Hereford Cattle. 
55 
less bone and more compact bodies. In those days the breed 
served the dnal purpose of draught animals and beef producers, 
and the working oxen would consequently be bred as large as 
possible. To-day the type desired is a more symmetrical animal 
with less bone and more meat. 
Mr. T. A. Knight, of Downton Castle, Ludlow, himself a 
noted breeder, and one of the early improvers of Hereford 
cattle, writing in 1790, puts forward the theory that the breed 
orginated with an importation of cattle having red bodies and 
white faces from Flanders, made by Lord Scudamore who died 
in 1671, and other historians have put forward other theories. 
It is at least established that a breed of white-faced cattle 
existed in the district many years prior to the date of Lord 
Scudamore’s importation from Flanders, and this, as well as 
other facts which space will not permit of introduction here, 
seems to point to the probability that the breed is indigenous 
to the district and existed, perhaps not in its present type but 
still as a breed, from the remotest times. The most readily 
acceptable explanation of the colouration of the breed is that 
the aboriginal cattle of Herefordshire were of a dark red self- 
colour similar to the cattle of Devon, and that this breed was 
common to Devon, Gloucester and Hereford. Further, Here- 
fordshire being on the Welsh border, the cattle would no doubt 
come in contact with the large white cattle of Wales, and thus 
the red and white colour would ultimately be established. 
The earlier prints of Hereford cattle show that the white 
markings were not so fixed as to-day, in fact many had white 
all along the backs, some had mottle faces, and others were of 
a light roan or grey. To-day cattle with red rings round the 
eyes or ivith red eyelids are met with and are preferred for 
very hot countries, as it is thought that they withstand the 
sun’s glare better than those with unrelieved white faces. It 
is quite possible that Herefordshire breeders used Lord 
Scudamore’s imported cattle to improve their own, and 
possibly even made them a standard to breed to, and that 
they therefore had something to do with the fixing of the type. 
Anyway, the efforts of the early breeders very wisely took 
the course of fixing the colouration with the result that to-day 
it is possible to see thousands of Herefords without observing 
the slightest difference in the markings of them. Among the 
early breeders who so judiciously set about improving the 
breed, and whose efforts have been so well justified, should be 
mentioned the families of Tomkins, Galliers, Tulley, Jeffries 
and Hewer. 
There is a consecutive record of Hereford cattle ever since 
the formation of the Smithfield Club in 1799. At the first 
show of the Club in that year Mr. Westcar, of Buckinghamshire, 
