46 



HISTOEY OF HEKEFOKD CATTLE 



bred were The Sheriffs (356) 383,— by Sov- 

 ereign, a prize bull by Gloucester and sold to 

 Mr. Mason at The Grove sale in 1836 for £60 

 ($300) ; Portrait (373) 194,— by Lottery (410) 

 185,— sold m .1836 to Mr. Rogers for £52 

 ($360); Grove (370) 247 sold at the same sale 

 for £80 ($400), and Conservative (370) sold for 

 £70 ($350). 



Mr. Thos. Jeffries is acknowledged to have 

 been one of the most successful and skillful 

 breeders of the Herefords. Beginning with the 

 old Jeffries blood, he seems to have perceived 

 that the best course for him to pursue was to 

 infuse a large proportion of Hewer blood. He 

 had on hire Mr. John Hewer's grand bulls Sov- 

 ereign (404) 231, Lottery (410) 185, Byron 

 (440) 305, and Fitzfavorite (441) 3.66. The cat- 

 tle thus bred were of the very highest merit, 

 being of large size, good form, splendid quality, 

 and generally uniform in color markings. He 

 did more than any other breeder to spread 

 abroad the fame of the Hewer stock, and en- 

 couraged by his success many of the best breed- 

 ers of the day imitated his example and crossed 

 their stock with the Hewer bulls. Indeed, it is 

 not too much to say that it is largely owing to 

 Mr. Hewer, Mr. Yeomans, and Mr. Thomas Jef- 

 fries that the uniform color marking of the 



breed was established. It is not necessary here 

 to go into much detail regarding the many im- 

 pressive sires that were distributed over the 

 country from The Grove herd. 



Cotmore (376) 150, bred by T. Jeffries, 

 calved in 1836 (got by Hewer's Sovereign (404) 

 231, when he was fifteen years old), dam by 

 Lottery (410) 185, was considered to have been 

 one of the finest Hereford bulls ever seen. Be- 

 sides gaining first prizes at Hereford as a two- 

 year-old, three-year-old, and later in the aged 

 class, he was the first prize winner at the Ox- 

 ford Show of the R. A. S. E. in 1839. His live 

 weight was 35 old English cwt. (or 3,920 lbs.). 

 Hope (439) 324 (IJ 38) from same dam as Cot- 

 more, was a grand animal and impressive sire 

 that left his mark on the breed, (jj 38B) 



Mr. Thos. Jeffries' services were not over- 

 looked by his contemporaries. A subscription 

 list, prefaced by the following notice, appeared 

 in the Hereford papers in 1839 : "Many ad- 

 mirers as well as breeders of Hereford cattle 

 having viewed with feelings of pride the suc- 

 cess of Mr. Thos. Jeffries of The Grove in ob- 

 taining at the first meeting of the English Agri- 

 cultural Society, held at Oxford on Wednesday, 

 the 17th day of July, 1839, a prize for exhibit- 

 ing the best Hereford bull, desire to present 



CROOME COURT," WORCESTERSHIRE, SEAT OF THE EARL OF COVENTRY. 



