HISTORY OF H E E E F E D CATTLE 



19 



J. Tomkms of Wellington Court, which will 

 Oe sold by auction without reserve, upon the 

 premises at Kmg's-Pyon, nine miles from Here- 

 ford, on Monday, 18th October, 1819, being 

 the eve of the Herefordshire Agricultural 

 Show, and two days previous to the great cattle 

 fair at Jlereford: 



LOT. NAME. 



1. Yearling heifer. 



Young Blowdy 



2. Ditto. Young Fair- 



maid 



3. Two-year-old i n - 



calf heifer, Young 

 Blossom 



4. Ditto, Young Silver 



5. In-calf heifer, Duch 



ess 



6. Ditto cow. Pigeon.. 



7. Ditto, Stately 



8. Ditto, Sillt ... 



9. Ditto, Beauty 



10. Ditto, Silver . 



11. Ditto, Cherry 



PURCHASER. 

 Mr. W. West. 



Mr. Court 



PRICE. 



, 56 14 0= ?285 



99 15 0= 



12. Ditto, Prettymaid. 



13. Ditto. Piot 



14. Ditto, Nancy 



15. Ditto. Blowdy... 



16. Ditto, Fairmaid 



17. Ditto, Tidy 



18. Ditto, Lovely .. 



19. Ditto, Storrell. . 



20. 



21. 



22. 

 23. 

 24. 



26. 

 26. 



Ditto, Pink 



Bull-calf off Ditto. 



Ditto off Beauty 



Fat Cow, Blossom. 



Pair of two-year- 

 old steers (twins) 



Ditto 



Ditto 



Single Bullock 



Pair of yearling bul- 

 locks 



Ditto 



Ditto 



Ditto 



Ditto 



Pair of bullock 

 calves 



Ditto 



Ditto 



Mr. G. Tomkins, for 



Lord Talbot 105 Or 



Mr. John Tomkins.. 73 10 0= 

 Mr. G. Tomkins, for 



Lord Talbot 105 0= 



Mr. W. West 159 12 0= 



Mr. G. Tomkins, for 



Lord Talbot 52 10 0= 



Mr. Lewis 70 7 0= 



Mr. Cooke 262 10 0= 



Mr. West 210 0= 



Mr. G. Tomkms, for 



Lord Talbot 110 5 0= 



Mr. Lewis 99 15 0= 



Mr. Turner 105 0= 



Mr. G. Tomkins, for 



Lord Talbot 252 5 0= 



Mr. Cooke 273 0= 



Mr. West 65 2 0= 



Mr. Cooke 131 5 0= 



Mr. Cooke 53 11 0= 



Mr. G. Tomkins, for 



Lord Talbot 262 5 0= 



Mr. Edwards 14115 0= 



Mr. Clarke 147 0= 



Mr. Crooke 215 5 0= 



Mr. James 48 6 0= 



525 

 370 



525 

 800 



265 



350 



1310 



1050 



550 

 500 

 525 



1260 

 1365 

 325 



1310 

 705 

 735 



1075 

 240- 



Mr. T. Cooke 47 5 0= 235 



Mr. W. Cooke 48 6 0= 240 



Mr. James Price 49 0= 245 



Mr. James Price 20 0= 100 



Mr. 

 Mr. 

 Mr. 

 Mr. 

 Mr. 



Smith 24 



Patrick 27 



James Price 49 



Oliver 27 



Wedge 25 



0= 

 0= 

 0= 

 6 0= 

 10 0= 



120 

 135 

 245 

 135 

 130 



Heifer calf 



Ditto 



Two-year-old bul 



of Pink 



Ditto of StorreU... 



