1870
8 September 1870
In going down the river some four miles we come to Menah, Mr. Frank Cox's. Among the curiosities which Mr. Cox brought out for a chat over, were some samples of the mineral wealth of the district, as cornelian, onyx, agate, calx-spar, jasper, and galena.
Several portraits of the Menah highbreds hang against the walls, exhibiting no inconsiderable talent on the part of the juvenile artists, Mr. Cox's sons, for, after viewing the portraits there was no difficulty in recognising the originals in them.
Here we have some models of Durham beauty of the noble Magnum Bonum, Middleham, and Pirate blood. Fair Helen, a roan heifer, calved June 13th, 1869, is a model of symmetry, and already fair enough to cause the destruction of a bovine Troy. Ruby, is a nugget in ruby red; a heifer's calf got by a yearling bull and calved September 21st, 1869. The make of this heifer is nearly perfect. Duchess II, or Australian Duchess, comes of the English Duchess blood, and though she has been nursing young Ruby for ten months, she is a monster of flesh. She was three years of age June 23rd, 1870. Juno is a majestic roan cow, five and a-half years old, suckling a bull calf twelve months, and nearly as big as herself. This tender young mountain was taking refreshment as we took him, and on asking why he allowed it, Mr. Cox said it was to keep the cows down in condition.
Now the ancient Greek, in experimenting on his horse to see with what economy he could be fed and live, reduced him by decrees to three straws a day, but upon reaching this point of maintenance he died. The modern Englishman has beaten the ancient Greek hollow, for he has produced cattle that will not only live on three straws a day, but if they over-eat themselves and take a fourth straw they burst! Princess is eleven years old; in calf to Promise, of Wallinga, and has been a regular contributor from eighteen months old. Mr. Cox has been very unfortunate with his bulls, for out of four, two went away to Queensland, and two burst with the hoove1
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1882
4 February 1882
The Manah Herd, Mudgee.
The home of Mr. Francis Cox's well-known shorthorn herd is situated on the southern bank of the Cudgegong River, some two miles west of the town of Mudgee. It was here that the Messrs. George and Henry Cox first formed their camp when taking up this country for the purpose of forming a cattle station; but their stock, for some reason best known to themselves, did not take kindly to this portion of the valley of the Cudgegong, but preferred to free select, up the river some four miles, a feeding ground for themselves. The pioneers wisely, no doubt, allowed their stock to be the best judges of feeding grounds and removed their headquarters to that locality, now well known as Burrundulla, the property of the Hon. George H. Cox. But to return to Manah. The Messrs. Cox gave up their rights to Captain Ascough, and this place became a Government location. It was here that the first Court was held, being visited once a month by Mr. Whitty, from Bathurst, and afterwards by Mr. Smart until about 1840, when it was occupied by a resident magistrate and inspector of police, and became the headquarters of the "force" under the superintendence of Captain Furlonge, who, owing to inconveniences caused by a high flood, removed the Government staff to Mudgee. The property then passed back into the hands of the late. Mr. George Cox. In 1850 Mr. Francis Cox became, by purchase, the owner, and started with the intention of breeding thoroughbred blood horses, his only dam being Waterwitch, by Rous's Emigrant (imp.) out of Sylph, by Theorem (imp.) out of Fairy, and an Arabian mare, a celebrity of the Indian turf, imported to New South Wales by Mr. Princeps. However, after breeding two foals from the old mare, Mr. Cox, in 1852, gave up the idea of improving the turf in Australia, and started the present Manah herd of Shorthorns. This originated from a cow Sal, a very light gray roan, almost white, by John Bull, imported by the late Mr. Thomas Icely, of Coombing Park, near Carcoar, about 1827 or 8. Sal was one of two heifers bred by the late Captain Piper, of Bathurst, and purchased by the late Mr. Edward Cox of Fernhill, Mulgoa (Captain Piper had obtained John Bull for his own herd), and among her descendants was Jenny No. 27, bred by the late Mr. Edward Cox. She became the progenitress of the Manah herd. She was by Nugget, a son of Melmoth (imp.) - bred in England by Mr. Ranie, and said to have been sent by the Duke of Northumberland to the late Colonel Johnson of Annandale near Sydney, who at all events was his first owner in New South Wales), by Magnum Bonum 2243 E.H.B., her dam by a son of Mr. Kator's Pirate (imp.), from Young Lockburn; Sal grand dam by Prince Albert (imp.), great grand dam by Rodger, owned by the late Sir John Jamieson of Regentville Penrith, and who afterwards passed into the possession of the late Mr. Edward Cox, of Fernhill. Rodger's sire and dam were imported by the Parramatta Agricultural Society, from Captain Piper's Sal by John Bull mentioned above. Nugget, son of Melmoth, was out of a heifer by Kator's Pirate from Damsel, imp. by the same gentleman, Mr. Cox had the use of Mr. Robert Lowe's, of Wilbetree, imported bull, Middleham, for 12 months, and by him bred Priam and Princess from the Ex cow, Jenny. A few years later he used the Rufus bull, Sandysike, imported by the late Nelson Lawson, of Greystaines, Prospect, and by him got the Saxon from Princess; and from this trio the two imported bulls, Middleham and Sandysike, and the Ex cow Jenny. The whole of the stock which has been bred at Manah have descended, with the exception of a white heifer, Alba, got by St. Patrick (imported by Mr. Andrew Town, of Richmond, from New Zealand), by Count of Oxford, by the Grand Duke of Lancaster. The result of this breeding from the Rufus blood has been almost invariably to produce red or dark red roans. These, as a rule, are all first-class dairy cattle, very level, with good depth of shoulders and back ribs; and as a sample of what they will weigh, the old cow Ruby, 10 years old, and running with the other cattle, when dressed weighed 1034lb., and a three-year-old steer who survived the drought of 1877, without extra feeding, and not really fat, weighed 960lb. No deterioration either in form, substance, or quality is apparent, though Mr. Cox has been an advocate, and has invariably, practiced the very closest in-and-in breeding. The only effect resulting from this appears to be a fixity of the type of Manfred and the Earl of Chatham, their ancestors. Mr. Cox, having lately obtained the white heifer Alba by sending one of his own cows to St. Patrick (a white bull), is about working put a system of crossing, which he says is the only way safely to be adopted; and although this will not be in his opinion a strong cross, he has some doubts as to its utility, and will not rest satisfied till fairly experimented upon. Light necks, fine tails well carried out, very large and bright eyes, with mossy coats, characterise the whole tribe, and these characteristics are occasionally very strongly marked.
Although Mr. Cox gave up horse-breeding as a business, the old taste has not entirely been forgotten, for I saw a handsome brown mare, by the Hon. James White's imported Arab Ameer out of Alice Lisle, by Prince William out of Sylvia, by Cantator imported out of Hebe, who was own sister to Donnizetti, the sire of Spray (who was taken to New Zealand by Mr. Henry Redwood), the dam of a champion winner, Belle of the Isle, and grand dam of Templeton, one of New Zealand's best racing performers; and her daughter, two years old, by Mr. W. J. Dangar's imported Arab, Alif, just broken in, small, perhaps, judged by the standard of the precocious thoroughbreds required for the turf of the present day, but showing an immense amount of quality and good substance. Perhaps Mr. Cox may someday send her to try conclusions with pure English thoroughbreds on the racecourse2
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1913