FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   >>  
British representative of a widely diffused and ancient race. The most uniform drove of oxen which we ever saw, consisted of five hundred from the Ukraine. They had white faces, upward horns and tawny bodies. Placed in Hereford, Leicester or Northampton markets, they would have puzzled the graziers as to the land of their nativity; but no one would have hesitated to pronounce that they were rough Herefords." Mr. Rowlandson, in his prize report on the farming of Herefordshire, says "The Herefords, or as they have sometimes been termed, the middle horned cattle have ever been esteemed a most valuable breed, and when housed from the inclemency of the weather, probably put on more meat and fat in proportion to the food consumed, than any other variety. They are not so hardy as the North Devon cattle, to which they bear a general resemblance; they however are larger than the Devons, especially the males. On the other hand, the Herefords are larger boned, to compensate for which defect, may be cast in the opposite scale the fact that the flesh of the Hereford ox surpasses all other breeds for that beautiful marbled appearance caused by the intermixture of fat and lean which is so much prized by the epicure. The Hereford is usually deeper in the chine, and the shoulders are larger and coarser than the Devon. They are worse milkers than the Devon, or than, perhaps, any other breed, for the Hereford grazier has neglected the female and paid the whole of his attention to the male." It is said that formerly they were of a brown or reddish brown color, and some had grey or mottled faces. Mr. P. Tully states that the white face originated accidentally on a farm belonging to one of his ancestors. "That about the middle of the last century the cow-man came to the house announcing as a remarkable fact that the favorite cow had produced a white faced bull calf. This had never been known to have occurred before, and, as a curiosity it was agreed that the animal should be kept and reared as a future sire. Such, in a few words, is the origin of a fact that has since prevailed through the country, for the progeny of this very bull became celebrated for white faces." Of late years there has been much uniformity of color; the face, throat, the under portion of the body, the inside and lower part of the leg's and the tip of the tail being white, and the other parts of the body a rich deep red. Compared with the Short-horn the Hereford is ne
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   >>  



Top keywords:

Hereford

 

larger

 

Herefords

 
cattle
 
middle
 

century

 
accidentally
 

belonging

 

ancestors

 

produced


favorite
 

announcing

 

remarkable

 

originated

 

Compared

 
attention
 

British

 

neglected

 

female

 
mottled

states

 
reddish
 

celebrated

 

progeny

 

country

 

prevailed

 

throat

 
inside
 

uniformity

 

origin


agreed

 

curiosity

 

occurred

 

grazier

 

animal

 

future

 

reared

 

portion

 

prized

 

uniform


termed

 

Herefordshire

 

farming

 

report

 

horned

 

esteemed

 
proportion
 

weather

 

valuable

 

housed