HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



31 



Mentioning some of the exceptions that 

 might fairly be taken to Mr. Price's system of 

 breeding, he said one of the most prominent 

 was a great disregard of the milking proper- 

 ties; and from his late practice of breeding 

 from near affinities, this fault might be sup- 

 posed to have been more permanently fixed in 

 certain families. That it would not be desir- 

 able in a breed such as the Hereford to make 

 too many sacrifices to the milking quality, he 

 thought would be generally allowed; but there 

 might be, he was convinced, a sufficient dispo- 

 sition to give a fair quantity of milk and the 



ing devoted to more important qualities; and 

 as the family in which these were most concen- 

 trated was deficient in horns, he left them un- 

 improved, thinking he might in the pursuit of 

 a non-essential run the risk of losing a valuable 

 property; still Mr. Welles believed the posses- 

 sion of good horns to be quite compatible with 

 every other valuable requisite, and it was cer- 

 tainly a considerable advantage to the appear- 

 ance of the animal. 



These observations prove that a prejudice 

 had arisen in the county against Price's cattle, 

 which, on the evidence of even a favorable wit- 



THOMAS TOMKINS GALLIERS (1902), SEATED IN AN ANCIENT CHAIR BEFORE TYPICAL OLD HEREFORD- 

 SHIRE WAIN (WAGON) HOUSE. 



cow be equally good for any purpose required 

 of her. 



There were, however, many cows that from 

 want of proper care of the udder after calving, 

 and during the time that the grass was lux- 

 uriant, were rendered more or less incapable of 

 a supply of milk afterwards, and he thought 

 much inattention on that head was often the 

 case in the stock he alluded to. Another ob- 

 jection that might be raised against Mr. Price's 

 stock was the shortness and rather mean ap- 

 pearance of the horns, in many of his cows, 

 not characteristic of Herefords in general, 

 which had mainly risen froni Jus attention be- 



ness like Mr. Welles, was not without some 

 justification. But the variety was very far, in- 

 deed, from being even at the close of Mr. 

 Price's career, without substantial merit. As 

 to the late appearance of Mr. Price's herd, we 

 have the following interesting communication 

 from Mr. George Smythies: "I had no intimate 

 acquaintance with the Hereford herd of Mr. 

 Price. I never saw it until after he had given 

 up farming; when I knew the herd it was kept 

 in Lord Coventry's park the greater part of 

 the year and for a short time, in winter and 

 spring, the cattle were tacked out in straw 

 yards with, anybody who would keep them. J 



