394 



HISTORY OF HEKEFORD CATTLE 



Hereford breeders in the world, and one who 

 took a very active interest m all that pertained 

 to the Hereford breed of cattle, especially in its 

 struggle for merited recognition. 



He had the usual difficulties on the show 

 grounds and elsewhere in carrying forward his 

 operations; still, he never questioned the ulti- 

 mate outcome, and bred (making a fair paying 

 business) for bullock breeding mainly. He, 

 however, built up his herd, retaining the fe- 

 males until he had something over 200 head. 



ANXIETY 4TH 9904 (6283). 

 Bred by T. J. Carwardine, sire of Beau Real. 



We give this full statement from the "Aus- 

 tralian Register" that it may be seen that it is 

 not the most favorable country in which to de- 

 velop a breed of cattle, but it will be found 

 that under just such conditions as these, one of 

 the best herds of Herefords in the world has 

 been reared, and Mr. Price lived to reap very 

 large returns in Australia for his breeding 

 stock. With these remarks we give the state- 

 ment as appearing in the journal referred to : 



"Every South Australian who takes the 

 slightest interest in live stock of any description 

 must have heard of Mr. Charles Price and his 

 herd of Herefords, but for several years past 

 very few have had the pleasure of seeing any 

 of the beautiful animals, because they are rather 

 diflicult to get at upon their island home. 



"Being one of the privileged few whose busi- 

 ness it is to see all that is to be seen and is 

 worth seeing, I availed myself of an invitation 

 from Mr. Charles Price and visited his farm at 

 Hmdmarsh Island on the 17th ult. Hindmarsh 

 Island is about eight miles long, and averages 

 two miles in width. The River Murray, after 

 passing through the middle of Lake Alexan- 

 drina, divides, one arm going down by Goolwa 

 to within about half a mile of the sea, and then 

 runs eastward parallel with the beach, from 

 which it is divided only by a sandhill, for sev- 



eral miles, until it reaches the Murray mouth, 

 where it is joined by the other branch, and the 

 space of land enclosed is known as Hindmarsh 

 Island. There is another large island to the 

 eastward, known as Mundoo Island, and a num- 

 ber of small islands are to be seen dotting the 

 surface of the river in various directions. The 

 water is sometimes perfectly fresh, often brack- 

 ish, and occasionally perfectly salt, so that the 

 farmers have now and then been put to great 

 straits for want of fresh water, and once a large 

 number of cattle died through scarcity of it. 

 At the same time there were wells existing at 

 the western end of the island, at the base of the 

 sandhills, in which there was and still remains 

 an inexhaustible supply of beautifully fresh, 

 sweet water. These wells are merely oblong pits 

 sunk at the foot of the large sandhills, having 

 planks around the sides to keep the sand from 

 breaking in, and the water is the result of soak- 

 age. The soil, as is usual where sandhills exist, 

 is clay at a foot or two below the level of the 

 land upon which the sandhills rest, and the 

 water is chiefly the result of absorption from 

 the hot, moist atmosphere in summer time. 

 When the clay is gone through, in most cases, a 

 brackish or salt-water stratum is encountered. 

 Upon Mr. Price's farm there are fresh pools 

 and salt pools within a few feet of each other; 

 but the salt water is always upon the lower level. 

 "From the ferry, which is close to the west- 

 ern end of Hindmarsh Island, a metaled road 

 proceeds southward for about a mile, and then 

 turns eastward through the length of the island. 

 The whole of the land from the road to the 

 river on the right-hand side of the road for 

 two and a half miles belongs to Mr. Price, and 

 he rents a large block on the left proceeding 

 from the ferry. Further along on the west 

 side there is a large block which has lately been 

 taken into the possession of Mr. West-Erskine. 

 This land has been terribly mismanaged, and 

 through being broken up too much the fibrous 

 roots of the grasses and other herbage which 

 bonded it together have been destroyed, so that 

 hundreds of acres may be seen on a windy day 

 traveling from place to place, or flying about in 

 the air. If the wind is from the south the 

 river receives the greater portion, but if it 

 comes from the north then it becomes the prop- 

 erty of Mr. Price, covering up the herbage to 

 the depth of several feet. In some places for 

 perhaps fifty acres the sand has blown away for 

 several feet in depth, and pieces of limestone 

 stand up like the 'boys' left by contractors for 

 railway cuttings to show the" depth to which 

 they have excavated, except that there is no 

 sod left on top, to which the excavators are so 



