36 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



Liebig, the application of steam to farming, and other causes, 

 have gradually forced the higher claseea to encourage agricul- 

 tural improvement. The taste once eatablished baa grown 

 with wonderful rapidity, until, by the aid of her agricultural 

 press and agricultural accieties, England leads the world in all 

 that relates to the department of husbandry. And perhaps 

 in nothing has this improvement been more shown than in 

 the breeding of stock, for not even the feeblest comparison 

 can be made between the perfected shorthorns of the present 

 day and those ancestral types of the breed that roamed the 

 country a century or two ago. 



It is only within the last fifty years that the principles of 

 animal life have been thoroughly elucidated, and the import- 

 ance of preserving correct registers of pedigree properly 

 estimated ; and hence it is that when we come to investigate 

 the early history of the Hereford and other leading breeds, we 

 find their origin lost in perfect uncertainty. All we can do is 

 to commence with the efforts of Eome well-known breeder, and 

 trace their improvement to the present time. With shorthorns 

 this is a comparatively easy task ; for the animals bred, we 

 might almost say created, by Mr. Charles Colling, stand out 

 from their ancestry with such distinctness as to furnish a con- 

 venient landmark for our investigations ; while there is not on 

 record an early improver of the Herefords whose case can be 

 taken as a parallel. The most authentic account we have is 

 that given by Mr, C. Hillyard, who published in 1814 a most 

 excellent treatise on " Prsctical Farming and Grazing." 

 Speaking of the improvement in Herefords, he says that 

 Benjamin Tomkins, of Wellington Court, was famed for a 

 superior herd of that breed, many animals of which getting 

 into the hands of John Price, of Ryal, near Upton-on-Severn, 

 he in a few years had a herd, that at his sale in 1816 brought 

 wonderful prices. Cows sold as high as £200 to £260 each • 

 and bulls for £300 to £360 each. Lord Talbot purchased' 

 twenty-three animals for £2,500, an average of £108 14s. each. 

 During seven years Mr. Price sold one hundred Herefords for 

 £10,400. Among the earlier breeders of note the names of 

 TuUy, Yeoman, Skyrene, Williams, and Weyman, are on re- 

 cord; and in 1844 Earls Talbot and Oxford, Sir Francis Law- 

 ley, Hungerford Hoskyns, Sir Francis Goodericke, Sir Robt. 

 Price, Juo. Arkwright, Jeffrey, Turner, Yeld, Hewer, Rayncr, 

 Knight, and Smithies, led the van. Mr. Hillyard says that at 

 this period " they were breeding too fine, too narrow in the 

 chine, the fore legs too close together, and not capacious 

 enough in chest ; too thin in thighs, with a want of muscle, 

 and therefore, when well-fed, there was a want of due propor- 

 tion of lean to fat meat.' 



This was no doubt true, for the treatise of Mr. Hillyard 

 bears the marks of having been composed by a candid and 

 practical man, and one whose opinions should be received with 

 due respect. The same bad points are not to be charged to 

 the best Herefords of to-day, for the herds of Lord Berwick, 

 Lord Bateman, and other leading breeders, can perhaps show 

 as good an average as any shsrlhorn herds of similar size. 



CLASSIFICATION OF THE BREED. 

 The Herefords are placed by all the leading writers in 

 the class of " Middle-horns;" thatjs, they are neither long- 

 horned, like the Cravens and Leicesters, nor short-horned, 

 like the prevailing blooded stock that is now in fashion ; 

 but are in the sarae rank as the Devons, Sussex, Glanior- 

 gans, and others. The Herefords are considered an abori- 

 ginal breed, and as having, perhaps, the same origin as the 

 Devons. Those who have only known them with white 

 faces, throats, and bellies, would scarcely believe that it 

 has been a difficiiH maitcr to distinguish a heavy Devon 



from a light Hereford ; but such is the fact. Youatt says 

 that, " compared with the Devons, they are shorter in the 

 leg, and also in the carcass ; higher, broader, and heavier 

 in the chine ; rounder and wider across the hips, and better 

 covered with fat ; the thigh fully and more muscular, and 

 the shoulders larger and coarser." 



A few years since they were not of the same uniformity 

 of appearance as now, for we learn from Mr. R. Smith's 

 report on the stock exhibited at Chester last year, that for- 

 merly "there were some herds self coloured like the Devon 

 and Sussex breeds, and opinions have been published that 

 this was their original character. Subsequently we find 

 the gray, the mottled, and the white-faced, each with their 



distinct admirers and their successful breeders That 



the race was originallj' red with a white face is indicated by 

 the almost perfect uniformity of colour which the breed of 

 the county now presents." If this peculiarity were not 

 inherent in the race, but merely the result of mongrel breed- 

 ing, we should find every imaginable variation of the colour ; 

 or rather, where herds had been bred pure, we should see 

 the colour recurring to some other original type ; for this is 

 the peculiarity of well-established strains, to overcome 

 modifications attained by art and preserve their ancient 

 landmarks. 



MILKING PROPERTIES NEGLECTED. 



Hereford oxtn have ever been noted for their strength, 

 endurance, docility, and feeding propensities, as well as for 

 the fine quality of the best pieces of beef. The general 

 introduction of horses has in great measure driven them, 

 however, from the plough; while as a further reason we 

 might add that the farmers find it more profitable to grow 

 them so as to be fit for the butcher at three years of age, 

 than to keep t'nem as v/orking nniniah until they are six or 

 seven. 



As regards their performance "at the pail," not much 

 can be said ; for while Hereford milk is confessedly rich in 

 quality, the efforts of breeders have been so turned to deve- 

 loping beef-making qualities that no heed is given to the 

 production of milk. In fact, it is a common practice in 

 their native county to let the calves run with their dams in 

 the natural state ; and even then, it is sometimes necessary 

 to have common cows to act as wet-nurses to the young 

 beef- makers. This is a crude state of things that should 

 be replaced by a better system, but especially so if it is 

 expected that Hereford cows may sometimes be needed to 

 give milk to their owners. The short-horn men are not a 

 whit better in this respect, for they put forth all their ener- 

 gies to get a heifer up to an enormous weight, and neglect 

 milk-making properties altogether. The scale of points 

 given by our agricultural societies to their judges on cattle, 

 as a guide to their decisions, tells the whole story ; the deve- 

 lopment of bag, and signs of milking ability, are put down 

 in the merit list at three or four per cent., while the beef 

 points are exalted to the highest degree. What is the 

 result of this treatment.'' The system becomes so over- 

 loaded with fat that the mammary glands and ducts, that 

 should be left free to secrete and convey milk, are coated 

 over with fatty matter, and the How of milk becomes at 

 first almost, and ultimately quite, impeded. The heifer 

 coming in calf and near her time, the system is overheated 

 and inflamed, and there is great danger that she will lose 

 her own life, or that of her calf. Our breeders know this 

 better than we can tell them ; but in England and this 

 country, let two lots of cattle of equal excellence be shown, 

 and. in nine cases out of ten, thnso which are in proper 



