118 CATTLE HEREFORDS 



of Hereford cattle. It has been correctly said " that the 

 difficulty is to find a single animal of note at the present day 

 that does not inherit Hewer blood." The influence of the 

 Hewer cattle, which trace back to "Silver" (540), born in 

 1797, was exerted upon surrounding breeds by the system 

 of letting out bulls, a practice which had then become pre- 

 valent among the owners of superior herds of various breeds. 



It is to " Silver" the modern Hereford is largely indebted 

 for its uniformity of colour and a good deal of the massive- 

 ness of flesh and the prominent eyes characteristic of the 

 best specimens of the breed. Duckham, in the new edition 

 of the first volume of the Herd Book, says he seems " to have 

 laid the foundation of William Hewer's eminence as a 

 breeder." 



William Tudge thinks that the best Herefords of 1858 at 

 the first Chester Royal were about equal in merit with the 

 best Herefords of to-day. It was at that show that " Sir 

 Benjamin" (1387), son of "Sir David," appeared and intro- 

 duced an era of heavier scale animals : for example, 

 " Stanway ".(2790), by " Pilot " (21 56), by " The Grove " (1764), 

 a son of " Sir David," at the subsequent Oxford Royal Show 

 girthed 9 feet 4 inches, the record measurement of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society at the time. In the same line of descent 

 was Lord Coventry's " Good Boy " out of " Giantess," a 

 slightly in-bred cow by " Sir Roger " (4133), weighing 20 cwts. 

 3 quarters 2 Ibs., which was bought at Adforton sale. " Good 

 Boy" scaled nearly 26 cwts. His sire, "Fisherman," also 

 descended from " Sir David," weighed 26^ cwts., and " Sir 

 Benjamin " was even heavier. " Horace " (3877), a more 

 impressive sire than " Sir Thomas," was of quite a different 

 type, with a peculiar mellowness of touch. He had an 

 extraordinary weight of flesh and quality. "Horace" has 

 been pronounced "one of the monarchs of the breed.'' 

 "Grove 3rd," one of the greatest sires of his day, and of the 

 "Horace" type, was a descendant of "Horace" by a "Sir 

 Thomas " cow. " Lord Wilton " (4740), (a famous bull bred 

 by Wm. Tudge, senior), a son of "Sir Roger" (4133), and 

 grandson of " Sir Thomas," was the most impressive sire. 

 The blend with the " Horace " blood has been most successful, 

 and has "helped to keep up the Hereford reputation in all 

 parts of the world." " Lord Wilton " was as successful in the 



