LIVE STOCK IN AUSTRALIA. 158 



the shorthorns that they mature earlier, fatten more 

 kindly, and produce a greater amount of superior meat, 

 with less proportionate amount of bone and offal than any 

 other variety of cattle. As milkers they stand unrivalled 

 by all except the Ayrshire and Jersey or Alderney. The 

 prevailing colours are red, red and white, white and roan. 

 The light roan body and dark roan neck, with red or 

 brown- tipped ears, is the favorite colour with Australian 

 cattle owners. The latter is perhaps the prevailing colour 

 of the Booths, whilst the dark red, characteristic of the 

 Duchess family, is preferred by many in the Bates' strain. 



Herefords. Next to the shorthorns, the Herefords, or 

 " white faces," are considered the most valuable of modern 

 beef cattle. They are proving amongst the best for export 

 shipping. Unlike the shorthorns, however, which have at 

 times been denominated an " artificial " breed, the Herefords 

 may be considered an aboriginal race, having been bred up 

 to their present state of perfection quite within their own 

 blood. Originally, the Herefords were brown or red- 

 brown, without any white, but for nearly a century the 

 white face has been a characteristic of the breed. The 

 improved Herefords, until late years, were of a light, 

 almost 3 r ello\vish, red ; but the fashionable colour of the 

 present time is a dark red, white face and crops, and 

 in most instances white dewlaps. The Hereford of the 

 present day is a magnificent animal for the butcher, pos- 

 sessing in a marked degree the propensity to lay on flesh, 

 particularly on the hind quarters. So much is this the case 

 that to the symmetrical eye they appear groas, and lack the 

 beautiful appearance so much a characteristic of the 

 shorthorns. They are poor and inferior milkers, and it has 

 been observed that their calves do not withstand rough 

 usage so well as the Durhams. But it is claimed for the 

 Herefords that they are better adapted for our coast lands 

 than the shorthorns ; and that they mature earlier on our 

 natural pasturage, l>eing as a rule fit for the butcher at 

 four years. It is also claimed for them by their admirer* 

 that they travel letter to market than the shorthorns ; but 

 this is stoutly denied by the shorthorn men. It cannot, 

 however, be denied, that if we take the market prices as a 



