Else and Progress of Hereford Cattle. 
283 
takers out of the twenty-four were bred in or directly doscrndcd 
from the Cronkliill herd, and "Ada," " Ade]a,"and " Adelina," 
were all of its Silver tribe. " Milton" (2114), the Gold Medal 
bull was one of the eight, through his grandsire " Attingham" 
(911), and "Matchless," which took the same honour among the 
females, was a model of symmetry and making up. The breeders 
of Herefords have always been keen showers. They began their 
Royal Agricultural career with only 24 entries at Oxford, but 
the numbers swelled to 97 at Battersea, and to 113 when the 
Society was last within hail of them at Worcester. No men 
have invested the cattle portion of their shows with more life and 
novelty ; and the bull, cow, and offspring ; the bull, with three of 
his calves ; and the cow groups, one for every fifty acres of 
occupation, contrast pleasantly with the somewhat monotonous 
routine elsewhere. 
The late Mr. Clark Hlllyard, one of the oldest and most 
eminent graziers in the Midlands, considered that in 1842 the 
Hereford men were " breeding their beasts rather too fine, too 
narrow in the chine, and too thin through the heart." Emulation 
has been considerably quickened since then, not only by shows 
and the Herd-book, but by the steady demand for steers from 
other shires, which have " Joseph-like, a better coat than their 
own." Deep, close-grained flesh and firm handling have been 
consistently aimed at, and achieved in herds, as well as neat and 
nicely covered points. We need not go back to " Cotmore " 
(376) for heavy-fleshed bulls, if we wished to draw a sample. 
We may point to " Sir Benjamin " (1387), who weighed 24 cwt. 
and girthed 9 ft. 6in., before he was three years old ; to his son 
"Plato (2160), whose back was like a table; to " Will-o'-the- 
Wisp (1454), whose twist seemed to fall below his hocks ; to 
"Silvius" (1726), whose bosom almost touched the ground ; and 
then to the gallant, fine-handling "Severn" (1382). As to 
thickness, Severn's great rival "Claret" (1171) was almost un- 
equalled ; and after his high pressure for shows, he was 
thought to be so useless, that, when he went as a forlorn hope to 
Shrawardine Castle, " those bet against him who had never bet 
before," and saw him at the end of two seasons the sire of nearly 
four score calves. " Sir Thomas " (2228) has also earned a name, 
not only as a prize-heifer getter, but as having brought back 
nearly 400 per cent, on his 100-guinea purchase of two years 
before, when he again came to the hammer at 6 years and 10 
months. The females can also speak for themselves, through 
Mr. Perry's Worcester "Beauty" and the very different types of 
the massive " Bella " and the elegant " Spangle the Second." 
The lower price of good Herefords as compared with Short- 
horns, brings*^ the best blood more within the tenant-farmers' 
u 2 
