172 



HISTOKY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



the opinion of the Secretary, "hard animals to 

 beat," both were equally praised for their vari- 

 ous good qualities. While Balco was an excel- 

 lent first-class animal, and the Marquis of Cara- 

 bus a very inferior second-class very flabby 

 flesh and very thin skin this, every man who 

 is really a judge of cattle, will admit. 



Some time before this, I wrote a letter to the 

 Secretary, condemning Mr. Rotch's "points of 

 excellence," showing the Society the fallacy of 

 countenancing such stuff, and told them it was 

 a direct insult to good judges. These letters 

 were then read to the ex-committee, and then 



IT 126 



FOUR-YEAR-OLD. THREE-YEAR-OLD. 



(Ages of cattle compared by teeth.) 



"laid upon the table," which was the last of 

 them. The influence of Shorthorn men pro- 

 hibited anything of this kind from having its 

 proper force. 



With the above letter I gave the following 

 memorandum of the price of twenty fat oxen 

 sold by the late Mr. Westcar, Bucks, England, 

 taken from his books by his nephew, Richard 

 Rowland, Esq. 



Sold in Fleet Market, London: 



Dec. 16, 1800, 2 oxen to Chapman 200 



Dec. 4, 1800, 1 ox to Chapman 147 



Dec. 15, 1800, 1 ox to Harrington 100 



Nov. 26, 1801, 6 oxen to Giblett & Co. . . 630 



Dec. 31, 1801, 1 ox to Chapman 126 



Dec. 31, 1801, 2 oxen to Harwood: 200 



Dec. 4, 1803, 1 ox to Chapman 100 



Dec. 19, 1803, 1 ox to Reynolds 105 



Dec. 19, 1803, 1 ox to Giblett 105 



Dec. 5, 1804, 1 ox to Giblett 105 



Dec. 4, 1805, 1 ox to Giblett 100 



Nov. 28, 1811, 1 ox to Chandler 105 



2123 



Averaging 106 3s, or $513.04 each. 

 These proofs were entirely unnoticed and 

 there has been a time since when you could 

 scarcely pick up a New York State agricultural 

 journal that did not contain a puff for Short- 

 horn cattle. I ask the members of the Society 



whether this is right? I have not shown an 

 animal at our State Society Show, except at 

 Elmyra, where I was bound to sustain our 

 southern tier of counties, and which will ulti- 

 mately show what they can really accomplish 

 when put to the test. , 



When I found the Secretary of the Society 

 would not publish my letters I wrote to the 

 President, whose letter I have now, and will 

 probably appear at some future time. I asked 

 him why my letters could not be published in 

 the "Journal." He said nothing could appear 

 there unless connected with the Society. I did 

 not see why my opinion on cattle, as a member, 

 had not as much right in that "Journal" as that 

 of the Secretary, and I thought that "the anti- 

 dote ought to go with the poison." "But no !" 

 all was of no avail, and here it ended. I ask 

 my readers to look at this in its true light, for 

 the next "Quarterly" may bring something more 

 for the members to investigate. 



WM. HY. SOTHAM. 



PEDIGREE. 



My idea of pedigree is to refer' back to those 

 breeders who have universally bred first-class 

 cattle. Uniform in quality, symmetry and size, 

 more especially the two former. If like ^ pro- 

 duces like, of which I have no doubt, when the 

 breeder understands his business, is sufficiently 

 versed in the three distinct qualities, and never 

 allows a second or third-class beast to enter his 

 herd. From this process and care in breeding 

 spring all genuine herds. If a breeder has 

 gained just celebrity in breeding uniformly 

 best animals, long ago, and the offspring of 

 that breeder follow his example, inheriting the 

 true judgment of their sire, and never deviate 

 from the true course laid down to them, such 

 animals (fan be perpetuated. From such a par- 

 ent tree branches extend their influence, the 

 old stock is genuine, many of the branches are 

 genuine, while others should have been cast off 

 and committed to the flames before it had con- 

 taminated the original and substantial stand- 

 ard. 



A pedigree from the old stock, conveyed 

 through the best branches, where no dark stain 

 has entered, and where sober thoughtfulness has 

 perpetrated that true delineation of character, 

 in a long continuance of good, uniform breed- 

 ing, is worth much, and such pedigrees only 

 should be recorded in a Herd Book. I contend 

 that the composer of that book should know, 

 before he enters an animal in its pages, whether 

 it inherits quality and symmetry; if not, it 

 cannot be genuine. The principal point in a 

 herd is uniformity of first quality, and should 



