ANCIENT POINTS OF THE BREED 113 



The points of special and peculiar interest in the Here- 

 ford are, that the face and the forward part of the back and 

 mane, as well as the throat, belly, inside and lower parts of the 

 legs, and the tip of the tail, are white, the greater part of the 

 body red or brown, varying from a light to a dark shade, and 

 " the hide thick yet mellow, well covered with soft glossy 

 hair, having a tendency to curl." William Tudge, of 

 Summer Court, Hereford (to whom indebtedness is acknow- 

 ledged for much of the following historical information relating 

 to individual animals of superior quality), says : " In a Hereford 

 style and character should go a long way. A bad head or 

 horn I do not like, and I much prefer a deep rich red in colour, 

 not too light to be approaching yellow, or the very dark 

 colour either. I would rather see a little extra white on the 

 mane and shoulders than have no white there at all." The 

 shoulder is particularly neat, and, like the rest of the body, 

 well covered with " rich mellow " flesh ; and the twist is also 

 good. The defect of the Hereford breed has been generally 

 though incorrectly believed to be a want of internal fat in 

 proportion to its external appearance when ready for the 

 butcher i.e., it is said to be deficient in internal " making-up." 

 While this may be a correct description of some inferior 

 strains of blood, it certainly does not apply to the best types 

 of Herefords. The setting on of the tail is frequently defective 

 as compared with that of the Shorthorn. The muzzle -is 

 white or flesh-coloured. The horns are yellow or white and 

 waxy. In the cow they incline slightly upwards, but in the 

 bull they spring almost horizontally from a broad, flat fore- 

 head, and are often proportionally much shorter. One special 

 feature of the breed is its freedom from tuberculosis. It is 

 rarely ever the case that a Hereford does not stand the 

 tuberculine test. The beef, nicely mixed with fat and lean, 

 commands top prices, frequently Jd. more than that of most 

 other breeds. The Birmingham Fat Market report (February 

 1906) supports the assertion as to the superior quality of 

 Hereford beef: "Best Herefords, 6Jd. ; Shorthorns, 5fd. to 

 6Jd. ; bulls and cows, 3} to 5d. per Ib." 



There is a strong presumption that the original breed 

 was "self" or "whole" coloured, being brown or red, shading 

 off into black on the head and points. A breed (small in 

 numbers) of this description has been associated with 



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