HISTOEY OF HEREFOED CATTLE 



375 



January of this present year. The question 

 naturally comes up now, whether this demand 

 for the Herefords is a fancy or a fashion, likely 

 to die out and let down prices. It is worth 

 considering. I have said that the principal 

 demand for the Herefords in the United States 

 was as beef makers, but I did not intend at all 

 to intimate that their merit as milkers was 

 overlooked. On the contrary, many breeders 

 in' the United States are enthusiastic over them 

 as a dairy breed and quite a number of wealthy 

 men are forming herds. Some go so far as to 

 claim that the Hereford is the coming breed, 

 which is going to carry all before it, and that 

 the Shorthorn will eventually fall before the 

 Middlehorn, just as the Longhorn went down in 

 the past. The high esteem in which the breed 

 (HH 256A, 256B, 256C, 256D, 256E) is 

 held in the United States and the growing 

 appreciation of its merits which exists in Eng- 

 land preclude, it seems to me, the possibility 

 of a fall in prices in the neat future, or, in fact, 

 for many years. It is even possible that for a 

 time prices may go higher than now. A man 

 writes me from Hereford County thus : I am 

 now looking out for a lot of pedigree Hereford 

 cattle for America ; they are more difficult to 

 get, as the demand has been great and prices are 

 much higher. 



"How TO Export Hehefoeds. — By far the 

 larger proportion of the Herefords sent to the 

 United States go via Liverpool, though several 

 large herds have been sent by way of Bristol. 

 I am of the opinion that m many cases better 

 facilities could be obtained via Bristol than are 

 obtained via Liverpool. One reason I have for_ 

 this opinion is the fact that several of the 

 steamers plying in the lines frond Bristol to 

 New York are unusually high between decks, 

 and extremely well lighted and ventilated — an 

 important matter. Another advantage is that 

 cattle can be brought from Hereford in the cars 

 directly alongside of the ship's deck. 



"The Great Western Eailway Company quote 

 the following to me as about their average rates 

 for transporting cattle from the town of Here- 

 ford to Bristol or to Avonmouth decks (a port 

 of Bristol) : 



Half wagon load, consisting of 4 cattle $ 5.46 



Small wagon load, consisting of 7 fat cattle 8.20 



Medium wagon load, consisting of 8 fat cattle 9.23 



Large wagon load, unlimited (holding about 10) 11.00 



"The Great Western Steamship Company, 

 plying between Bristol and New York, inform 

 me that their rates average from $25 to $30 per 

 full grown animal. The ship provides water 

 and stalls and their bills of lading contain this 

 clause : 'Ship not accountable for mortality or 



accident from any cause whatever,' A herd of 

 109 Hereford cattle was carried on this line 

 some time ago at the following rates: Cows 

 and heifers, $24.33; calves, $12.16 each; suck- 

 ling calves, $4.86 each. A herd of fine Jersey 

 cattle carried on this line subsequently, when 

 freights were higher, paid an average of $30.50 

 each for full grown animals. In order to take 

 proper care of valuable cattle in ocean transit, 

 there should be one man for each twelve cattle. 

 Competent men for this purpose can be hired in 

 England for about $1.25 per day and all ex- 

 penses paid, including a pass back to the port of 

 departure. When a steamer gives rate for car- 

 rying cattle, the pass over and back for a cer- 

 tain number of cattle tenders is included. The 

 foreman in charge of the tenders would of 

 course get more than $1.25 per day, but in most 

 cases he is the American agent or buyer, or is 

 connected in some permanent capacity with 

 the farm or the business of the purchaser. 

 Such cattle of course are insured to their full 

 value almost invariably, and are admitted, be- 

 ing breeding animals, into the United States 

 free of duty. Certificates from a veterinary 

 surgeon and from the Consul at the point of 

 departure invariably accompanv such consign- 

 ments. 



"Herefords in the United States. — Any 

 account of Herefords in the United States 

 would be incomplete without mention in con- 





kiij^. 



OwfED BY C K PARMEl£E OES PlAK5,lu. 



liir 



PRINCESS (V. 13, p. 1521. 

 Bred by T. Marston, Herefordshire. 



nection therewith of the name of Mr. T. L. 

 Miller, of Beecher, 111. He was the first, or one 

 of the first, to perceive what a boon to the stock 

 of the United States the almost unknown Here- 

 ford would be, and for years he has persistently 

 and enthusiastically advocated him in his 

 'Breeders' Live Stock Journal.' In 1873 he im- 

 ported from Hereford a two-year-old heifer. 

 Dolly Varden. with a calf at foot. She has 

 brought a live calf every year since, one of the 



