44 
THE OX. 
THE HEREFORDSHIRE BREED. 
the country. In one respect, indeed, the course of the two breeders was similar. Each maintained the utmost reserve with re¬ 
spect to his mode of practice, and the sources from which he derived his original stock. It is merely known that Tomkins be- 
o-an breeding from the humble stock of cows which he had early acquired; but of the breed of these cows nothing is known, nor 
of the animals, male or female, which he afterwards made use of for extending and improving his herd. It may be believed that 
the selection was made from the best of the cattle then existing in the district, and that thus the breed of Tomkins was formed 
from the pre-existing cattle of Herefordshire, rather than by any mixture with dissimilar kinds proper to other parts of the country. 
The Short-horns were then of little estimation beyond the districts which produced them, and there is little appearance of the 
Long-horned blood in the modern breed. A resemblance, indeed, has generally been sought for between it and the Devons. The 
resemblance, however, is merely such as may be supposed to arise from a common and distant ancestry ; and the form of the mo¬ 
dern Herefords differs greatly from that which is typical of the true Devons. There is nothing, therefore, in the breed as it now 
exists, which can lead us to the conclusion that its original improver had recourse to any other races than those which he found 
naturalized in his native district. 
From the unobtrusive course pursued by Tomkins, it was only by slow degrees that the merit of his stock became known, 
and its influence felt; and early as had been the period at which the improvement of it had commenced, the Hereford Breed was 
late in being brought prominently before the public as one possessed of the valuable properties which are now, by common con¬ 
sent, ascribed to it. The progress of the breed, however, though slow, was sure, and it silently extended itself throughout all the 
countv of Hereford, gradually assimilating to a more uniform standard the stock of the county; so that Herefordshire became the 
most important breeding district of a distinct family of the larger cattle in the West of England. Tomkins himself died at an 
advanced age, having realized the honourable competence to which his high merits as an original, skilful, and successful breeder, 
entitled him. Eminent agriculturists in the district and elsewhere contributed to extend the reputation of the breed; amongst 
whom it may not be regarded invidious to mention the names of the Honourable George Germain, Mr Price, and the Earl of 
Talbot, who became purchasers of the stock of Tomkins, and cultivated it with scrupulous regard to the purity of descent. 
The modern Hereford is a breed of the larger class, the oxen attaining to a weight scarcely surpassed by any other in the 
kingdom. Their colour is a dark red, or reddish brown, with white faces, and more or less of white on the back and belly ; and 
the aim of modern breeders has for a considerable period been to produce more of the white colour, which is characteristic of 
the Pigeon or Silver line of Tomkins, and to which the preference has long been given. The horns are of medium length and 
spreading, but sometimes very short in the bulls; the forehead is broad, and the countenance open and mild; the shoulder is 
well formed, and the chest broad and deep. Although of a much less agile form than the Devons, their steady strength, and the 
docility of the oxen, suit them well for the purposes of labour. Their beef brings a good price in the market, although it is not so 
well marbled as that of some other breeds, even of the lower country. They tend to accumulate fat upon the rump, but not in the 
same degree as the Long-horns. They fatten readily, and on ordinary food; and hence the general estimation in which the oxen 
are held for the purposes of grazing. Although a docile race, the bulls frequently become vicious when old. The cows, like the 
Devons, are small as compared with the size to which the oxen attain. They are likewise indifferent milchers, so that this breed 
is rarely employed in the regular dairy. This must be ascribed to the exclusive attention bestowed by modern breeders on the 
fattening property, for the unimproved Herefords do not seem to be deficient in this property, and the Glamorgans, which are 
nearly allied to the Hereford breed, possess it in a high degree. 
By the acquisition of this beautiful breed, Herefordshire has become a breeding rather than a grazing district. Compara¬ 
tively few of the Herefords are fattened in the county itself. They are bought by the graziers of other districts, and thus fattened 
for the London and other markets of consumption. Numbers of them, after being worked for several years, are carried to these 
markets, presenting as fine specimens of the matured and fattened ox as are to be seen in any country. The Hereford breeders 
naturally set a high value upon this breed. They esteem it to be the finest in England. It has, indeed, many excellent proper¬ 
ties for the grazier; but the general judgment of breeders has long been pronounced in favour of another breed, likewise per¬ 
fected by the skill of the breeder—the Short-horned Teeswater, or, as it is now frequently termed, the Durham Breed. This has 
for many years been progressively extending, and been carried even within the native districts of the Herefords. The Herefords 
will frequently pay the grazier better than the Durhams ; but the value of a breed is to be determined, not by the profit which 
it yields between buying and selling, but by that which it yields to the breeder and feeder conjointly from its birth to its matu¬ 
rity ; and taking into account the early maturity of the Short-horns, and the weight to which they arrive, it may without error 
be asserted that they merit the preference which has been given to them. The two breeds have been sometimes crossed with one 
another; but although fine animals are produced by a first cross, the future progeny rarely equals the parents of pure blood. 
Unless, therefore, the Herefords were to be crossed until they became Short-horns, the proper course seems to be to preserve the 
two breeds in a state of purity, the breeder and the grazier contenting themselves with the excellencies which each has acquired. 
