226 



Hereford Cattle. 



Vol. VIII. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Hereford Cattle. 



Mr. Editor, — I was somewhat disap- 

 pointed in not finding in your last number, 

 something from your correspondent, Tho- 

 mas Tiiompson, who in the November No., 

 took occasion to allude to Mr. Sotham and 

 his celebrated Herefords, which led to such 

 reply from the latter gentleman, as could 

 not fail, as I thought, to provoke a rejoinder 

 from your correspondent, Thompson; and 

 hence my disappointment. Not that I like 

 disputation or discussion for mere display, 

 or notoriety, but for the advancement of 

 knowledge ; for the promoting especially of 

 agricultural information ; and being withal 

 an admirer of fine stock, I should like your 

 friend Thompson, to have continued a little 

 longer in the field, in favour of the Dur- 

 hams; but perhaps he may have yielded to 

 the potency of Mr. Sotham's arguments in 

 favour of the Herefords — if so, it would 

 have been more manly to have acknow- 

 ledged his defeat, than to leave Mr. Sotham 

 to a triumph, which your readers may as- 

 cribe more to the timidity of his opponent, 

 than to the real merits of his cause. 



The object of this is, to inquire where is 

 Mr. Thompson — and if echo answers, no- 

 where — then to ask, is there no one to re- 

 spond to the call of Mr. Sotham — no one to 

 enter the lists with him, who, of all the 

 knights of Durham, Devon, and Ayrshire, 

 will, for love or money, give him a meeting. 

 His challenge, on the face of it, seems fair, 

 and it may be said, he is over magnanimous, 

 by one half, if not two thirds, for he permits 

 his opponent to name two of the three judges, 

 leaving one only, to be named by himself 

 This argues great consciousness of strength 

 in Mr. Sotham, and it may have its effect to 

 frighten, as in the case of bigger boys, when 

 they offer to fight the little boys with one 

 hand, the other to be tied behind their back. 

 Mr. Sotham's challenge runs thus: — he 

 " will show from six to ten breeding cows, 

 and a bull, all pure Herefords, against a 

 similar number of any breed in the United 

 States, for beauty, symmetry, quality, milk- 

 ing, and activity for breeding working oxen, 

 &c." Now I should very much like to see 

 such a trial, and in order to promote it, I 

 consider it a duty, to put a few questions to 

 Mr. Sotham, in order to clear the way for 

 some of our farmers, who might be induced 

 to exhibit, if the points upon which the de- 

 cision is to turn, were made more plain and 

 intelligible. 



" Beauty" and " symmetry," need no ex- 

 planation, they are familiar to all. But 

 what does Mr. Sotham mean by " quality," 



— is it fat, or aptitude to fatten, or as it is 

 termed sometimes by graziers, " easy fed," 

 or " early maturing." If high condition is 

 meant, then the struggle would be, who 

 could produce the plumpest or fattest ani- 

 mals; and if he means the quality of the 

 beef, how can that be ascertained, unless 

 the animals were slaughtered? And how 

 can judges pronounce on that quality, in 

 breeders and milkers'? The property of 

 milk is another feature, — how is this pro- 

 perty to be ascertained 1 Is each cow to be 

 milked, or will proof be required of her 

 milking? If either of these, it will prove 

 a troublesome job, to try 12 to 20 cows at 

 equal periods, from fresh till dry, or to prove 

 to the satisfaction of the jildges, the yield, 

 through the different stages. What is to be 

 understood by " activity for breeding ivork- 

 ing oxenV Does it mean that the bull and 

 cows are to be light of foot, to walk, run, and 

 jump well, and if so, is it to be inferred they 

 are the more likely to produce working oxen? 

 Or does the "activity for breeding" here 

 spoken of, indicate the principle of breeding 

 to be more active in Herefords than other 

 cattle? What is meant by "breeding cows?" 

 Must a cow have been kept especially for 

 breeding — how long, and how many calves 

 reared fi-om her, to entitle her to be classed 

 as a breeding cow? Must the six to ten 

 " breeding cows," and the bull, be honafide, 

 the property of the exhibitor, and must they 

 all be of the same breed? If this be the 

 case, there are but few farmers who could 

 turn out seven to ten head of pure Durhams, 

 Devons, or Ayrshires. 



If Mr. Sotham would be so obliging as to 

 answer these questions, by way of defining 

 his position, it might further his views much. 

 In the mean time, should anyof your readers 

 think they can meet Mr. Sotham, I shall be 

 pleased to hear from them, and shall do my 

 best to procure for them a fair field — such a 

 trial, as a plain, unsophisticated farmer might 

 venture upon. Moreover, I would, in all 

 fairness, respectfully advise Mr. Sotham, to 

 take back, by all means, his proposal to allow 

 his competitor to choose two of the three 

 judges, who are to decide upon the merits 

 of the cattle, and award the silver cup. 



Very respectfully, Fair Play. 



January 20th, 1814. 



I REMEMBER hearing of a dear lover of 

 books, who had his library burned down to 

 the ground. When his friends expressed 

 their surprise that he should bear his loss 

 with so much calmness, his reply was, "I 

 must have learned but little from my books, 

 if they have not taught me to endure the 

 loss of them." 



