162 



HISTOEY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



roneous conclusion, in having accused him of 

 having drawn a comparison between Short- 

 horns, Devons and Herefords unfavorable to 

 the latter. Yet, his essay speaks for itself. 

 Does he not, in every particular, claim the pref- 

 erence for his two favorite breeds; while I, on 

 the contrary, declare that they are both in- 

 ferior? and I have offered to test their several 

 merits and to back my opinion. Mr. Keary 

 says : "My knowledge of Herefords is questioned 

 because I have omitted to notice the grey ones, 

 a pet sort of Mr. Smythies. I cannot call to 



"SEVENTEEN STEER," JOHN SHERMAN. 



(Bred by J. D. Gillette, Elkhart, 111 Champion Chicago 



Fat Stock Show, 1878.) 



mind having often seen many of these extra- 

 ordinary greys, and Mr. Smythies admits him- 

 self that after a lengthened inquiry and a great 

 deal of trouble, he could only purchase four." 

 Four what? Not four greys, but four of the 

 pure blood of Mr. Tully's of Huntingdon. I 

 think no man could mistake the meaning of my 

 letter who did not do so willfully. If I had 

 only desired to purchase grey ones, I might, 

 I suppose, have got four hundred in the time. 

 Some of our best breeders had nearly all 

 greys ; Mr. Jones, of Brierton, who used to 

 produce as good a lot of steers as most men, 

 had all grey ones for many years ; and Mr. 

 Ricketts. of Sarnesfield, whose herd was a very 

 good one, had nearly all greys, and many other 

 breeders in the county had a good many. As 

 an excuse for omitting the name of Sir Francis 

 Lawley as a breeder of Herefords, he said he 

 did not profess to mention the names of all 

 the breeders of Herefords that may be ; but still, 

 it appears singular to me that he should have 

 omitted the name of a breeder who not only has 

 the best herd in existence at the present day, 

 but the best herd of any breed. Did he do so 

 with respect to either of the other breeds ? Mr. 

 Keary denies that he states in his essay that 

 the voung Shorthorns have rather a liberal al- 



lowance of cake, and that he only asserts that 

 of the Herefords, and requests that I will refer 

 to it again. I have done so and copy the fol- 

 lowing sentence from the "Journal" : "From 

 the time of rearing, little or no difference may 

 be said to exist in the treatment of the young 

 stock, between the Shorthorns and Herefords. 

 Warm and well sheltered paddocks, with hovels 

 or yards with open sheds, form, in both cases, 

 their winter quarters, in which they are suji- 

 plied with hay, roots, and, generally speaking, 

 a rather liberal allowance of cake, or other 

 artificial food." 



Now, sir, I confess I was stupid enough to 

 consider, from this statement, that Shorthorns 

 were so treated. I will leave your readers to 

 determine whether or not I had a right to come 

 to such a conclusion from the foregoing sen- 

 tence. I denied in my letter that Herefords 

 were so treated — at least, that mine were, and 

 I asserted this on my word of honor as a gentle- 

 man. Mr. Keary then says : "To practical men 

 such statements are somewhat startling," or, in 

 other words, What Mr. Smythies has stated 

 is false. Never having heard Mr. Keary's name 

 till I saw it at the end of this essay, I have no 

 means of knowing in what society he may have 

 been brought up, but I beg to inform him that 

 the men with whom I have passed my life 

 hold such an assertion as I have made above 

 as sacred as the most solemn oath. It is very 

 difficult to prove a negative, but the doubt 

 which Mr. Keary has attempted to throw on 

 my veracity renders the endeavor to do so im- 

 perative. If Mr. Keary will do me the favor 

 to accompany me into Herefordshire, I will 

 bring before him men who have worked on 

 my farm for many years, some ever since I oc- 

 cupied it. I will produce two of my bailiffs 

 who lived with me nine or ten years each, and 

 one twenty-three years. He shall also see the 

 men who looked after my cattle; he shall also 

 see a variety of men who have worked on the 

 farm at various periods, and who were dis- 

 charged, and who are not likely to make anv 

 false statements in my favor; and if he can 

 find any one man who can prove that he ever 

 saw an oil cake on my estate during the time 

 I occupied it, excepting the year mentioned in 

 my former letter, or ever saw any lot of steers 

 of mine eating cake, corn, seeds, meal, or any 

 artificial food whatever, I will present him with 

 a hundred sovereigns and pay all his expenses. 

 ] beg also to refer him to Mr. Rusbridger, the 

 Duke of Richmond's bailifi:; to Mr. Rowland, 

 of Creslow, one of the largest graziers in Eng- 

 land ; to Mr. Senier, of Broughton House, near 

 Aylesbury; to Mr. Druce, of Ensham; to Mr. 



