winners. Bapton Florist also has had a distinguished show career, having won first prize at the following exhibitions – Chippenham, Oxford, Bath and West, Wiltshire, Royal Counties, and Norfolk. Also he has been on two occasions reserve to C.I.V. for the championship.
The history of Bapton Sapphire illustrates the richness of the herd which can afford to dispense with so many first-rate animals and yet maintain a leading place. His sire Bapton Diamond won a first prize as a calf at the Great Yorkshire Show and Mr. Deane Willis sold him for £500. He has just been resold to go to the United States for £1,000. The dam of Sapphire (who is just eight months old) is Golden Gift. She was first at the Royal, and was afterwards sold by Mr. Deane Willis for £400. She comes of a famous Cruickshank tribe much favoured by Mr. Willis, the Brawith Buds. Bapton Sapphire was shown for the first time at the Essex Show, when he carried off the first prize for his class.
A herd with three such bulls in it as C.I.V., Bapton Florist, and Bapton Sapphire, would be noteworthy for the fact itself, but these are only examples drawn from many others.
The record of the cows is almost as brilliant as that of the bulls. White Heather, for instance, is one of the greatest show cows of modern times, having taken no fewer than thirty first prizes and ten championships, including that at the Royal, along with those at the other large shows of 1901, and in the present year she at Oxford won championship honours for the best animal of any breed in the show. She was also first at the Bath and West, and first at Norfolk. Block-shaped as she is and the ideal of a butcher’s cow, it will be noticed that White Heather has a well-shaped udder and other signs of possessing those dairy possibilities that are always ready to be developed in the shorthorn breed.
Malmaison is a pretty fifteen months old heifer with an unbeaten record. Her sire is Bapton Florist, and her dam another of the famous Daisy tribe, Wiltshire Daisy. She has been shown at Oxford, Bath and West, Wiltshire, Royal Counties, and Norfolk, in every case carrying off the first prize.
Perhaps the most substantial proof of the eminence of this herd is the extent to which it has been drawn upon by the best collections of shorthorns in the country, notably by His Majesty the King, whose manager, Mr. Tait, has as thorough an understanding of the principles of breeding cattle as any man in England. Some of the most distinguished cattle at both Sandringham and Windsor hailed originally from Bapton Manor.
The American breeders, too, continually have their eyes fixed on it. Only the other day six of the heifers seen in the group photographed in the field were sold to a United States buyer for £100 apiece, and a very high bid has been made for C.I.V. But it is always a delicate matter to decide about selling an animal of outstanding merit like this white bull. He is the product not of a single happy mating, but of years of careful and skilful breeding.
And, again, in the case of a man like Mr. Deane Willis, with whom the breeding of shorthorns is not a mercantile adventure but a hobby and pastime, the pleasure of ownership is worth a great deal in itself. Further, in the building up of a herd it is essential that the best bulls should be used, and it will be very interesting to notice what impress this magnificent animal leaves on his stock. Mr. Willis is greatly inclined to favour the use of young bulls, and as pedigree stock exists largely for the purpose of being sold, it is not a rash guess that when C.I.V. has won a few more laurels and has had his period at the stud he will have to make way for some of the promising youngsters that always are coming on at Bapton.
The continual purchase of the cream of our herds by American breeders of course opens up a very large question. For years the beef they sent over to us was of such inferior quality that it scarcely came into competition with the best of that produced at home. Now, however, that they possess so many of the very best animals bred in England, this can no longer be said. And that again shows the far-reaching effects of pedigree stock raising. The bulls and heifers that go abroad are exercising a great influence in the way of improving the cattle of the world.
We have been so much engaged in recounting the triumphs of the beasts as to have curtailed the space that might have been devoted to their surroundings. But really there is not much to tell. It is not by elegant buildings and the adoption of new appliances that success is attained. The phrase with which one would describe the cowhouses and outbuildings, which are all adjacent and convenient to the house, is that they are thoroughly right. Nothing looks very new, but all is clean, simple, homely, and obviously looked after by servants who are not only well-trained, but have caught some of their master’s enthusiasm, which in turn has begot a healthy willingness to work.
And the enthusiasm of Mr. Deane Willis for shorthorn cattle makes itself both seen and felt. On his book-shelves are the standard works on the subject, and on his walls are pictures of the heroes of the past – Brave Archer and Count Lavender, Prince Stephen and Count Victor, Challenge Cup Bapton Victor, and others whose names were once familiar where shows are held. But it would leave a false impression to represent him as being interested alone in shorthorns. He is really a man of very versatile tastes, and not least of his recommendations is that he is a kindly English landowner, deservedly loved by all who have to do with him, and whose victories never cause anything but rejoicing.