190 



HISTORY OF II E R K F R D C A T T L P] 



cause of his biiyini;-, as he tohl me subsequently, 

 was to encourage L. F. AUen, and a few weeks 

 after they were included in his sale. The Here- 

 fords were the only ones for which lie received 

 the cash. Mr. Erastus Corning, Jr., seeing 

 Rarity among such a miserable lot of Short- 

 horns of the "Allen display," which those who 

 came there expected to see from the tiaming ad- 

 verti-sement, bought her for $100. And Baron 

 HeLonegdale, of Kingston, Canada, ])urchaaed 

 the bull and heifer. 



I must deviate from my subject here to tell 

 you that L. F. Allen was not only a very care- 

 less breeder, but a 

 most miserable 

 feeder, to which 

 I was witness. I 

 did not see a 

 S]>ring while I was 

 at Black Rock but 

 many of his cattle 

 had to be lifted 

 up by the tail in 

 their weakness. 

 I'his was the case 

 the same spring he 

 sent his Short- 

 horns to Albany 

 for sale, hence 

 J. H. BURLEIGH, their miserable 



MECHANICSVILLE. lA. m l, 



(Forty years a Hereford breeder.) appearance. T h e 



best Shorthorns 

 are an excellent breed, but it is just such novices 

 as these, under the false pretense of breed- 

 ers, who have destroyed their reputation. 

 The clan of Bates men, of which I have 

 before named, have been a direct curse to 

 the Shorthorn breed. J. II. Sanders, and 

 Judge T. C. Jones, who were supposed by 

 many to be "somewhat sound," proved them- 

 selves to have been almost insane. The latter 

 does not know which horn of the dilemma 

 to hang his hat upon, "Booth or Bates." Here 

 it was where he got himself while recently in 

 England. He is now in a quandary as to which 

 side he had better take, and Sanders is in the 

 same situation as to discover the best way to 

 advise him. 



It is these novices I have described, and oth- 

 ers of the same sort, that have injured the 

 Shorthorns. The breed itself is a good one when 

 in the hands of good and practical men ; and it 

 is proper to have two such breeds as Ilerefords 

 and Shorthorns to contend against each other. 

 If I was put on as judge of the two breeds I 

 would give it to the best animal and to the best 

 of my judgment, notwithstanding some men 

 suppose I am prejudiced against Shorthorns. I 



may have a dislike to the novices I have named 

 that have abusetl the Shorlhorns, but I value 

 the best of the breed; and 1 have frequently 

 been told by some of the best breeders of Short- 

 horns that 1 have done them much more good 

 than those flattering scribes who had not brains 

 enough to sustain what they wrote. 



i found that the suj)])ly of milk in Buffalo 

 was greater than the demand, and when re- 

 duced to two cents per quart there was no profit. 

 At this critical point Lewis F. Allen and his 

 farm manager fell out and a dispute arose be- 

 tween them that could not be settled without a 

 lawsuit; at the same time the (irand Island 

 farm milk had obtained a bad reputation, and 

 as my milk was sent up with it, and the sour 

 milk returned was divided in proportion to the 

 number of gallons of each, 1 supposed there 

 was something more than common the matter, 

 as I had so much coming to my share. 



Whenever I went to Buffalo the customers 

 always told me that my cans, which had a spot 

 of solder on each, to distinguish them from L. 

 F. Allen's, were always sweet and good [ natur- 

 ally attributed to the richness of the Hereford 

 milk. T. L. M.], whili^ those without the spot 

 were always not only inferior but often sour 

 liefore half was sold. The lawsuit came on be- 

 tween Allen and his man, and I was present 

 through the whole trial. Mr. John Townsend, 

 his foreman, produced his witnesses to prove 

 that he had done his duty faithfully, and Mr. 

 Allen produced his to defeat their testimony. 

 After the former had brought all in, the wit- 

 nesses of the latter came. The first on the stand 

 swore as follows: "Do you work for Mr. Al- 

 len?" "I do." "In what capacity?" "I milk 

 part of the cows, and help take charge of the 

 milk." "What did you do with the milk after 

 you put it into the cans?" "We stood the cans 

 in the river up to their necks; the night's milk 

 went to Buffalo in the morning, and the morn- 

 ing in the evening ; we put ice in the cans to 

 cool it." "What else did you do?" "We took 

 ott' the cream." "By what orders did vou take 

 off the cream?" "By Mr. Allen's." '"Did he 

 ever go with you to do this?" "Yes." "Did he 

 say that it was all right ?" "Sometimes he told 

 us we did not take oft' enough, and showed us 

 how to do it." "What did you do with the 

 cream ?" "Mrs. Townsend ' made butter." 

 "What did you do with the butter?" 

 "Part of it was kept for the use of the 

 house on the farm, and the other was sent 

 to Mr. Allen's house." The second witness was 

 called, whose name was Edward. He was the 

 second person who milked and helped take care 

 of the milk; he principally corroborated the 



