HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



391 



that next year I may be able to run across and 

 see you. Yours very truly, 



"F. Reynolds. 



"Tocal, Patterson, New South Wales, Austra- 

 lia." 



The copy of the letter that Mr. Reynolds re- 

 fers to is as follows : 



"F. Reynolds — My Dear Sir : Press of work 

 and absence from home prevented my replying 

 to yours of the 6th inst. I have been working 

 Hereford cattle since 1859, and consider them 

 better suited to the requirements of squatters 

 on inland stations (ranches), especially those 

 situated long distances from market. If in good 

 paddocks of artificial grass, close to market, or 

 stall fed, I consider Herefords quite equal to 

 Shorthorns. They may not, perhaps, be quite 

 so heavy, but they fatten more rapidly and at 

 less cost, and die better than the Durhams — 

 namely, they cut up less waste, and the meat is 

 certainly superior. There can be no doubt of 

 the superiority of the Herefords on stations 

 remote from market. They travel better and do 

 not cut up. Being more active, they can do 

 the long dry stages more easily. They are nat- 

 urally more hardy, and after a long journey die 

 better. Their meat is less livery, and they don't 

 lose their inside fat like the Durhams. My 

 old drover will tell you that if he had a Here- 

 ford in his mob of fats, this beast always looked 

 best at the end of a long journey. 



"On large stations where at any time the 

 water is scarce, and stock compelled to travel 

 long distances from the feed to the water and 

 back again, the difference between Herefords 

 and Durhams is very marked, the Herefords 

 traveling in good condition long after the Short- 

 horns are poor. Again, after a long drought, 

 the Herefords pull themselves together more 

 quickly and get their condition in less time. 

 I have heard men argue that Herefords are 

 wilder than the Durhams and in nine cases out 

 of ten I have found they knew nothing person- 

 ally of the matter, never having had a herd of 

 Herefords, but they had been told. My experi- 

 ence teaches me that if Herefords are properly 

 looked after, they are actually much quieter in 

 the lots and quite as steady on the runs as the 

 Durhams. I have worked both, and I also know 

 from my own knowledge that a neglected band 

 of Durhams is worse to deal with- than Here- 

 fords under the same conditions. I am, of 

 course, speaking from actual experience. 



"Not long since, with my partners, I pur- 

 chased three stations in Queensland, all Dur- 

 ham cattle, about 16,000. My first active move 

 was to remove the Durham bulls and substitute 



Herefords. This will give you, better than a 

 volume of writing, my opinion of the respective 

 breeds after 23 years' work among both; and 

 after a careful study, I have come to the conclu- 

 sion that Herefords are the best and most prof- 

 itable all-round cattle, less subject to disease, 

 and better constitutions, quite as steady on the 

 range and steady in the yard. They cross well 

 with the Durhams and are better mothers. A 

 Hereford cow, will never leave her calf as long 

 as a Durham. If you wish for a proof of the 

 merits of the breeds, just put 100 of each breed 

 into paddocks equally badly grassed — that is to 

 say, in a dry time — and I will guarantee you 

 will find the Durham fall away much more 

 rapidly than the others; in fact, the Herefords 

 will be in fair condition when the Durhams are 

 actually dying. Both lots, of course, are to be 

 in equally good condition when put in the pad- 

 docks. 



"In conclusion, I am quite certain if breeders 

 would put aside prejudice and give Herefords 

 a fair trial they would find all I have said true 

 enough, and be content to drop the Durhams in 

 the future. 



"You are at liberty to make any use you like 

 of this letter. Yours very truly, 



"Vincent Dowling. 



"Lue, Rylestone, 



"N. S. W., Australia, 1882." 



A later letter shows the Hereford movement 

 growing. 



Editor "Breeders' Journal'' : The Sydney 

 Show has just 

 closed. The Here- 

 fords were not in 

 large force, but 

 were well repre- 

 sented by drafts 

 from the herds of 

 Mr. Frank Rey- 

 nolds , who had 

 about a dozen very 

 good ones. Your old 

 friend, Mr. Chas. 

 Price, was a judge 

 at this show on 

 Herefords, and 

 bought a splendid 

 bull calf bred bv 

 Mr. Frank R e y"- 

 nolds. The Here- 

 fords are growing in popularity, and those who 

 have been breeding for some years are greatly 

 encouraged. 



The "Breeders' Journal" is fully appreciated 

 by them, and they are very glad to hear through 

 it of the great success the Herefords are mak- 

 ing in America and England. They wish to 



J. H. McELDOWNEY, 

 Chicago Heights, 111. ■ 



