66 



AMERICAN CATTLE. 



may keep them for a time in the back-ground ; but their actual 

 merits once known, they may have a fair trial, and achieve a 

 substantial success. 



Like the Devon, we place the Hereford under three distinct 

 heads; and first, 



AS A DAIRY cow. 



In this virtue she has little reputation, either in England or 

 America. We have found no English authority, except a rare 

 instance or two, which gives her much credit as a milker. Pos- 

 sibly this may have arisen from the fact that the Hereford dis- 

 tricts are grazing, and not dairy. The milk is rich, but too little 

 of it — ^not much more than to rear her calf in good condition. 

 She dries early. 



Plate 6. Hereford Cow. 

 If she ever was a milker before her modern improvement 

 began, the milking faculty has been sacrificed for a ready tend- 

 ency to flesh, which has been obtained in a high degree in her 

 race. We have seen a dozen of them milked through three or 



