372 



HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



tlurtecnth volume, 1 mention here, contains the 

 names of 199 breeders, of whom 11 are either 

 m the United States or Canada. The four- 

 teenth volume, which is to be issued in Feb- 

 ruary next, contains, I am informed, a much 

 larger number of breeders' names. I hardly 

 think it necessary, but still I venture to suggest 

 that no American owner or breeder of Here- 

 fords eligible for entry should omit to register 

 them. The Herd Book is under the control of 

 S. W. Urwick, Esq., of Leominster, and all 

 breeders of these cattle are under obligation to 

 him for the accuracy and completeness of the 

 work. I take pleasure in acknowledging here 



ANXIETY (518S) 2238. 



Bred by T. J. Carwardine. Herefordshire. Foupder of 



the Anxiety family. (From a drawing by Dewey.) 



the obligation I also am under to Mr. Urwick 

 for assistance rendered and information ex- 

 tended in connection with this report. 



"The two cows portrayed here are both royal 

 prize winners at late shows. Golden Treasure 

 (1J252) has a little too much white for a per- 

 fect Hereford, but in other respects she is all 

 that a pure-bred Hereford should be. 



"Herefords were formerly used considerably 

 in the yoke, where 'they combined the activity 

 of the Devon with the strength of the Short- 

 horn.' There, as well as in grazing, their placid, 

 quiet temper rendered them doubly valuable. 

 In those old days when they were put to the 

 yoke, when the demand for meat was not so 

 pressing as now, nor money requiring so rapid a 

 turn-over, they were often kept until six or 

 seven years old ; and their flesh developed 'that 

 beautiful marbled appearance caused by the ad- 

 mixture of fat and lean which is so much prized 

 by epicures.' But the Hereford is now consid- 

 ered ready for the market at from twentv to 

 thirty months old. Grass with a little oil cake 

 is all they need, and their ability in grazing and 

 facility for fattening make the steers much 

 sought after to graze in the midland counties 



for the London market. They- are in their 

 prime at three, but will grow up to four, and 

 their live weight at maturity is from 1,800 to 

 2,50(,' pounds. The calves are dropped generally 

 from April to July. Yearling heifers are sel- 

 dom put to the bull. The calves run on their 

 dams for 6 or 7 months and are rarely weaned 

 on oil-cake. The young steers are fed upon 

 grass, and get turnips and cut straw and some- 

 times a little oil cake in winter.' 



"I subjoin to this report a table showing the 

 live weights of all the cattle of all breeds exhib- 

 ited at the eighty-sixth annual show of the 

 Smithfield Club in December, 1883, prepared 

 by me from the official catalogue. It is pre- 

 sented more as a matter of interest than for 

 any deductions that might be drawn from it. 

 'The youngest and oldest Hereford classes as a 

 general thing at these shows,' Mr. Duckham 

 writes me, 'are the heaviest of any exhibited.' 

 The superiority in weight of the younger classes 

 proves, of course, their earlier development ; the 

 superiority of the oldest indicates that eventu- 

 allv they attain a greater size than other breeds. 

 But I have already said that Herefords are not 

 commonly allowed, for various reasons, to ob- 

 tain the age which in the past made them so 

 remarkable for their size and weight. 



"Another reason for the lack of 'tall figures' 

 in these days for cattle weights is the partial 

 abandonment of the time-honored practice of 

 feeding up stock until it becomes so fat as to 

 be literally useless for any other purpose than 

 to take a prize. Mr. McDonald, in his report to 

 the Royal Agricultural Society upon the stock 

 exhibited at the society's meeting at York in 

 July, 1883, says on this point: 'Overfeeding 

 has been disappearing somewhat in recent years. 

 There is still too much of it, however.' He says 

 elsewhere: 'Preparation for modern show yards 

 is a severe ordeal and only good constituted ani- 

 mals can endure it. It leads to many breeding 

 mishaps and failures — but when one finds the 

 sires and dams of so many of the prize winners 

 themselves in prize lists, as v/as the case at 

 York, one is forced to the conclusion that suc- 

 cessful showing and breeding go hand in hand 

 to a considerable extent and to a larger degree 

 than is commonly imagined ; and one is led to 

 believe that high feeding is not so detrimental 

 in skillful hands to successful breeding as is 

 generally imagined.' 



" Tlerefords, and onlv Herefords, are found 

 in Herefordshire, Shropshire. Monmouthshire, 

 Radnorshire, Breconshire, and also in Worces- 

 tershire, and Montgomeryshire. Large num- 

 1)ers are also found in Cornwall and Ireland, 

 and there are herds of them in many other 