.Mr. W. Cooke 20 10 0= 100 



.Mr.W. Cooke 16 0= 80 



. Mr, Wright 16 0= 80 



.Mr. G. Tomkins 30 0= 150 



.Mr. Cooke 26 0= 130 



. Mr. W. West 147 0= 735 



. Mr. G. Tomkins, for 



Lord Talbot 588 0=2940 



Mr. Welles 162 15 0= 815 



Mr. T. Cooke 173 5 0= 865 



41. Four-year-old Ditto 



42. Five-year-old Ditto. 



"N". B. — The above cattle are all of the pure 

 breed, which have been so justly esteemed and 

 admired by the most competent judges in every 

 part of the kingdom where they have been in- 

 troduced, and for which peculiar blood, the 

 highest prices have, been obtained, and particu- 

 larly No. 23, which is considered to carry the 

 greatest weight upon the smallest bone of any 

 cow in the kingdom." . 



SUMMARY. OJ SALES. .. -- 



Total, Average. 



£ s d £ s d=U. S. D. 



17 cows 2249 2 149 18 9=5 749.68 



3 two-year-old heifers 283 10 94 10 0= 472.50 



2 yearling heifers 156 9 78 4 6= 39L12 



4 bulls 1071 267 15 0=1338.75 



2 bull calves 362 5 181 2 6= 905.62 



£4172 6s Od ($20,861.50): Average, £149 



28 Head; Total, 

 (?745.00). 



It is interesting to compare the foregoing 

 averages with those realized at the great Short- 

 horn (Durham) sales of the Brothers Collmg, 

 which took place about the same time. At Mr. 

 Chas. Ceiling's sale at Ketton, in 1810, the 

 average for 47 head was £151 Ss ($7.57.00] 

 (the bull Comet bringing 1,000 guineas or 

 $5,000.00). At Mr. Eobt. Collingfs sale at 

 Brampton m 1818, 61 head averaged £128 17s 

 lOd ($644.35); and at his sale in 1820, 46 head 

 averaged £49 8s 7d ($247.14). 



A statement has recently been made to the 

 effect that the Tomkins Herefords, if they had 

 not from the effects of excessive in-and-m 

 breeding fallen into disrepute before B. Tom- 

 kins' death, at least did so almost immediately 

 afterwards. There is certainly no evidence of 

 want of public appreciation in the sale list 

 which has just been given. Moreover, Mr. John 

 Price for many years retained without any mix- 

 ture the blood, of Tomkins. and also bred very 

 closely, and yet when his herd was dispersed in 

 1841 (26 years after Tomkins' death) the aver- 

 'age for 99 lots was £53 16s 4d ($270). But it is 

 only necessary to glance at the composition of 

 the foundation herds of Herefords as recorded 

 m the Herd Book — those of Knight. Smythies, 

 Yarworth, Hewer, Walker, Hoskyns, Perry, 

 Jellico, Smith, Lord Talbot, Sir F. Lawley, 

 etc., to see how largely the Tomkins blood was 

 infused over the breed. There was scarcely one 

 of the early herds that was not indebted to the 

 Tomkins strains for part of its excellence, and 

 if the results of injudicious in-and-in breeding 

 had then, as is alleged, been so painfully ap- 

 parent, the blood would have scarcely obtained 

 such wide circulation. That some of Tomkins" 

 cattle went into the possession of those who 

 were not able to do them justice, and who 

 failed m the attempt to carrj' out what they 

 supposed was his system, is unquestiona))le; 

 but that the herd retained unimpaired its high 

 character when Benjamin Tomkms died, is 

 proved by the results in 1819, and liy the fact 

 that John Price continued for 37 years to suc- 

 cessfully breed on the Tomkins' lines without 

 resorting to other blood. 



After the sale in 1819 the Misses Tomkins 

 remained at the Brook House Farm, and con- 

 tinued to breed Hereford cattle. They had a 

 second sale in October. 1839. when it was an- 

 nounced that they were about to retire from 

 business. The (Catalogue of this sale .shows that 

 their cattle still retained considerable reputa- 

 tion. Among the prices were £108 ($540) for 

 the nine-year-old cow Pigeon, the purchaser 

 being Mr] Gough; £50 ($250) for the eight- 

 year-old cow Stately (Mr. Davenport); £56 



