HEREFORDSHIRE PASTURES AND PIONEERS 39 



It comes, therefore, simply to this: that as a re- 

 sult of this crossing of lighter colored animals upon 

 solid reds, white markings were inevitably intro- 

 duced. Obviously some white as well as brockle 

 faces were certain to appear from time to time. 

 This peculiar color combination either then caught 

 the fancy of the countryside or else the first animals 

 so marked happened also to possess superior form, 

 size or quality, and hence were given preference 

 in subsequent breeding operations, the new color 

 being finally established by resort to in-and-in breed- 

 ing. Be that, as it may, this "hall mark" of the 

 Hereford came at length to be a recognized, accom- 

 plished fact, and is today, in western America at 

 least, an almost infallible index of the presence of 

 Hereford blood, just as the roan color reveals un- 

 erringly the trail of the Shorthorn. 



It was not until comparatively recent times, how- 

 ever, that the present markings were specifically de- 

 fined and generally accepted. Many of the earlier 

 registered Herefords carried the white the entire 

 length of the back called " hail-backs " or "line 

 backs." Some were mottled or "ticked" faced, and 

 still others were called "greys." Even as late as 

 when Mr. Eyton was seeking to establish the Eng- 

 lish Hereford Herd Book in 1846 a feud existed 

 between the followers of the white-faced and the 

 brockle-faced types, the advocates of the latter re- 

 fusing at first to record in the same book with the 

 pale faces. Happily, however, harmony was finally 

 restored, and after the lapse of many years the ad- 



