282 Colour and Markings in Pedigree Hereford Cattle 



the collection of photographs enabling one to draw conclusions and 

 arrive at results which would not otherwise have been apparent. 

 Characters which appear to be fluctuating variations are shown by this 

 book to b^ inherited as unit characters in a Mendelian manner. It must 

 be mentioned that owing to the value of the material no experimental 

 breeding has been attempted, though had it been possible to do so 

 most interesting results might have been obtained. With cattle worth 

 hundreds apiece^ experimental breeding for undesirable points is out of 

 the question in a herd run on commercial lines. 



2. The Typical Hereford. 



Before considering the manner in which different characters are 

 inherited it will be necessary to give a description of the typical Here- 

 ford. It is a deep red beast, with white face and underparts, white feet, 

 white at the end of the tail, and a white patch along the top of the 

 neck. Sometimes there is a trace of red round the eyes. The stranger 

 to the breed is" generally impressed by the constancy of these markings ; 

 still, variations from the type do occur. It is hardly necessary to add 

 that the Hereford is a very heavy fleshed beast, fattening rapidly, and 

 is the premier beef breed of the world, having spread to every country 

 where beef raising is a considerable industry. 



Minor points that breeders attend to are : coat colour, which should 

 b§ a rich purple red, not a yellow-brown; a clean, clear nose, without 

 spots and markings ; and the horns, which should be free from pigment 

 at the tips. 



3. Variations Studied. 



I. Reduction of the Pigmented area, or Excess of White : This varia- 

 tion is the one most frequently met with, certain families being known 

 to "throw white" occasionally. PI. VII, fig. 2 shows a bad example of 

 this departure from the type, in which the white markings have spread 

 out and much reduced the coloured area. PI. VII, fig. 8 shows another 

 example, in which the animal has a streak of white down the spine and 

 somewhat more than it should have in other parts. It will hereafter 

 be shown that the variation is caused by a recessive factor that will be 

 designated by the letter " W." 



1 In the autumn of 1918 a herd of 84 pedigree Herefords were dispersed at an average 

 of over £500 each, including the stock bull, Ringer, which fetched 9000 guineas. 



