HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



341 



ox, with which he won the tirst Elkington chal- 

 lenge cup at Birmingham, and Mr. R. Wortley's 

 cross-bred Hereford-ShoTthorn ox, which won 

 the Smithfield Club champion plate last week. 

 The statement showing the statistical record of 

 Mr. John Price's ox wars given in our report of 

 the Birmingham Show, but it will be necessary 

 to repeat it in substance here for comparison 

 with a similar statement in respect to Mr. Wort- 

 ley's ox, the records of the two years referring 

 to the two successive exhibitions of the animals 

 in each case : 



ME. J. price's HEREFORD. 



"Xow, these two animals atford very remark- 

 able evidence in support of the growing opinion, 

 to which we have called attention above, that 

 mere fitness to kill, at an early age, does not 

 L ^ '''^ t^ '"maturity' in the true, or possibly 



even in the economical sense of the word. These 

 two animals show a daily rate of increase l)e- 

 tween their 2-1- and 3-i years form, which is 

 highly suggestive as to theory as well as very 

 startling in point of fact. The cross-bred has 

 actually maintained his 2-|-year-old rate of in- 

 crease for one whole year longer — for the differ- 

 ence of one point in the decimals is due to the 

 value of the remainder — which we take to afford 

 a wholly unprecedented experience in our re- 

 ported show-yard animals. Clearly the 31-year- 

 old form of these two remarkable prize winners 

 is a great improvement on their 24-year-old 

 form — an improvement, however, which cannot 

 be equitably demonstrated by the figures. For 

 example, the Hereford steer as a steer was a 

 more perfect animal than was the cross-bred, so 

 much so that we contended at the time that he 

 was as good as a beast need be made; whereas, 

 the cross-bred was merely a most promising 

 frame-work — imperfectly covered — that could 

 not possibly have stood a chance with the Here- 

 ford had they been competing side by side at 

 the same age. Our personal recollections of the 

 two animals — refreshed by reference to memo- 

 randa made at the respective dates — enables us 

 to say this much. Yet the best Hereford ox yet 

 shown in a fat stock show comes in rather a bad 

 second to this marvelous cross-bred. However, 



SALE RING AT STOCKTONBURY, LEOMINSTER, HEREFORDSHIRE, ENG., 1S81. 



