HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



when another bench had to decide for the cham- 

 pion plate the judges did not take the usual 

 course of deciding between the best steer or ox 

 and the best heifer or cow., but had up the whole 

 of the first prize animals for further inspection. 

 This resulted, it is true, in the champion plate 

 being awarded to Mr. Wortley's beast, already 

 pronounced to be the best male, but as reserve 

 to the champion plate, they selected Mr. Hugh 

 Gorringe's Shorthorn steer under two years, 

 which had won the first prize, consequently the 

 latter was pronounced to be the second best 

 beast in the show, although he had been pre- 

 viously beaten for the Shorthorn breed cup by 

 the Queen's heifer. The circumstance is pecu- 

 liarly relevant to the point of inquiry I have 

 just made, inasmuch as prime quality united to 

 early maturity was what chiefly distinguished 

 Mr. H. Gorringe's steer characteristics which 

 another set of judges had not placed completely 

 in ascendency over the riper early maturity or 

 a few months older combined to such greater 

 wealth possessed by the Queen's heifer. 



"In speaking recently at a meeting of the 

 Marshbrook Agricultural Society, Mr. J. Hill, 

 of Felhampton, spoke of the rare excellence of 

 the first cross between a Hereford bull and a 

 Shorthorn cow, mentioning that the champion 

 ox at Chicago last year was of this variety as 

 well as the crack animals in England this year, 

 which has filled highest positions at the Nor- 

 wich and Smithfield Shows. No doubt Mr. 

 Hill's opinion is worthy of being paid high 

 deference to in assuming that such a cross is 

 the very best for grazing purposes that can pos- 

 sibly be made, but it should be remembered 

 that there are very few crosses in the past in 

 general farming, where both sire and dam have 



been absolute pure-bred, owing to the dam be- 

 ing usually considered far too valuable to breed 

 to any bull but one of her own breed. The 

 progeny of pure-bred Devon cows mated with 

 Hereford sires would probably be superior for 

 grazing purposes even to the Hereford- Short- 

 horn cross, unless the Shorthorn cow was very 

 much superior, as much better quality would be 

 derived. Further, it may be worthy of note that 

 Mr. Miller, when in England about a year since, 

 remarked what valuable grown beasts might be 

 bred by many in the western shires, who have 

 Devon herds, if they were only to cross them by 

 Hereford bulls. 



"Another observation of Mr. Hill's in the 

 speech alluded to is worthy of note, as it was a 

 reply to the strictures of Mr. Coleman, in his 

 report on prize farms in the Royal Agricultural 

 Society's Journal, on the method of calf-rearing 

 as adopted by Hereford breeders. He said the 

 Royal judges were unable to perceive how it 

 could pay to keep a cow all the year just to rear 

 one calf, but he thought if the superior early 

 maturity of the calf was considered, full com- 

 pensation would be obtained for the sacrifice of 

 milk by obtaining a much better beast. This, 

 however, may be a matter of opinion. The 

 point of a better animal being produced by con- 

 tinuing the system than by hand rearing, was 

 scarcely disputed by Mr. Coleman and the Royal 

 judges. All they ventured to doubt was whether 

 too much is not sacrificed for the early maturity 

 and better beast, especially as it comprehends 

 the probable impairment of the cow's milking 

 properties in the future. The question is prob- 

 ably one scarcelv admitting of satisfactory de- 

 cision without absolute experiments." 



