2S8 CATTLE 



and importers. In 1879 Culbertson imported 13 head and in 1880 

 over 100 of the choicest quaUty and breeding. 



Hereford characteristics. This breed has undergone more of 

 an evolution and made more improvement than any other beef 

 breed in America. In 1788 Marshall gave the following descrip- 

 tion of the breed, which sixty years later Youatt stated was 

 tolerably correct. 



The countenance pleasant, cheerful, open ; the forehead broad ; eye full and 

 lively ; horns bright, taper, and spreading ; head small ; chap lean ; neck long 

 and tapering ; chest deep ; bosom broad and projecting forward ; shoulder 

 bone thin, flat, no way protuberant in bone (?), but full and mellow in flesh; 

 chest full ; loin broad ; hips standing wide and level with the chine ; quarters 

 long and wide at the neck ; rump even with the level of the back and not 

 drooping nor standing high and sharp above the quarters ; tail slender and 

 neatly haired ; barrel round and roomy ; the carcass throughout deep and well 

 spread ; ribs broad, standing flat and close on the outer surface, forming a 

 small, even barrel, the hindmost large and full of length ; round bone small, 

 snug, and not prominent ; thigh clean and regularly tapering ; legs upright 

 and short ; bone below the knee and hock small ; feet of middle size ; flank, 

 large; flesh everywhere mellow, soft, and yielding pleasandy to the touch, 

 especially on the chine, the shoulder, and the ribs ; hide mellow, supple, of a 

 middle thickness, and loose on the neck and buckle ; coat neatiy haired, bright, 

 and silky ; color a middle red with a bald face, characteristic of the true 

 Herefordshire breed. 



While this description has an important application to the 

 Hereford of to-day, in certain respects the breed has been 

 materially improved over what it was twenty-five years ago. 



The head of the bull is different in type from that of other 

 breeds, being rather short and broad, both in forehead and muz- 

 zle, and often dished of face, crowned with white or waxy yellow 

 horns, which spring forward and down in a semicircular curve. 

 The head of the cow is more refined, and the horns commonly 

 curve around and upward, the tips pointing forward. The neck is 

 often too full at the throat and shows excessive dewlap, especially 

 with the bulls, but commonly blends smoothly into the shoulders. 



The shoulder is most beautifully laid and covered with flesh, 

 this being a Hereford characteristic scarcely equaled by any other 

 breed. The spring and depth of rib and consequent expansion 

 of body is striking, and a wide, long loin and thickness and depth 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



