HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



373 



counties. They are seldom crossed with the 

 Shorthorn, though they are said to blend well 

 when it is done ; the same statement holds good 

 with the Ayrshires. Hereford on Devon has 

 been tried, resulting in a progeny inferior in 

 some respects. Hereford on Alderney is said 

 to produce satisfactory results, improving the 

 cow of the first cross as a feeder and not injur- 

 ing her milk in quantity or quality. A cross 

 with the West Highland Kyloe was a failure, 

 but with Galloway Polls was a great success/ 

 These statements of the results of Hereford 

 crosses are taken from a prize essay from the 

 Royal Agricultural Society made by the late H. 

 H. Dixon, a notable authority on such matters 

 when alive. 



"Evidence establishes beyond question that 

 the Hereford, when removed to almost any 

 climate, does not degenerate as a beef producer. 

 The females, too, of the breed are found most 

 satisfactory for the dairy, under different con- 

 ditions than can be found in their home coun- 

 tries. Both of these conclusions are contrary 

 to an opinion I have heard many express to the 

 effect tbat Herefords deteriorate away from 

 home. But T have observed that while such an 

 opinion seems very general, it is maintained by 

 those without special knowledge of the breed, 

 pnd I think it an inherited prejudice, which a 

 littb investigation would disprove to the satis- 

 faction of the holder. 'Old prejudices die hard' 

 is true and trite. In Bedfordshire and Dorset 

 li' T:!S have been maintained for many years, 

 fifty in some cases, and these herds are fully up 

 to the standard of the homebred ones ; in every 

 case, that is, in which due care has been taken 

 to get an occasional infusion of fresh blood. 

 In the wet and changeable climate of Cornwall 

 the breed is established largely and maintains 

 its reputation, though Devons and Shorthorns 

 are said to deteriorate there. In the counties 

 near London, Surrey, Cambridge, and Kent, 

 Herefords have done well; also, in Wales and 

 Scotland. They withstand the severe climate 

 of the latter country without any seeming diffi- 

 culty, and will live where many Shorthorns can- 

 not. In Ireland they are much esteemed and 

 their number is constantly increasing. They 

 maintain in all these places their characteristics 

 of early development and rapid and even fat- 

 tening. 



"The breed seems to stand the heat with the 

 same indifference it does the cold. In Jamaica 

 the progeny of some imported Hereford bulls 

 have proved the most valuable and useful stock 

 in the island ; and the heat of Australia has not 

 affected in the slightest degree the characteris- 

 tics of the large number of Herefords there. 



Of their success in the United States I shall 

 speak further on. 



"I have thus far considered the Herefords 

 mainly as a butcher's breed. I will now speak 

 of their qualifications for the dairy. In the 

 shire of Dorset, one of the crack dairy districts 

 of England, producing a butter much sought 

 after, there are many Hereford dairy herds. 

 The owner of the largest of these herds wrote 

 twenty years since as follows: 'Our herd of 

 Herefords has been established nearly thirty 

 years, and so far from their being degenerated 

 with us they are much improved and Hereford 

 dairies are becoming very common in this 

 county. In proof that they are good for milk 

 with us, we let nearly 100 cows to dairy people, 

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

 the dairy, they always grumble, and would 

 rather have one of our own bred heifers. Our 

 system is, we let our cows at so much per year, 

 finding them in land and making the hay ; the 

 calves being reared by hand with skim milk and 

 linseed until three months old, when we take 

 them and allow a quarter's rent of the cow for 

 the calf at that age ; they are then turned into 

 the pasture.' 



"The proprietor of this herd and writer of 



EABUESIUOEUUILZ2B 



EARL OF SHADELAND 22D, 27147. 



Bred by Adams Earl. Called "the Record Breaker," never 



being defeated. 



this letter was Mr. James, of Blandford, Dor- 

 set. His son writes me under date January 

 19th, 188-1, that the same system is still pursued 

 and that the Herefords are as great a success 

 as ever. He says : 'My late father and myself 

 have kept and bred Herefords for dairy cows 

 for forty-eight years and have always used the 

 best blood we could get. I have won a number 

 of prizes for "dairy cows" and "dairy cows and 

 offspring" against Devons and Shorthorns.' Mr. 

 James further says : 'In a cold, wet, sour place 

 there is nothing like the Herefords ; their good 



