IN FOREION FtELDS 973 



Shorthorn vs. Hereford. — The author put to a well 

 informed and entirely disinterested authority in 

 Argentina not long ago the query, "How do you 

 account for the fact that the Shorthorn seems to be 

 so much more popular in your country than the 

 Hereford?" This is a point of so much interest that 

 we can do no better than quote his reply verbatim: 



"This question of yours, though natural and 

 easily put, is the most intricate to be answered. It 

 has agitated ourselves for more than two decen- 

 niums, and on their side hundreds of reasons have 

 been adduced, all to no effect. Cool ciphers have 

 shown the good qualities of the Hereford and its 

 adaptability for an outdoor grazing life, dozens of 

 times, and still the Shorthorn bears the palm a long 

 way. Hereford enthusiasts have been dying away, 

 without seeing their efforts crowned; large parts 

 of considerable fortunes have for years been laid 

 out with Herefords, at small returns, while the 

 luckier rival was booming; and still at the slightest 

 touch among the advocates of the Hereford the old 

 fire of violently subdued enthusiasm breaks out 

 again to the highest glow. As an observer, how- 

 ever, I should mention: 



"First: That there is a great majority of Short- 

 horn breeders, and the largest extensions of the 

 most fertile pasture land are devoted to Shorthorns, 

 while the Herefords (owing to their hardiness and 

 good feeding qualities under adverse conditions) 

 are generally reared on poor pastures, consequently 

 competing at disadvantage. 



"Second: That the very pronounced hereditary 

 power makes the people compare most commonly 

 a first-cross Hereford with a fourth- or fifth-cross 

 Shorthorn, to the great detriment of the former. 



