HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



ing in 1840, said he had visited Herefordshire 

 about fifty years previously, and was then, and 

 continued still, an admirer of the best variety 

 of the Hereford cattle. But he considered then 

 and had for about 40 years been convinced, that 

 "the very best Shorthorns, which were only a 

 few, were capable of improving all other breeds 

 of cattle in the United Kingdom, as well as the 

 ordinary Shorthorns which were far from a good 

 breed, and much inferior to the Herefords, Dev- 

 ons, and others." Mr. Bates added : ; "I have at 

 present two red, twin, one-year-old bulls, out 

 of the dam of the Duke of Northumberland, 

 you may not think unworthy to be put to your 

 herd of Herefords for one season, to give you 

 an opportunity of testing the merits of this 

 cross-bred. In my opinion they would prove 

 an invaluable cross with the best Herefords; 

 increase the growth of the Herefords, and at 

 an earlier age be fit for the butcher, with a less 

 consumption of food, and quality of beef un- 

 impaired, and also give that breed an increased 

 milking quality, both in quantity of milk and 

 richness, yielding more butter.') To this Mr. 

 Price replied that he had inspected Lord Spen- 

 cer's Shorthorn herd, and had never seen any- 

 thing to shake his belief that Hereford cattle 

 would pay more money for the food they con- 

 sumed than any other breed with which he was 

 acquainted. He said he had tried many crosses 

 all of which signally had failed, where the ob- 

 ject had been to obtain more size and weight 

 by using large male animals with females of 

 smaller dimensions. 



Writing to the "Farmers' Magazine" in 1841, 

 Mr. Price gave a description of his farm and 

 the difficulties under which he labored, owing 

 to shortness of keep, etc. He said: "The farm 

 1 have occupied since 1829 has not, at any time, 

 much exceeded 150 acres, 20 of which are ara- 

 ble, totally unfit for the growth of turnips, and 

 nearly 120 acres, part of the Croome Demesne 

 (^23), belonging to the Earl of Coventry, in 

 one ground and rather below second-rate qual- 

 ity of land, greatly covered with ornamental 

 timber, and neither buildings nor fold yards on 

 my farm sufficient to hold 20 beasts. Yet, on 

 this land I have usually kept 100 head of cattle, 

 together with a flock of 150 sheep, 40 of which 

 were rams, besides my cart and other horses. 

 These are facts well known to the whole of my 

 neighbors, who have always given me full credit 

 for being the worst keeper of stock in England. 

 I have seldom made use of oil cake, and on no 

 occasion have I given corn or meal to any of 

 my stock." 



'On October 17th and 18th, 1816, Mr. Price 

 had an extensive sale at Ryall, which was thus 



announced: "The cattle stock are wholly de- 

 scended from that of the justly celebrated one 

 of the late Mr. B. Tomkins, of Wellington 

 Court, in the county of Hereford, and are too 

 well known to need any comment." The prices 

 realized at this sale were very large, and the 

 event forms such an important landmark in 

 the history of the breed, that we give the list 

 of prices. 



WIGMORE GRANGE, HOME OF WILLIAM GALLIERS. 

 1713-1779. 



The averages for the various classes were as 

 follows: 



Average. Total. 



32 cows $270 



13 three-year-old heifers . . . 295 

 21 two-year-old heifers .... 285 



10 yearling heifers 180 



21 heifer calves 125 



13 bulls 660 



6 bull calves . 360 



$8,650 

 3,830 

 5,995 

 1,820 

 2,580 

 8,595 

 2,170 



116 head averaged $290. $33,640 



The highest-priced females brought respect- 

 ively 252, 215, 189, 173, 120 and 110, or, 

 in American money, $1,260, $1,075, $945, $865, 

 $.600, and $550 respectively. 



The bulls bringing over $500 each were 

 Waxy (3) 655, 341, or $1,705; Wellington (4) 

 160, 283 = $1,415; Ryall (45), 262 = 

 $1,310; Original (40) 977*), 147 = $735; War- 

 rior (44), 136 =$680; Moses (7) 426, 115 = 

 $575; Leopold (1) 652, a calf, brought 126 

 $730. 



We have also a catalogue, with a few prices, 

 of Mr. Price's sale at Mytton, Lodge Farm, 

 near Tewkesbury, on March 21 and 22, 1820, 

 but it is not necessary to reproduce it. A few 

 high prices were realized. Mr. Barnes, 109 4s 

 ($550) for heifer Thalia; Mr. Jellico gave 127 

 Is ($635) for the heifer Vesta, Mr. Price's 





