HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



415 



"Cattle, which are not at all plentiful, main- 

 tain steady value. Herefords, Scots and Dev- 

 ons were quoted at 18| to 19^ cents per Ib. 

 dressed; Shorthorns at 17f to 18|c." 



The "Chamber of Agriculture Journal" 

 (Eng.), of Monday, December 4, 1882, speak- 

 ing of the cattle market in London, says : 



"Herefords sold for 18fc to 19c; Shorthorns 

 at 17fc to 18|c," making a difference of 1-Jc 

 per pound in favor of the Herefords. Danish 

 cattle quoted at 17c; Canadian from 14^c to 

 15c; Swedish, 14c to 14-|c. 



HEREFORD STEERS DRESSED. 



We republish from an eastern paper the fol- 

 lowing account of two Hereford steers which 

 were exhibited at the New York State Fair 

 (1882), where they won first and second prizes. 

 They were purchased and slaughtered by John 

 Battersby, butcher, of Albany. The beef of the 

 two weighed in the aggregate 3,370 pounds. 

 The beef in the carcass of the steer George was 

 63 per cent of live weight, and of Pierre, 69 

 per cent. With hide and tallow the former 

 turned out 80 per cent, the latter 87 per cent. 

 The lean was finely streaked with fat, and was 

 of a rich texture. The following was the result 

 in detail: 



Pierre. George. 



Ibs. Ibs. 



Weight before killing 2,310 2,575 



Beef 1,590 1,668 



Tallow 147 215 



Hide 128 141 



Liver 23 19 



Tongue 10 10 



Heart 7 8 



Total 1,905 2,074 



This beef was graded at the West Albany 

 market as first-class. Breeders' Journal, 1883. 



THE FIRST HEREFORD RANGE STEERS. 



Some very fine distillery-fed cattle were re- 

 cently marketed at Chicago. They were half- 

 blood Herefords, originally from the Wyoming 

 ranch of Swan Brothers ; in fact, they were the 

 first fruits of the bulls of that breed which they 

 took out to the ranch some three or four years 

 ago. The lot numbered 75 head, averaged 1,380 

 pounds, and sold at $6.15 per cwt., which was at 

 least 25 cents per hundred more than any. other 

 cattle sold for on the day of their arrival. They 

 sold to Armour & Co. (ff 262), to dress at Chi- 

 cago and be forwarded in refrigerator cars to a 

 New York butcher who makes a specialty of 

 handling the best grades of beef. The lot 

 dressed sixty-four pounds per hundred, an ex- 

 traordinary record, being about eight pounds 

 above the average, The lot attracted much at- 



tention, and was inspected by numerous breed- 

 ers of note, the most of whom came for the 

 express purpose of seeing the first really large 

 lot of Herefords that has been marketed. On 

 the same day and with the same lot was a large 

 shipment of ordinary range cattle that had been 

 slop-fed the same length of time as the half- 

 bloods, which averaged 1,309 pounds and sold 

 at $5.75. A few practical lessons like that, 

 showing in actual figures the value of improved 

 blood, carry more weight than almost any 

 amount of theorizing. Breeders' JowmaZ,1883. 



COMPARATIVE PRICES IN LONDON. 



From the "Farmer and Chamber of Agricul- 

 ture Journal" (England) we get the market 

 reports at Smithfield on the 2d of June, 1884. 

 There were in the Metropolitan Cattle Market 

 on that day about 2,400 beasts, and the best 

 Scots, Herefords, etc., were 5s. 4d. to 5s. 6d. 

 (or 16c to 17^c dressed, equal to $9.50 to $10 

 per cwt. alive) per eight pounds. The best 

 Shorthorns were sold at from 5s. 2d. to' 5s. 4d. 

 (or 16c to 16^c per Ib. dressed and $9 to $9.50 

 per cwt. alive) ; the second quality beasts, 

 which were made largely from Shorthorn blood, 

 were selling at from 4s. to 4s. lOd. (or 12|c to 

 15c dressed and $7 to $8.50 per cwt. alive). 



The above are about the regular comparative 

 quotations that appear in the English jour- 

 nals from week to week. The Scots and Here- 

 fords stand within the range of 5s. 4d. to 5s. 6d., 

 which means about "$1.33 to $1.37^ for a stone 

 of 8 pounds weight. The best Shorthorns stand 

 at $1.29 to $1.33, and then comes in a quality 

 below the best, which makes from $1 to $1.20. 

 Dividing these sums by eight shows the price 

 per pound of meat, making no account of the 



TYPICAL SHORTHORN BULL. 



offal. This second quality is a feature that 

 exists in all markets in reference to the Short- 

 horn cattle, which brings the average very 

 much below the Scots and Herefords. The 

 Scots and Herefords have that uniform char- 



