HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



121 



the same general terms with Mr. Youatt. [Not 

 Marshall. T. L. M.] I might cite the opinions 

 of many eminent English [Shorthorn. T. L. 

 M.] breeders residing in this country, in cor- 

 roboration of their opinions, but shall not do it 

 on this occasion as it would occupy much space 

 in an otherwise sufficiently extended article. 



"I will now ask if the concurrent testimony 

 of all the standard English writers of cattle, 

 ancient and recent, corroborated, too, by state- 

 ments of many eminent breeders, do not prove 

 that the Herefords have been have been, too, 

 if we may rely on the authority of MR. YOUATT, 

 unchanged until within six years. If it is pre- 

 tended that any so great and radical a change 

 has been effected during that period, does it not 

 devolve on him who asserts it, to show and to 

 prove when and where, and how that change has 

 been effected? 



"If a few specimens of animals called by 

 name are relied on alone to prove it, the ques- 

 tion arises, what certainty have we that they 

 truly represent the breed, or that they are pure 

 blooded and unadulterated animals. The Short- 

 horn cross, for instance, engrafted on the Here- 

 ford might work wonders if the color was at- 

 tended to. It would offer a very convenient so- 

 lution to the physiological enigma of converting 

 a small, shapeless and milkless cow into a state- 

 ly, broad-hipped, deep-milking animal, all 

 within the space of six years. I do not pretend 

 to state that such a cross has been made, be- 

 cause I know nothing about it. Mr. Sotham 

 doubtless ascertained the character of the men 

 he dealt with. That Hereford oxen, and some- 

 times Hereford cows, have recently received 

 many prizes from English Agricultural Socie- 

 ties, I have no disposition to deny or conceal. 

 The oxen in such cases are exhibited in refer- 

 ence to their ripeness for the hands of the 

 butcher. The Herefords are conceded on all 

 hands to be a breed that feed kindly, and that 

 they should occasionally receive prizes is much 

 .less surprising than would be the fact that 

 they did not. But if a Hereford cow has tri- 

 umphed over the Durham as a dairy cow, it is 

 certainly a new thing under the sun, provided 

 the Durhams were properly represented. I pre- 

 sume that no breeder of Herefords in this coun- 

 try will be found willing to challenge the breed- 

 ers of Shorthorns to such a contest. 



"But suppose we concede the point that a 

 few English breeders have approximated the 

 Hereford to the Shorthorn in size, shape, early 

 maturity, etc., the question immediately pre- 

 sents itself, cui bono ? If the Durham already 

 possesses certain properties in the greatest at- 

 tainable degree, what is the practical benefit of 



forming a new, or remodeling an old variety, 

 only to attain the same properties? Is it not 

 better to avail ourselves of the skill and indus- 

 try of those who have gone before us, commenc- 

 ing where they left off, than it is to spend our 

 whole lives in trying to overtake them by a road 

 of our own? What should we say of the stu- 

 dent of mathematics, who, disdaining to avail 

 himself of the labors and discoveries of New- 

 ton and La Place, should begin de novo with 

 the nine digits and attempt to build up a math- 

 ematical system of his own? 



"But it is contended that the Hereford, if 

 made equal to the Durham in its peculiar 

 points of value, will superadd to them that 

 hardihood and muscular power peculiar to the 

 old Herefords. This cannot be. It is contrary 

 to physiological laws, which every man's obser- 

 vation has recognized. The wild boar of the des- 

 ert, or the pencil immortalized 'Land-pike' of 

 Mr. Allen, is a better traveler and possesses 

 more muscular power than the quiet and fat- 

 secreting Chinese hog. The untamed Argall, 

 that subsists among the rocks and glaciers of 

 the Alps, is an animal of greater endurance 

 and muscular energy than its descendant, the 



WOODBINE. 



(Calved 1850. Bred by Wm. H. Sotham; property of H. 



Bowen, Jr., Summit, N. Y. First prize N. Y. S. F., 



1853.) 



Leicester sheep. That course of breeding which 

 modeled the Chinese hog, the new Leicester 

 sheep or the Durham ox, has, and inevitably 

 must deprive the animal from which they de- 

 scended of that fleetness, strength and endur- 

 ance of the rigors of climate, which was neces- 

 sary for their protection before they were 

 subjected to the dominion of man. 



"The Hereford, if converted into a Durham, 

 will cease to be a Hereford. Marshall, in giving 



