282 A HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



Gentleman, ' ' reference to the Hereford exhibit is 

 made as follows : 



" The only specimens in this class were eleven head 

 from the capital herd of Messrs. Corning & Sotham, 

 Albany. These were splendid animals. The two- 

 year-old bulls and bull calf, which were all of the 

 masculine gender exhibited, were good. They had 

 fine limbs, very spacious chests, round bodies, etc. 

 Several of the cows were very extraordinary. Per- 

 fection is one of the most massive cows of her age 

 to be found anywhere, and Ashton Beauty and Vic- 

 toria, for beauty and finish, can scarcely be sur- 

 passed, if equaled. It is but justice to say that no 

 animals on the ground excited more praise than 

 these. " 



The Herd Sold to Sotham. Mr. Corning was 

 a man of large wealth, deeply engrossed in commer- 

 cial and political affairs, and while he had given 

 ample proof of his interest in the Herefords, he 

 was also a lover and owner of Shorthorns; and as 

 a result of irresistible pressure from Shorthorn 

 sources, Mr. Sotham asserts, after a few years he 

 proposed to sell to the latter all of his "white faces" 

 with the exception of three heifers, the cow Victoria 

 and a bull. S.otham bought and removed them to 

 a farm at Black Eock, near Buffalo, where he soon 

 became engaged in a controversy over the respec- 

 tive merits of the breeds with Lewis F. Allen, then 

 a breeder of Shorthorns preparing to start the 

 American herd book for that breed and a man as 

 aggressive and as much in earnest as his new Eng- 

 lish neighbor. 



