History: Mudgee Menah Station
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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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1913