HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



Duchess stock had become fashionable in Amer- 

 ica, and men who did not know their true value 

 paid fabulous prices for them. Still, they soon 

 began to find out that it cost more to keep up 

 appearances than the animals could realize, and 

 they retired from the Duchess contest as soon 

 as propriety would allow, or with as little injury 

 to the cause as possible Morris & Becar retired 

 in favor of Thorn, Thorn retired in favor of 

 Sheldon, Sheldon retired in favor of Walcott 

 & Campbell all Duchess men. Vail retired 

 from a Duchess to a Devon breeder. Lewis F. 

 Allen, author of "American Shorthorn Herd 

 Book," followed Mr. Vail's example and went 



MR. S. W. URWICK, HEREFORD, ENG. 



(For twenty years Secretary of the English Herd Book 



Society.) 



from Duchess to Devon. After spending much 

 more than he got from them in hawking them 

 about from place to place with nattering adver- 

 tisements he finally disposed of the tail-end in 

 Illinois, after a winter's feeding on corn to lay 

 on the flesh. He flew to Devons for relief. Then 

 came Stevens in literary force, with arguments 

 strong in favor of Sherwood and himself. They 

 imported freely from Bates. What became of 

 them, all know. Then came Chapman, with 

 all his Duchesses, full of puffs, portraits and 

 pedigrees. This ended in smoke, with Halton 

 at the head of the herd, who sold at the sale 

 for about what his owner advertised as the price 



of a cow. Then came Page, with his flattering 

 portraits macje of straight lines as if all done 

 with a ruler, accompanied with constant puffs 

 of the Duchess tribe. But where are Mr. Page's 

 Shorthorns ? They can be mainly seen on paper 

 and there he gets his profit. Flattery is not 

 lost upon his admirers, and these pictures 

 please fancy men of money, and attract novices 

 by their sameness in straight lines. I could 

 enumerate others to the end of a very long clii>- 

 ter, but space in the "Journal" is too valuable. 

 Let me ask the Duchess men the cause of all 

 this? Because, in another communication, and 

 at a more convenient season, I shall show that 

 Bates could not be compared to Booth in breed- 

 ing Shorthorns, and I shall endeavor to show 

 that Shorthorns well bred by scientific breeders, 

 such as Booth and his true followers, are equal 

 to any cattle in existence. Notwithstanding 

 this, Hereford breeders have pursued the even 

 tenor of their ways, bred some very superior 

 animals and have won more prizes than Short- 

 horns at the Smithfield and Birmingham shows 

 in England, more especially when they have 

 come in competition with each other. The Here- 

 fords, being a race, they breed more uniformly, 

 and the breeders, not being led away by ficti- 

 tious prices or sham auctions, as the Shorthorn 

 breeders in England and this country were, they 

 stick to good breeding, and, being content with 

 reasonably remunerative prices, made money 

 and extended the breed all over England, Wales 

 and Australia; and now the West Indies and 

 Scotland are beginning to encourage them and 

 they are increasing strongly among the farmers 

 of Ireland. You seldom hear of sales of Here- 

 fords where they are thoroughly known, be- 

 cause the demand at home, at reasonable and 

 remunerative prices, is greater than the supply ; 

 while Shorthorn breeders, waiting for their 

 extraordinary prices, look in vain for moneyed 

 men, who are a long way between, but who pay 

 well to have their name conspicuous in print, 

 injure the Shorthorn cause by bidding far be- 

 yond the value, vainly seeking that fame which 

 can only be realized by fancy men with money. 



As the Shorthorns have many strong advo- 

 cates among these men of money, let me show 

 you what Herefords have done against their 

 strong influences, you have seldom heard of a 

 Hereford sale, unless when the head of the fam- 

 ily had gone to his last home and his estate had 

 to be divided; while the Shorthorn sales are 

 everlastingly in print, under the sheriff or, to 

 attract novices, with under-bidders to spur them 

 on, aided by strong and frequent drinks, to keep 

 up notoriety. This cannot be denied. 



In the early part of the Smithfield shows, 



