HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



397 



arch/ which was the sire of fully 200 head of 

 calves, each- of which was a splendid, level, 

 square and perfect type of what a Hereford 

 should be. 



"The pure strain of Hereford has been main- 

 tained in this herd all through, as will be seen 

 by the list of bulls employed, since he first com- 

 menced in South Australia. First came Bringe- 

 wood (2981), the best bull that could be found 

 in England, and the first Hereford bull im- 

 ported to South Australia. As stated before 

 he was sold to Mr. J. H. Angas after four years' 

 service on the Island. Neptune, his progeny, 

 was used for a short time only on account of 

 being too nearly related and Mr. Price not be- 

 ing favorable to in-and-in breeding where a 

 bull of equal quality can be got from else- 

 where. The successor was Mount Aitkin, then 

 Hindmarsh Island, and Merman took his place, 

 these being followed in due time by Chief of 

 the Isle by Mount Aitkin out of Alpha. After 

 him for one year came Goolwa and Neptune, 

 the last having been sent back to the island by 

 Mr. Richard Holland, of Turret Field, South 

 Australia, previously to sending him away to 

 Sydney for sale. Next came Monarch, whose 

 sterling qualities caused his portrait to be 

 taken, which portrait, by the way, is rather 

 marred by exhibiting him full face to the spec- 

 tator. After him came Myrtle Bank, and then 

 Benefactor, who will very shortly give place to 

 a young bull named Earl Tredegar. Thus it 

 will be seen that during a period of less than 

 thirty years twelve bulls have reigned over the 

 Hereford herd, and if the herd book is turned 

 up it will be found that each has a famous pedi- 

 gree or ancestry attached to its name. 



"Mr. Price landed in South Australia in 

 1853, and hearing that 2,000 acres were being 

 surveyed on this island he started to have a 

 look at it along with Mr. Samuel Goode 

 (fl 258), now of Goolwa. It was a wild place 

 then, and the first night they stopped with the 

 blacks, who were fishing. He was pleased with 

 the land or sand and having secured what 

 he wanted has never had occasion to regret his 

 choice. He pities the poor fellows who have 

 to grow wheat for a living, and does not envy 

 those who have to grow wool for a subsistence. 

 He thinks he can produce one Hereford where 

 another man would have his work to do to main- 

 tain three sheep, and does not think that the 

 cattle waste as much food or cut up the land as 

 badly as the sheep would do. 



The Herefords are in splendid condition, ow- 

 ing to the great quantity of grass, which is even 

 now quite green a thing that has never been 

 noted in the previous thirty years' history of 



the place and there is not one cull in the 

 whole herd. One beast is so like the other in 

 shape, size, color and appearance that it is not 

 possible to tell them apart. Mr. Price him- 

 self, who is always among the cattle, can only 

 tell by such minor distinctions as would escape 

 the casual observer such as a small spot of red 

 near the eye or some other trivial distinction. 



"I have given the history of the first Hereford 

 bull that was imported into South Australia, 

 but the story of the first cow was not accom- 

 panied with so fortunate results. In 1863 Mr. 

 Charles Price purchased the best cow he could 

 find in England, and paid 60 ($300) for her, 

 which was the highest price that had been paid 

 up to that time for a Hereford. She was 

 named 'Maid of Coxall' by North Star, and was 

 bred by Mr. T. Rogers, of Coxall, Hereford- 

 shire. She was in calf to Battenhall before 

 named, and had a heifer calf by her side named 

 Queen of the Ocean. On the voyage, during a 

 storm, Maid of Coxall was washed out of her 

 box and both of her hind legs were broken, so 

 that she had to be killed, but Queen of the 

 Ocean was saved, and thus became the first 

 pure-bred Hereford female in the colony. She 

 was calved in 1863 to Bringewood and has pro- 

 duced a calf every year for fourteen years. Her 

 pedigree is found in the Hereford Herd Book, 

 and also in the New South Wales Herd Book. 



"Mr. Price calculated upon raising fifty head 

 every year and for 

 some time past his 

 calculations have 

 been verified. Last 

 year he was a little 

 short of his number 

 through an accident 

 to the bull. This 

 was only a tempo- 

 rary affair and this 

 season his calcula- 

 tions will again 

 most probably be 

 carried out. The 

 following is the his- 

 tory of the Queen 

 of the Ocean's pro- 

 geny : 



"Alpha, a heifer 

 by Bringewood, sold for 120 guineas to Messrs. 

 Kirkham Bros., along with her heifer calf 

 Resalama. This Mr. Price informs me is 

 the only cow the firm ever bought, but they 

 also purchased the bull Hindmarsh Island, 

 then aged about five years, at the same 

 time paying 100 guineas for him. Since then 

 the brothers have been famous for their fat 



R. G. HART, 

 La Peer, Mich. 



