HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



ruined chapel of the fifteenth century; and 

 Fleet Marston, in which parish is Putlowes, 

 formerly mentioned as the rival of Creslow as a 

 feeding pasture^ and a rare tract of grass land 

 stretching away for more than 15 miles along' 

 the valley of the Thames. 



"Sir Brandreth Gibbs, in his History of the 

 Smithfield Club, mentions an incident of some 

 interest in 1825. There was a sweepstakes be- 

 tween three Herefords belonging to the Duke 

 of Bedford and three Durhams belonging to 

 the right honorable Charles Arbuthnot, which 

 was won by the Herefords. 



'"Mr. Duckham says that from the establish- 

 ment of the Smithfield Club in 1799 to 1851 all 

 the different breeds and cross breeds were shown 

 together, but since that time they have been 

 exhibited in distinct classes, and, as far as can 

 be learned, during the time they were shown to- 

 gether, the Hereford oxen and steers won 185 

 prizes ; the Shorthorns 82 ; the Devons 44 ; the 

 Scotch 43, the Sussex 9 ; the Longhorns 4, and 

 the cross breeds 8 ; thus showing that the whole 

 of the prizes won by all the other breeds and 

 crosses in the Kingdom were 190, or only 5 in 

 excess of the number registered by the Here- 

 fords alone. 



"Mr. Discan says that during fifty-three 

 years to 1851 the Shorthorns by their females 

 made up considerably to the total of the Here- 

 fords, as they numbered 174 prizes to the Here- 

 fords 207. 



"It is interesting to know how the Herefords 

 have retained their former renown, by their 

 comparatively youthful prowess at the present 

 day. We find that Mr. Heath showed his grey 

 beast at Birmingham, winning first honors, with 

 a girth of 9 feet 7 inches ; and his Hereford 

 cow at three years and ten months measured 9 

 feet in girth. Mr. Shirley's gold medal steer 

 at two years and seven months girthed 8 feet 

 7 inches. And he averred that up to seventeen 

 months old he had had only an ordinary calf 

 and stock treatment. It will therefore be seen 

 that the breed is not only not deteriorating but 

 is likely to maintain its position against all 

 competitors. 



THE HEREFORDS AS DAIRY CATTLE. 



"Having said so much of the feeding qualities 

 of these animals, I must now allude to their 

 milking qualities. Generally thev are not con- 

 sidered such good 'fill-pails' as their rivals the 

 Shorthorns or Ayrshires, nor such butter pro- 

 ducers as the Channel Islands breeds, yet their 

 butter making qualities are of a high order. I 

 quote from Mr. Duckham, who says Mr. Read 

 of Elkstone finds the Herefords retain their 



general aptitude to fatten, and that in the team 

 they are excellent, and that they have been usl-u 

 for dairy purposes for nearly fifty years on tne 

 farm, and that he raises his calves by hand after 

 a few days old. 



■'Mr. James, of Mappowder, Court Bland- 

 ford, Dorset, says that Hereford dairies are be- 

 coming very common m that county ; that they 

 let nearly 100 cows to dairy people, and that if 

 he buys one of any other breed to fill up the 

 number they always grumble. His system is to 

 let the cows at so much per year, finding them 

 in land and making the hay; the calves being 

 reared by hand with skim milk and linseed 

 until three months old, and they are then 

 turned out to pasture. 



"Mr. Oliver, of Penhallow, Cornwall, says : 

 'I rear my calves on skim milk. It is generally 

 said Hereford cows are bad milkers. That is 

 contrary to my experience. My cow Patience, 

 bred by Mr. Cooke, of Moreton House, had 

 given 14 pounds of butter in a week, and Blos- 

 som, bred by Mr. Longmere, Buckton, Salop, 

 gave 22 quarts of milk yielding 2-J pounds of 

 butter per day.' 



"From Ireland and Scotland, reports show 

 that excellent results have been attained. It is 

 fair to say that my own experience is contrary 

 to the opinion that they are better for the dairy 

 than Shorthorns, as when I was judge of cattle 

 at Hereford some few years since, there was a 

 milking competition, and we had all the com- 

 petitors in the class very carefully milked, and 



VICTORIA 1053 AT 9 YEARS. 

 Bred by T. L. MiUer, 



both the first prizes were obtained by Short- 

 horns of high-class pedigree, beating all com- 

 petitors, even including Ayrshires and Jerseys. 



THE HEREFORD IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



"The Herefords have proved themselves well 

 adapted for foreign and colonial countries. Mr. 

 F. W. Stone, of Guelph, Ontario, savs : 



" 'I am an extensive breeder of Shorthorns, 



