142 BREEDS 



to handle, and is often covered with a beautiful coat. The tanner 

 shows the particular value he sets upon it, for not only is it very 

 heavy, as one would expect from its thickness, but a special and 

 higher quotation is always offered on the hide-markets for 

 "Herefords." 



As regards future beef-production in Great Britain (for the 

 foreign demand is likely to keep' up an active production in 

 high-class herds bred for that trade) the breed promises to be 

 useful along two distinct lines. In the first place, Herefords are 

 admirable cattle in districts where j owing to difficulty of access 

 with tillage-implements, the countryside may economically be 

 left under permanent grass, even though the pasture is only 

 second class. But there is a second purpose for which Hereford 

 bulls are particularly suitable, but in many parts of England 

 are not sufficiently used, namely, for crossing with the number- 

 less cows, which, being thin-fleshed, are not good enough 

 milkers to be used as progenitors of future milch-cows. Young 

 cattle so bred make excellent stores for any class of feeding, 

 including the production of baby-beef. Some rearers of store- 

 stock are now wise enough to place a good bull at the service 

 of the owners of large herds of such cows and to take their 

 calves at a contract price ; it would be well if such co-operation 

 of interests could be systematically extended. Another good 

 plan, at present only very occasionally adopted, is to mate a 

 Hereford bull with all the heifers on a farm; these can all be 

 tested for milk-yielding quality by the recording sheet and those 

 proving deep -milkers can be subsequently mated with a bull 

 of known milking blood. This, again, could be more widely 

 and economically carried on, if co-operative methods were more 

 prevalent. 



The Devon. 



This small ruby-red animal is famous for its wonderfully 

 symmetrical and deep -fleshed carcase. It is seldom used for 

 beef -production alone, for in nearly all commercial herds the 

 cows, besides rearing the calves, yield a considerable, if not 

 very large, quantity of milk from which comes the famous 

 Devonshire clotted cream, the blue Dorset skim-milk cheese, 



