12-2 



HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



his eulogistic description of the Hereford ox 

 for labor, did not write of a quiet, sleep-loving 

 animal, which would become a lump of fat at 

 two years old. Mr. Clay, in referring to the 

 same point, said nothing of animals possessing 

 the size and broad loin of the Durham, and one 

 years earlier maturity. He spoke of a race 

 'resembling the New England cattle.' 



''But after all, I am not quite convinced that 

 the Herefords have been converted into Dur- 

 hams. If Messrs. Walker, Hewer, and other 

 breeders in Gloucestershire, had possessed such 

 animals six years since, it is astonishing that 

 they should have escaped the notice of Mr.You- 



WILLIAM MILLER (UNCLE WILLIE), STORM LAKE, lA. 



(One of the Millers at. Markham who bred Mr. Sotham's 



kind of Shorthorns.) 



ATT — if they have been created, so to speak, 

 since, it is a little short of miraculous. On the 

 bleak highlands of Gloucester no breed has been 

 cultivated with any very marked success. In 

 the vale of Berkeley (a name so cherished by all- 

 lovers of good cheese) the prevailing breed is a 

 compound of nearly everything, the old Glou- 

 cester, Hereford, Devon, Durham, Leicester, 

 Suffolk, Dun, North Wilts, etc. Mr. Youatt 

 says expressly: 'There are (in the vale of 

 Berkeley) no Herefords for the pail, a few 

 Devons, some Suffolks, a few North Wilts, and 



the rest Gloucesters, with various crosses.' And 

 not a word does he say of a race of Herefords in 

 this county equaling the Devons in size and 

 form, 'tilling the pail as high as most of them," 

 of one years earlier maturity, etc., etc. 



"Now, who shall decide when doctors disa- 

 gree ? Mk. Youatt has certainly given as much 

 attention to the comparison of the English 

 breeds as any other individual — is thought in 

 England to be about as well qualified to arrive 

 at a correct decision as any other individual, 

 and, above all, had no personal interest in the 

 result. This last consideration is of no little 

 import. 'It is according to our gifts,' as the 

 Pathfinder would say, that every man's goose 

 should have a most swan-like appearance to 

 himself. I do not doubt the propriety of Mr. 

 Sotham's motives, or the sincerity of his con- 

 victions. He doubtless believes as he would 

 have us believe. He deserves high credit for 

 his enterprise for introducing so valuable a 

 stock of cattle, but when he calls upon us to give 

 up opinions supported by all the best English 

 authorities — opinions until now unquestioned, 

 we must demand something besides the author- 

 ity of an interested witness. 



"Yours truly, 



"Henry S. Raxdall. 



"Cortland Village, Nov. 16, 1840." 



The reader will here recognize the reasons 

 for placing prominently heretofore the fact of 

 Youatt's "History of British Cattle"' being 

 written by Berry, a Shorthorn breeder, and why 

 we have been so particular to show the record of 

 the Smithtield Show ; the experiments of the 

 Duke of Bedford ; the sales of Mr. Westcar, and 

 the value of Hereford beef on the London mar- 

 ket. 



In replying to Mr. Hepburn, Mr. Sotham 

 wrote the publishers of the "Cultivator," as fol- 

 lows : 



"Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker: Anxious as I 

 may appear to defend the Herefords against 

 all unjust attacks, I hope not to depreciate any 

 other breed by it. However high I may value 

 their good qualities, there are other breeds that 

 are commendable. I think the right sort of 

 Durhams hard animals to be beaten, and will 

 never be intentionally depreciated in value 

 from my remarks. If I advance my opinion to 

 society, I am subject to public criticism, and 

 am ready and willing to meet it. I neither 

 aim at display nor ever expect to derive any 

 pecuniary benefit from it; whenever I am in 

 error, I hope to be corrected, as what I advise 

 is from my own observation and practice, and 

 I trust founded on facts. When proved so, all 

 I ask is to have them confirmed. Should thev 



