THE TURN OF THE TIDE. 547 



ing at the great State fairs of the West. En- 

 terprising and intelligent men devoted time 

 and ample capital to a presentation of their 

 merits as feeders' and butchers' beasts. It was 

 apparent from the beginning that before the 

 tribunal of practical men constituting the 

 great body of Western feeders and stock-yards 

 buyers only such Short-horns as possessed sub- 

 stance, feeding capacity and natural wealth of 

 flesh could successfully defend the colors of 

 the "red, white and roan." Style without 

 stamina could not resist the shock. Finish 

 without flesh failed to satisfy the cold logic of 

 the block. Those who had been dictating 

 terms to the Short-horn cattle-breeding fra- 

 ternity were now confronted with a competi- 

 tion that based its claims not upon past 

 reputation, but upon actual present worth. 

 Those who were endeavoring to sustain the 

 prestige of the prevailing fashionable type 

 made a brave effort to cope with their formid- 

 able adversaries, and in some noteworthy in- 

 stances succeeded in presenting animals fit to 

 stand for the credit of any breed at any time 

 in any place. Such isolated instances, how- 

 ever, only served all the more effectually to 

 prove that something weightier than mere 

 pedigree, something more tangible than mere 

 pride of birth was the crying need of the 

 hour. 



