66 AMERICAN CATTLE. 



may keep them for a time in the back-ground; but their actual 

 merits once known, they may have a fair trial, and achieve a 

 substantial success. 



Like the Devon, we place the Hereford under three distinct 

 heads; and first, 



AS A DAIRY COW. 



In this virtue she has little reputation, either in England or 

 America. We have found no English authority, except a rare 

 instance or two, which gives her much credit as a milker. Pos- 

 sibly this may have arisen from the fact that the Hereford dis- 

 tricts are grazing, and not dairy. The milk is rich, but too little 

 of it not much more than to rear her calf in good condition. 

 She dries early. 



Plate 6. Hereford Cow. 



If she ever was a milker before her modern improvement 

 began, the milking faculty has been sacrificed for a ready tend- 

 ency to flesh, which has been obtained in a high degree in her 

 race. We have seen a dozen of them milked through three or 



