34 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



ular purposes, and not the admixture of other blood. The first effort 

 of this kind, of which we have an authentic account, was made by 

 Benjamin Tomkins, of Wellington Court, Herefordshire, who, accord- 

 ing to Professor Low, commenced about the year 1766, with two 

 cows which evinced a singular disposition to fatten. Mr. Eyton, the 

 compiler of the " Herd-book of Hereford Cattle," states that he was 

 informed by the family of Mr. Tomkins, that one of these cows "was 

 a gray, and the other a dark red with a spotted face." The former, 

 Mr. T. called Pigeon, and the latter, Mottle. It appears that Mr. T. 

 kept two branches from these two cows — one of a gray color, called 

 the Pigeon branch, and the other of a red color, with white or mottled 

 face, called the Mottle branch — and they have been continued to 

 this day. 



From the two cows mentioned, Mr. Tomkins bred a large herd, and 

 supplied other breeders with many choice animals during his lifetime, 

 and shortly after his death, in 1819, the entire stock was disposed of 

 at public auction. The prices obtained deserve notice. Fifty-two ani- 

 mals, among which were twenty-two steers, from calves to two-year- 

 olds and two heifer calves, brought the aggregate sum of £4,673 14s., 

 averaging £89 17s. 6rf., ($445.37^) each. One bull sold to Lord 

 Talbot for £588, and several cows brought £215 to £273 each. The 

 stock was purchased by breeders in different parts of the kingdom, and 

 laid the foundation for many eminent herds. (See Herd-hook of 

 Hereford Cattle, vol. 1, appendix, pp. 1 to 23.) 



The Herefords have not been largely introduced into this country. 

 The first importation of the breed, of which there is a clear record, 

 was made by the late Hon. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, in 1817. In a 

 letter from Mr. C. in regard to them, published in the American 

 Farmer^ 1822, it is stated that there w^ere two bulls and two heifers, 

 the total cost of Avhich, in EnglftiHl, was £105 sterling. It is not 

 stated who Avas the breeder of the stock, but the comparatively low 

 price paid would seem to indicate that they were not from a herd of 

 the highest repute. 



In 1824, Admiral Coffin, of the Royal Navy, presented to the Mas- 

 sachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, a Hereford bull and 

 heifer. The documents accompanying them, stated that they were 

 bred by Sir J. G. Cottrel, whose stock was from Mr. Yarworth, and 

 his from Mr. Benjamin Tomkins, the first noted breeder of Here- 

 fords, before mentioned. The cow never bred. The bull was kept 

 for some time by the late Hon. Isaac C. Bates, of Northampton, and 

 died in that vicinity at the age of nineteen or twenty years, leaving a 

 progeny highly esteemed for general usefulness. 



The largest importation of the breed, was made by Messrs. Corn- 



