HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



177 



when Shorthorns and Herefords contended 

 against each other, the Herefords almost in- 

 variably took the first prizes. Mr. Westcar of 

 Creslow, Buckinghamshire, took the first prize 

 with a Hereford twenty years in succession, but 

 subsequently retired from the contest, disgusted 

 with the trickery of Shorthorn breeders who, 

 at length, insisted that Hereford's and Short- 

 horns should be put in separate classes because 

 repeated failures drove them to it. Notwith- 

 standing this, the Herefords took more prizes 

 in steers and oxen from that alteration than 

 Shorthorns, while the cow class in Shorthorns 

 took the majority of prizes because Hereford 

 breeders would not sacrifice their best animals 

 for that purpose. Shorthorn breeders forced 

 their females from birth for show and appear- 

 ance, thus producing barrenness, hence their 

 show cows for the gold medal. This being fash- 

 ionable, a large majority of Shorthorn cows 

 over Hereford could always be found in the 

 show yard, enabling them to win more gold 

 medals under the forcing system. 



Again, Shorthorn breeders were constantly 

 boasting of early maturity over Herefords, un- 

 til they were obliged to succumb. In 1862 Mr. 

 Heath won the gold medal with a Hereford 

 steer two years old, while there were thirteen 

 Shorthorns from three to five years old in the 

 same class. Soon after this, I believe in 1854, 

 Mr. Shirley showed another two-year-old Here- 

 ford, winning the gold medal under precisely 

 the same circumstances. The following year 

 he did the same. I may be mistaken in the 

 years of Mr. Shirley's triumphs, but these are 

 facts that cannot be denied, for they are on 

 record, and they silenced the traducers of Here- 

 fords, and you heard of no more bragging in 

 print of the early maturity of Shorthorns. Even 

 Allen, Stevens, Tucker and Tom Brown had to 

 knock under and fly to some other plea for 

 Shorthorns. 



Then the great milking qualities were 

 brought before the public. A prize was given 

 for that quality at the Royal Show at Oxford, 

 in 1839, open to all England and all breeds. 

 There was great competition, Shorthorns pre- 

 dominating. Mr. J. R. Smythies' Hereford cow 

 took first prize for the best milker, a Shorthorn 

 second. This prize was discarded afterward, 

 because Shorthorn men had control and they 

 feared a repetition. This somewhat silenced 

 the bragging for milking Shorthorns and en- 

 couraged the dairy men in favor of Herefords. 

 Mr. Smythies, in a communication to the "Mark 

 Lane Express," February 5, 1849, discussing 

 the merits of Herefords as milkers, says: "I 

 have seen Hereford cows milk well, and had one 



myself which made eleven pounds of butter per 

 week for three months;" but he observes that 

 "beef is much more profitable than butter in 

 this section, and on that account it is not an 

 object with Hereford breeders to have good 

 milkers." This is undoubtedly the fact, and 

 it explains why Hereford breeders have not paid 

 more attention to the milking properties of 

 their cattle. Mr. Duckham (fl 83), in his lec- 

 ture, says of Herefords : "In the dairy counties, 

 where the milking qualities of the cow are well 

 atfended to, the most satisfactory results are 

 realized." He quotes from a letter from Mr. 

 Reed, to whose experience with the Herefords 

 as workers reference had been made, the state- 

 ment, "that they have been used for dairy pur- 

 poses for nearly half a century upon the farm 

 and that he believes they yield a larger return 

 than could be obtained from any other breed 

 upon a similar class of land." Mr. Duckham 

 also quotes from a letter of Mr. James of Map- 

 powder,. Dorsetshire, whose dairy herd of Here- 

 fords has been formed thirty years. He states 

 that the stock has been much improved since 

 he obtained it, and that Hereford dairies are 

 becoming very common in that country. He 

 adds : "In proof that they are good for milk, 

 we let near a hundred cows to dairy people, 

 and if I buy one of any other breed to fill up 



MR. J. H. ARKWRIGHT. 



(First President of the English Herd Book Society; on his 

 favorite hunter, "Bagpipes.") 



the dairy they always grumble and would 

 rather have one of our. own bred heifers. We 

 let our cows at so much a year, finding land 

 and making the hay." Mr. D. also quotes from 

 a Cornwall correspondent, who says that accord- 

 ing to his experience "the Herefords are good 

 milkers and he is convinced that when the cows 

 are deficient in their yield of milk it does not 

 arise from any constitutional defect, but rather 

 from mismanagement in rearing, or a deficiency 



