AUSTRALASIA: NEW ZEALAND. 645 



NEW ZEALAND CATTLE IN THE UNITED STATES. 



The high class of cattle in this coloDy and the low price at which they 

 can be obtained has very naturally attracted the attention of the cattle- 

 breeders in the United States. In August, 1883, Mr. A. W. Sisson, of 

 California, dispatched Mr. Bollin P. Saxe, a cattle expert, to New Zea- 

 land to purchase for him a band of pure-blooded Herefords. Mr. Saxe 

 arrived in Auckland in September, 1883, and after visiting several of 

 the cattle districts in the colony purchased 20 two-year-old heifers in calf 

 and 24 bulls from one to two years old from the New Zealand Stock and 

 Pedigree Company, of Auckland. Mr. Saxe was not only surprised at 

 the superb condition of the company's cattle but at the low prices at 

 which they were sold. They were shipped to San Francisco by the 

 Pacific Mail steamer City of Sydney in October last, being the first 

 shipment of New Zealand bred cattle ever made to the United States. 



Mr. Saxe is of the opinion that Hereford cattle can be more easily 

 and economically brought to California from New Zealand than across 

 the continent by railway from Illinois and other States celebrated for 

 this particular breed. In Illinois these cattle sell at from $500 to 

 $5,000 per head, whereas they can be bought in New Zealand at from 

 $100 to $700 per head. Arrangements, it is said, have been made for 

 monthly shipments of Herefords from Auckland to California, and Mr. 

 Craig, of San Francisco, has proposed to establish a distributing farm 

 for them on the Contra Costa Slope near Oakland. It is noteworthy 

 that the two breeds of cattle most largely in demand in the United 

 States, viz, the Jersey and the Hereford, thrive better in New Zealand 

 than any other kind of cattle. The Jerseys are nothing like as numer- 

 ous as the Herefords, from the fact that they were introduced at a much 

 later period, but it is well known that they do equally as well. My at- 

 tention has recently been called by stock farmers, to the high prices 

 which these breeds bring in America. At the Kellog combination sale 

 in New York last June a yearling bull, King Ashantee, brought $5,600; 

 a six-year-old cow brought $1,900, and a two-year-old heifer brought 

 $1,650, and many others at similar figures. These prices, however, 

 were eclipsed at a subsequent period at Mr. T. S. Cooper's sale in 

 Connecticut. At Mr. Cooper's sale 119 Jerseys averaged $952.50 each, 

 and a thirty-three months' old heifer brought $5,150, and a five-year-old 

 cow brought $2,800. 



NEW ZEALAND HEREFORDS. 



The New Zealand Stock and Pedigree Company, of Auckland, has 

 one of the largest herds of pure-bred Herefords in the world. This 

 breed has long been a favorite one here. They are tough, hardy, and 

 are able to pick their food on poor soil, and when two and three years 

 old outweigh any other breed, and are famous for their high-priced 

 meat ; that is to say, their loins are well developed, and their yield of 

 succulent and porter-house and sirloin are proportionately heavy. The 

 hind quarters of the pure-bred Hereford are long from the hip back- 

 wards. The thighs are large and full and well meated at the hocks. 

 The whole carcass is set square on good, short legs standing well apart. 

 The flesh is firm and the hide mellow, with soft, hair, not too fine, but 

 giving the impression that it can be stretched to any extent. 



The color of this breed is a distinct red, with white face, mane, and 

 white breast and legs as far as the knee. As an evidence of how they 

 stand hard feed it is said that during the long drought of 1878 and 



