AGRICULTURE CATTLE Herefordshire cattle have long been famous as one or the finest breeds in the world. Marshall, one of the greatest agriculturists of his day, writing in 1788, does not hesitate to say ' the Hereford- shire breed of cattle taking it all in all may without risque be deemed the first breed of cattle in the land.' Their origin has been accounted for in various ways. Some say they were originally brown or reddish-brown from Normandy or Devon, others that they came from Wales, while it is recorded that Lord Scudamore in the latter half of the 17th century introduced red cows with white faces from Flanders. However, they do not emerge from obscurity until about the middle of the 1 8th century, when Messrs. Tomkins, Weyman, Yeomans, Hewer, and Tully, devoted their energies to establishing a county breed. There were four varieties of Herefords which have now practically merged into the red with white face, mane, and throat : the mottle face, with red marks intermixed with the parts usually white ; the dark greys ; light greys, and the red with the white face. The rivalry between the breeders of the white and the mottle faces almost caused the failure of the herd-book commenced in 1845 by Mr. Eyton. The mottle-faced party seems to have been then the most influential, but the dark and light grey varieties also had strong adherents. In 1857 ^• Duckham took over the management of the herd-book, and to his exertions the breed owes a deep debt of gratitude. One of the greatest supporters of the Herefordshire breed was Mr. Westcar of Creslow who, starting in 1779, attended Hereford October Fair for forty years, and when the Smithfield Show commenced in 1799 won innumerable first prizes there with Herefordshire cattle. Between 1799 and 1 8 1 1 twenty of his Herefordshire prize oxen averaged ^^ 1 06 6j. each, and at the sale of Mr. Ben Tom- kins' herd after his death in 18 19 twenty-eight breeding animals averaged £152, one cow fetching ^^262 1 55. Herefords are famous for their feeding qualities at grass, and good stores are scarce, the best being fattened on their native pastures. They are not only almost the only breed in their own county, but few English counties south of Shropshire are without them ; they have done well in Ireland, and in Canada, the United States, South America, and Australia have attained great success. They are not so well qualified for crossing as Shorthorns, but have blended well with that breed, and produced good crosses with Ayrshires and Jerseys, but not with Devons. It has been said that they are not a favourite sort with London butchers, as they require time to ripen which does not suit a hurrying age. Hence they probably flourished best under the old school of graziers, who sometimes kept them to six or seven years old, when money was plentiful. At all events they are a very fine breed for beef purposes, their meat being particularly tender, juicy, and fine-grained. They are seldom kept for dairy purposes, consequently the calf is nearly always allowed to run with the dam, which accounts for the fact that one seldom sees pure-bred Herefords that are not well-grown. In 1788 Marshall saw about 1,000 head of cattle at the Hereford October Fair 'chiefly of this breed with a few Welsh.' Oxen were there selling at ftom jfiz to £ij each, and he describes it as ' the finest show I have seen anywhere.' But the Exhibition would have been much finer if there had been a proper show-yard, as the beasts were all huddled together in the streets, the townspeople, to save their windows, running a rope along the foot pavement. Since then as many as B,ooo bullocks have been mustered at the same fair, but of late the numbers have declined from this. HOPS The cultivation of the hop is one of the most important agricultural industries in Herefordshire, and, although in 1905 the county grew 6,851 acres against Worcester's 3,807, the Herefordshire output is classified under the head of Worcestershire. It has been often erroneously stated that hops came into England with the Reformation, but they were certainly known here long before that time. They flourished in the royal gardens of Edward I," and a distinguished authority ^' says the hop may with probability be reckoned a native of Britain, but it was first used as a salad or vegetable for the table, and the same writer says the young sprouts boiled ' have the flavour of asparagus and are more early.' When noticed in early writings it is mentioned as a garden plant. Hasted the Kentish historian^* states that a petition was presented to Parliament in 1428 against the hop plant which was called 'a wicked weed.' Even at that date the growers had to face " Denton, Engl, in Fifteenth Century, 5 6. ^' Sir Jas. E. Smith, Engl. Flora, iv, 241. Gerard in his ' Herbal ' written in 1630 says, ' the buds or first sprouts which come forth in the spring are used to be eaten in Salads yet are they, as Pliny saith, more tooth- some than nourishing, for they yield but very small nourishment notwithstanding they be good for the intrals.'
- ^Hist. of Kent (ed. 1778), i, 123.
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