702 CrCLOPEDIA OP LIVE 8TOCH. AND CK)HFLBTE STOCK DOCTOR. 



"At what date they were first imported into this country, we have no accu- 

 rate account ; but that some Herefords came out among the early impor- 

 tations, is evide'it from the occasional marks of the breed among our 

 native cattle where late importations have not been known. In the 

 year 1816 or '17 the great Kentucky statesman, Henry Clay, imported 

 two pairs of them into his State, and put them on his farm at Ashland. 

 They were bred for a time with each other, and the bulls were crossed with 

 other cows ; but it is ceitain that they left no permanent impress on the 

 herds of that vicinity, as Mr. Clay himself became a breeder of Short- 

 Horns soon afterwards, and eventually discarded the blood from his 

 herds, if he had for any length of time retained it. No trace of them is 

 now seen in Kentucky. 



VI. The Importation of 1840. 



" The largest importation of Herefords into the United States, was made 

 about the year 1840, upwards of twenty in number, b}^ an Englishman 

 into the city of New York, and taken into Jefferson count}^ of that State. 

 A 3^ear or two afterwards the l)ulk of the herd Avere removed to the farm 

 Mr. Erastus Corning, near Albany, N. Y., and some of them went 

 into Vermont, where they were for some years bred, sold and scattered- 

 While the stock were at his farm, Mr. Corning, with his accustomed lib- 

 erality and enterprise, sent out again to England to purchase more 

 animals, which safely arrived, and were added to the herd. They were 

 then successfully bred for several years, many sales made into different 

 and distant parts of the United States, and they acquired considerable 

 popularity. The herd was subesequently divided, Mr. Corning retaining 

 his share, and his partner taking his, some twenty or more in number, 

 to a farm three or four miles from Buffalo, on the banks of the 

 Niagara. Here they were bred, and several sales made, to go to different 

 parts of the countr}^ during the four or five years they remained ; but the 

 herd gradually waned, mainly from want of proper care and system in 

 their keeping. 



" Mr. Corning retained his herd at his farm, where he has successfully 

 bred, and made sales from them since, and in the hands of his son, 

 Mr. E. Corning, Jr., who is more an amateur than a professed cattle 

 breeder, £idded to by occasional importations from England, they remam 

 fine specimens of their race. 



VII. Hereford Grades Fifty Years Ago. 



"Mr. George Clark, at Springfield, Otsego county, N. Y., obtained 

 several Herefords from this herd, and, we believe, made an importation 

 or two from England. He bred them successfully, distributed his bulls 



