HISTOEY OF HEEEFORD CATTLE 



123 



tend to promote the public good, my hopes are 

 realized, the obligation canceled, and I am sat- 

 isfied. I will now endeavor to answer the ob- 

 jections brought against the Herefords by Mr. 

 Hepburn. 



"Mr. H., I see, has read Youatt, and quoted 

 a passage from him that he would do better to 

 reperuse. How far Youatt's practical knowledge 

 extends is to me a matter of doubt, especially 

 when he says, 'the Hereford cow is an inferior 

 animal; not only is she no milker, but even her 

 form has been sacrificed by the breeder.' I 

 refer Mr. H. back to his own quotation, and he 

 will perceive that Mr. Y. acknowledges the 

 breeder to have tended to form his cow, to breed 

 a good ox. I would ask Mr. H. if a good ox 

 can be bred from an inferior animal, or if any 

 breed of any kind can be kept up with inferior 

 dams ? There seems to me to be something 

 wrong in the remark of Mr. Y. that does not 

 read well to a practical man. I will also refer 

 him to a sale of Herefords twenty years since 

 that will show that they stood high at that time 

 in the estimation of breeders. A sale of Here- 

 ford cattle took place at Wellington, Hereford- 

 shire, Oct. 18th, 1820, the property and extra 

 stock of the Misses Tomkins, at which 29 lots, ' 

 consisting of 16 cows, 5 heifers, 2 two-year-old 

 bulls, six calves, were sold for £4,709 7s; the 

 highest price was a two-year-old bull, which sold 

 for £588, or $2,910. The average price of the 

 29 animals was £162 7s, nearly $800 each. This 

 sale can be referred to by any Hereford or Dur- 

 ham breeder of note in England as a bona fide 

 sale. If Mr. Youatt had been at this sale prior 

 to writing his views of Herefords it might have 

 been couched in a different position, as I can- 

 not allow the good judgment of English breed- 

 ers to be so disgraced as to give such prices for 

 inferior animals. I cannot think Mr. Youatt 

 gleaned his information from practical men, or 

 where were the advocates of all other breeds 

 when the owner of Trojan offered to show him 

 against all England for a thousand guineas? 

 This was more than twenty years since. I can 

 refer to date and all particulars if necessary. 

 If he had been an inferior animal it certainly 

 would have been accepted, or could any inferior 

 animal breed a bull of this description ? Let 

 England produce a better bull of any breed 

 than old Cotmore, or Major, of the present day : 

 then I will be convinced that Herefords can be 

 beaten. 



"I might trace the origin of the Durhams 

 from the ancients without any proof that it was 

 that breed only, deserved from it the ascend- 

 ancy. I might pursue their advancement and 

 find them supported by the hands of wealthy. 



popular men, who nursed them with the most 

 tender care, who spared no expense in effecting 

 their improvement, and gave them the advan- 

 tage, of their art, skill and study. In the mean- 

 time, a better breed may spring up, go through 

 a less flattering process, and come out triumph- 

 antly, and I think all will allow that Durhams 

 have had the decided advantage over Herefords 

 in this respect. 



"T am sorry that my remarks do not read 



KaTi Zar,^^e7 



CARDINAL WISEMAN, 1202. 



(Calved 1850; bred by Rev. J. R. Smythies. Lynch Court, 



Herefordshire; imported by CorDing cSc Sotham, Albany 



N. Y. First prize N. Y. S. F., 1853.) 



well to Mr. H. after reading a standard work. 

 I should like him to explain to me the true de- 

 rivation of that standard, and establish its 

 firm foundation. My idea is that the practical 

 man that makes the improvement is the truest 

 standard. A man may be proficient in disease, 

 and effect many miraculous cures, which I have 

 no doubt Mr. Youatt has done, and is as highlv 

 respected as any man in England, but we are 

 all liable to mistakes, and are all open to cor- 

 rection. I am sorry that my efforts are called 

 forth against him. Whatever the Herefords 

 may have been, they are all they are represented 

 to be, beautiful, noble animals. And I think 

 other breeds will find that they are something 

 to contend against, to maintain the top stand- 

 ing, and, as our worthy and esteemed friend A. 

 B. Allen, Esq., says, that good and gentlemanlv 

 judgment is showing itself in Ohio, that is all I 

 ask to judge, and will cheerfully abide by the 

 decision. True judgment, and a right spirit in 

 agriculture, is all that America requires to make 

 her what she ought to be, the head of all na- 

 tions. It was that only that kept England up. 

 and raised her to what she is. 



"I cannot agree with Mr. H. when he tries 

 to deter men from importing. My idea is that 

 we should get the best animals that can be ob- 

 tained and of every breed that are likely to 



