The object has been to place on record as many facts as could be obtained regarding the work of the early breeders, and the development of the breed throughout the wide regions where it is cultivated. No attempt has been made, or, indeed, could have been made, in a single volume of reasonable size to also furnish detailed accounts of existing herds or of those recently broken up. A good many of them have, however, been briefly alluded to, and a list of existing herds in the United Kingdom is also printed. For this purpose owners of herds were invited to fill up a brief form giving particulars as to their stock, and the list includes those who responded. But as references to herds of the present day can be obtained in contemporary publications, it was decided that the bulk of this book should deal chiefly with breeders and herds that have become historic.
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