HE docile Hereford cow, with its kind white face and striking mahogany coat, is probably the native breed that has spread most expansively across the globe—the first, with David and Ruth Archer selling Ambridge Hereford beef. In 1940, a torpedo struck a ship carrying Herefords to America; remarkably, two swam ashore to Ireland. Hereford cattle are now found in more than 120 countries, at least 25 of which maintain their own herd books—quite a record for a county breed. A life-size bronze statue of a bull stands in Hereford city centre, created at the time of Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.
