HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



139 



'intelligence/ have shed their light on them 

 and converted such language into reason and 

 proof, I shall then believe there is real and 

 sound advantage in studying the classics; but 

 till then I shall be content to make my quota- 

 tions in humble dog Latin; to 'gallus meusego 

 et nunquam animus,' notwithstanding Mr. R.'s 

 terrific range of literary acquirements from 

 the 'Kilkenny cats' and his 'friend Peabody,' to 

 'Galileo' and 'Copernicus,' his high sportive and 

 illuminating prose, his poetic taste, and 

 'slaughtering' satire. But enough of this. I 

 will turn to another attack. 



"When I sent you the 'Earl's letter' for pub- 

 lication I did not expect my motives to be im- 

 pugned, or my character calumniated by an 

 illiberal suspicion; my object was to show that 

 the men of the highest rank in England know 

 the value of good stock equally well as the prac- 

 tical breeder; and the advantages to be derived 

 from a careful selection. The latter was a 

 'genuine,' off-hand, businesslike communication, 

 in which forms and phrases were evidently less 

 thought of than the sound information con- 

 veyed in it ; and I very much regret that it did 

 not please the fastidious taste of your several 

 correspondents. Doubtless some of them 

 thought that an 'Earl' should convey his in- 

 formation on the science of breeding cattle in 

 a most labored and elegant pastoral compo- 

 sition. For the criticisms on myself,- I care 

 not; I write with a view only of promoting 

 the farmer's welfare and the cause of truth. 

 I am not *o easily pulled down, therefore, 

 by any error in etymology and syntax. I 

 have taken my stand and propose to main- 

 tain it. Now, Mr. Editors, I will be very 

 much obliged if you would tell me the names of 

 your private correspondents, or publish their 

 communications, so that I may distinguish my 

 friends from my enemies. 



"I send you a letter from Mr. Turner, Court 

 of Noke, Herefordshire, a gentleman well 

 known in the agricultural world, so that you 

 may again state that you have seen the 'origi- 

 nal' from which my extracts below are taken. 



" 'It is a well-known fact that there is no 

 other breed that can compete with the Here- 

 fords as regards a profitable stock. For instance, 

 the memorable old Mr. Westcar, the Bucking- 

 hamshire grazier, at the dinner of the Christ- 

 mas Cattle Show, some years ago, when the first 

 prize in the first class was awarded to a Durham 

 ox, the owner in the heat of the moment rose 

 and offered to bet a wager that he won the same 

 prize on the following year with an ox of the 

 same breed. Mr. W. silenced him with this 

 public challenge. He would go to the next Oc- 



tober fair at Hereford and purchase one hun- 

 dred oxen of the Hereford breed, which he 

 would feed and show against the same number 

 of all the breeds in England, for one hundred 

 guineas per head, or two thousand guineas, 

 which offer no one dare accept.' This was done 

 to show the rich men who then possessed the 

 Durhams, that he was ready to support the 

 Herefords with his purse. 'He then told the 

 company that during his experience as a grazier 

 he had fed and sold twenty Herefordshire oxen 

 to the butcher at 

 an average of one 

 hundred guineas 

 each, and he 

 would defy all the 

 breeders of Short- 

 horns together to 

 say they had done 

 the like. As re- 

 g a r d s my own 

 breed of Here- 

 fords, I can boast 

 of having bred the 

 last ox sold to the 

 slaughterer for 

 one hundred 

 pounds, which was 

 in 1827, since that 

 several steers un- 

 der four years old, from sixty to seventy pounds. 

 I have much pleasure in saying my herd has 

 not degenerated, as will appear by the show at 

 Hereford last week. All the prize cattle were 

 either bred by, or descended from, bulls of my 

 own breed. Mr. Perry purchased the "Gold- 

 finder" of me when a yearling.' 



" 'As regards the Hereford breed for dairy 

 purposes I can speak from experience that when 

 well kept few will answer better. I can give an 

 instance of a prime cow of my father's produc- 

 ing thirteen pounds of butter per week when al- 

 lowed hay and cabbages the whole of the winter ; 

 but the principle of the Herefords being the 

 stock, little attention is paid to the dairy. We 

 all know to keep up cows to their milk requires 

 the most nutritious food, which is seldom al- 

 lowed to cows in this country. We have expe- 

 rienced a very severe winter, and the epidemic 

 so prevalent, I fear good stock will not be very 

 plentiful this spring. The present prices are 

 very satisfactory to the breeder. The fair at 

 Hereford was very pleasing to do business at, 

 a complete clearance of all good stock, particu- 

 larly bulls, of which there was a most splendid 

 exhibition.' 



"I now conclude with one remark for the 

 satisfaction of Mr. R., that 'Matchless' was 



THOMAS BOOTH, 



The Great English Shorthorn 



Breeder. 



