122 i Animal Husbandry 
breeds, the aboriginal cattle playing an important part. The 
Hereford is one of the oldest breeds of cattle in England. 
Improvement in the Hereford began about the middle of the 
eighteenth century under the leadership of a son of Richard Tomp- 
kins, known as Benjamin the Elder, who was born in 1714 and died 
in 1789, at Wellington Court. He was a most successful breeder 
and possessed a noted herd of cattle, which passed to his son, also 
named Benjamin, and often called Benjamin the Younger, who in 
turn did much to improve the Hereford. The bulls Wellington 
and Silver Bull were two of his most famous animals. Through 
the efforts of the elder and younger Tompkins the Herefords 
gradually matured earlier, became more refined and better covered 
with flesh over the back. 
The early Hereford was still further improved by William 
Galliers of Wigmore Grange, who was intimate with Benjamin 
Tompkins the Elder and who used much the same blood in the 
work of improvement; by John Pierce of Ryall, who was a close 
friend and disciple of Tompkins the Younger, from whom he ob- 
tained some of his best stock; by John Hewer; and by Thomas 
Jeffries of The Grove, Pembridge. 
198. Hereford compared with the Shorthorn. — The former is 
approximately the equal of the latter in size. The color of the Here- 
ford is a uniform characteristic, the face, breast, top of the neck, 
and legs from the knees and hocks down, and perhaps the belly, 
being white with the balance of the body red, which varies in shade. 
The head is short, broad, with the face often slightly dished, and 
crowned with whitish or yellowish horns, which spring forward 
and up in the cows, though down in the bulls, with a graceful curve. 
The neck is short.and smooth, although there is occasionally a very 
heavy throat’; the shoulders are well laid and the chest broad but 
the dewlap is often overdeveloped. The back is straight, the ribs 
well-sprung and long, giving capacity. The rump, however, 
often lacks the levelness and fullness of the Shorthorn, while the 
thighs are even more deficient, being thin and pared off and lacking 
