HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



411 



first formed by the purchase of 49 pure Here- 

 ford heifers from Mr. Reynolds, of Tocal, hav- 

 ing such grand blood in their veins as could 

 be introduced by the imported bulls Lord Ash- 

 ford, Royal Head (fl 260), The Captain, Thrux- 

 ton, with many colonial-bred bulls, all of high 

 breeding and many of them Royal prize win- 

 ners. Misfortune followed their importation, 

 however, as many of them fell victims to that 

 dire disease, pleuro-pneumonia. Later on, 15 

 cows were purchased from Mr. J. D. Cox, of 

 Mudgee, New South Wales, whilst in 1883 eight 

 more were obtained from the same gentleman, 

 all descendants of English cows, imported to 

 Tasmania, many of them prize winners them- 

 selves or the produce of recipients of show 

 honors. 



"Since then the stud cattle have been aug- 

 mented by the purchases from such well-known 

 and successful' breeders as the Messrs. White, 

 of Muswell Brook; G. Rouse, of Mudgee, and 

 G. Loder, of Singleton. These later lots are all 

 undeniably pedigree, descended from such 

 splendid sires as Defiance, Oxford Lad, etc., 

 and all bred from cows, winners of first prizes 

 at the great English shows. These females 

 numbered 123, to which may be added about 

 200 more, being a choice herd of high-grade 

 cows, bred by thoroughbred bulls from dams 

 that have been carefully selected for several 

 generations. 



"The general herd are deserving of much 

 credit, being large framed, of a good uniform 

 color, and very even as regards shape and make. 

 One feature in the raising of Hereford cattle 

 is especially noticeable. They come to perfec- 

 tion for butchering purposes at an earlier age 

 than other breeds. Rarely is a bullock kept 

 after reaching four years of age; in fact, the 

 Hereford beast at three and a half years will 

 fetch as good a price in the open markets as 

 one of the other breeds at five years of age. 

 Corisequently the breeder realizes on his stock 

 far earlier than he otherwise would. The intro- 

 duction of Herefords and the adhering to that 

 breed has been most satisfactory. The Herd 

 Books show a greater percentage of branded 

 and weaned calves, the stock are quieter, and 

 the estate carried a larger quantity. Most in- 

 teresting must have been the gradual improve- 

 ment of a herd as each successive draft of pure 

 sires was introduced. Mr. Wood tells me about 

 the second cross. A good number of the fe- 

 males were unshapely, bad colored, and of 

 nondescript appearance. The pure bull again 

 corrected all that, and now the stage has been 

 reached when 80 per cent of the calves are prop- 

 erly marked with the characteristic colors and 



appearances of the Hereford cattle. They are 

 vigorous, hardy, fat from the start. There is 

 no breed like them for making prime bullocks 

 at three and a half years old, weighing 750 

 pounds, dressed, and this done entirely on nat- 

 ural grass. Further, there is no- breed like them 

 for accommodating themselves to the changes 

 and chances that grazier's cattle are exposed to 

 in the capricious climate of Australia. 



"This station buys large numbers of store 

 bullocks yearly, and it is a curious fact that the 

 few Herefords they get in this way fatten about 

 two months sooner than the Shorthorn cattle. 

 From personal experience I know that Here- 

 fords travel long distances to market better than 

 Shorthorns, with less lameness, and keeping 

 their condition better ; further, that a Hereford 

 beast in hard times will fight for his living 

 where a Shorthorn simply lies down and dies. 

 From inquiry I find the .timber getters are al- 

 ways ready to pay $5.00 per head more for 

 Hereford bullocks than for Shorthorns to break 

 them into the yoke, as they find them more 

 active, hardier and more docile. 



"The owners of this herd have evidently cre- 

 ated an ideal till they have succeeded in pro- 

 ducing a highly satisfactory result. The ex- 

 periments have no doubt been costly, but the 

 primary difficulties appear to me to have now 

 been surmounted, and they are now fairly in 



IMPORTED LORD WILTON 5739, AT 3 YEARS. 



Bred by C. M. Culbertson. Son of the champions, Lord s 



Wilton and Pretty Face. 



the straight run for the goal of success. There 

 is not a doubt that their stock will be constantly 

 sought after by breeders desirous of improving 

 their own herds. The three runs of Durundur, 

 Corondale, and Mount Kilcoy have wonderful 

 capacities for fattening stock splendid flats 

 and gullies, while the ranges are clothed with 

 herbage to their very summit, and permanent 

 streams of water. It is marvelous to me, how 



