DIFFERENT BREEDS OF OXEN. 91 



of the Herefords may possibly be due to their having been crossed 

 with the Montgomery cattle. As a set-off against the good 

 fattening qualities of the Herefords, it is to be remarked that the 

 cows are rather bad milkers, and deficient in form. They are 

 much worse from the point of view of the milk-supply than are 

 the Devonshire cows. It is, in fact, very rarely the case that we 

 meet with a dairy depending on Hereford cows. Nevertheless, 

 although they are not good suppliers of milk as a general rule^ 

 some Hereford cows yield a large quantity. George Culley^ 

 writing in 1801 concerning the Hereford cattle of that date, says 

 that the calves run with the cows until they are about eleven or 

 twelve weeks of age, when they are weaned and turned out to 

 grass; and also that a good Hereford cow, if well kept after the- 

 calf has been taken away from her, is capable of yielding 7 lbs. 

 of butter per week for three or four months, and double that 

 quantity of skimmed-milk cheese, but that these cows do not give 

 such a large quantity of milk as the Suffolk cows do, though 

 what they do give is of much richer quality. However, such a 

 yield as this — a liberal one for any cow after rearing a calf- 

 would not be forthcoming on the part of a modern Hereford cow. 

 In point of fact, then, we find that the Herefords are good in 

 regard to the production of meat ; but that they are by no means 

 remunerative for dairy purposes. Hence the cows are valued 

 only, or very nearly exclusively, for their capacity in the way of 

 breeding. They are small and dehcate, and some persons would 

 think them also ill-made. When in their usual condition, they 

 are light-fleshed, and, moreover, they are not allowed to put 

 on flesh while they are employed for breeding. When they are 

 being fattened, they spread out and increase in size very rapidly. 

 The Hereford cow is somewhat less than the ordinary size of 

 cows, and not unfrequently produces a bull calf which may ulti- 

 mately become three times her own weight. Very few Hereford- 

 shire oxen are grazed in their native county, and it is chiefly the 

 heifers and old cows which are fattened for the home consump- 

 tion. The oxen are usually sold when they are five or six years 

 old, and in fair condition, at the Michaelmas fair in Hereford, to 

 the graziers of Buckinghamshire and those of the counties 

 lying adjacent thereto. The Herefords are well suited to the 

 keeping up of good breeding qualities and of good form ; but, 

 unfortunately, these are not very compatible with the yielding 



