LIVE STOCK, 



91 



Tlie course here indicated with respect to providing" cultivated food 

 to supplement the natural pasture, must eventually he followed in the 

 eastern and more temperate portions of the Colony, for it is inipoKsil)le 

 that wheat- crrowing can be profitably carried on year after year without 

 manure, that is without stock ; and besides, as a rule, it pavs better to 

 consume a large portion of the crops (zrown on a farm with stock, than 

 to send the crops to market. 



Shorthorns. — Of the different breeds in this Colony the .Shortlinrns 

 blood is the most prevalent. By far the larger proportion of the im- 

 ported cattle have for the last forty or fifty years been of that breed ; 

 and there is little doubt, considering the improvement which has l)een 

 made in the quality of our cattle, that this was the best single breed 

 that could have been introduced. Here, as in every other part of the 

 world, the Shorthorns are allowed to be superior to every other breed 

 in size, squareness, compactness, early maturity, and imposing appear- 

 ance ; while the pure bulls of this breed possess the power in an eminent 

 degree of marking their progeny, even when put to inferior cows of 

 other breeds, and conveying to them the size, substance, and quality 

 for which they are themselves so justly distinguished. In fact, they 

 supply the very qualities which colonial cattle generally lack. There 

 have been repeated and frequent importations of high-class pedigree 

 Shorthorns from England during the last fifty or sixty years, interrupted 

 at times by prohibition. In some years as many as 100 head of the 

 different breeds, j^rincipally Shorthorns, were introduced from Great 

 Britain. 



Serefords. — Herefords have proved themselves in Australia to be an 

 excellent race of cattle, with distinctive type, characteristics, and form, 

 thoroughly established and capable of being transmitted to any other 

 races with which they may be interbred. They are especially remark- 

 able for their weight, hardihood, and good meat. They are ])rincipally 

 located to the north of Sydney, in the eastern and north-eastern pcjrtions 

 of the Colony. The importations of Hereford pedigree cattle from 

 England have also been continuous, more particularly by Mr. Reynolds, 

 of Tocal, whose herd is the oldest established and, it is believed, the 

 best in the Australian Colonies. 



Devons. — Both Devon bulls and cows were imported as early as 

 1832-3, and their progeny made excellent crosses with the cattle then 

 in the Colony, both for meat and milk ; but they did not gain favour 

 with stock-owners on account of their wildness. Further inii)ortations 

 were subsequently received, but they also were mixed with and lo.st in 

 the general herds^ ; and it was not till some forty-five to fifty years ago, 

 when Captain Holder formed a pure Devon herd on the Hunter, winch 

 afterwards passed into the hands of Mr. Reynolds of Tocal, that the 

 Devons came into favour. Regular, though not frequent, importations 

 of this breed from England have been kept up. When we consider the 

 good travelling qualities, and the excellence of the meat of the Devons, 

 there is no doubt they will ere long be found on many of the runs on 

 the back countrv ; and as fencing progresses we may expect to 

 find herds in these outlying districts with Devon cows breeding to 

 Shorthorn and Hereford bulls, the progeny being fattened off and not 

 bred from. 



