632 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



by John Speed in 1627 on England, Wales and Scotland, in which he says 

 of Herefordshire: 



"The climate is most healthful and the soil so fertile for corn and 

 cattle that no place in England yieldeth more or better conditions." 



So it was then, so it is now the garden spot of England and an ideal 

 home for man and beast. Sloping to the western ocean it is fanned by 

 moist and gentle breezes from the gulf stream, making its climate almost 

 continual spring and summer. Standing as I have on the ruins of Ludlow 

 castle, looking toward the south and west, taking in the valleys of the Lug, 

 the Wye and the. Teme, you have a landscape before you that cannot be 

 equaled for rural richness and beauty. The harmony is so complete that 

 it is hard to tell what to admire the most, the rich yellow grain fields, the 

 soft green pastures, the clear ripping trout streams or the finest of Eng- 

 land's spreading oaks, altogether a scene that neither brush nor words 

 can describe and one wonders is it real or an angelic sketch of Eden before 

 the fall. Surely it is a blending of heaven and earth inspiring the prayer 

 of the honest old plowman, "O, Lord, if there is nae room for me up there 

 let me bide at the Meadows and fish in the Teme." This is the cradle of 

 the Hereford cattle, where Benjamin Tompkins in 1742 tended their in- 

 fancy, giving direction to their color and form, supplemented by the 

 Hewers and succeeded by Elder John Price, who with great care and skill 

 brought them down to the early masters of the passing generation, many 

 of whom I have met, and no wonder that such artists from such material 

 and opportunity should mould forms so perfect as by care and selection 

 in mating they have done. Here we have a breed of cattle fitted exactly 

 for that country and also for the London market. A country that will hold 

 against all comers. But on that island they have not spread. I never 

 saw one in Scotland and they remain almost unknown in Ireland. But 

 the shrewd and enterprising American noticed and appreciated their qual- 

 ity and large numbers in late years have been brought to this country, in- 

 cluding many of the finest individuals of the breed. Along with the cattle 

 come some of their best herdsmen. Many of the best falling into the hands 

 of the rich, liberal and broad-minded men, many of their sterling qualities 

 vviiT be preserved, although breeding here under such changed conditions 

 necessarily the original type will also change. Their field of usefulness 

 seems to be the southwest. This is not a country of great distances but 

 of considerable diversity of climate and soil. Going north from Hereford 

 two or three degrees we come nearly to the center of the island, north and 

 south, the valleys of Tees and Weare, Darlington, Yarm and Durham sur- 

 rounded by a rich agricultural country, particularly adapted to the growth 

 of turips, oats and the cultivated grasses as well as permanent pastures 

 by the river sides, "holmes" as they are called, where the grass will fatten 

 as well as in any part of England. The climate here is not as fine as far- 

 ther south, sloping as it does to the east. Here originated the Short-horn. 

 Here is the birth place of the brothers Colling, Bates, Mason and Booth. 

 Here, too, are their graves. 



On market days at neighboring towns they met and discussed the 

 merits and defects of their different animals. Here was first heard the 

 names of Hubback, Favorite, Comet and the Duke of Northumberland. 



