874 APPENDIX. 



giving it, to me at least, a value and an interest all its 

 own. So much for the effect that associations have in 

 this world in fixing our ideas of values. 



We all prize family heirlooms handed down from genera- 

 tions that have gone before. An old clock, or chest; a 

 piece of plate, a picture that speaks to us of other days, 

 we will not exchange, if we are wise, for any new design 

 a tradesman might submit. You may call this sentiment 

 if you like, but it exists nevertheless to a greater or less 

 deg*ee in every human breast, and to my mind adds an 

 element of pleasure to this work-a-day world that we ought 

 never to ignore. 



An article with a history is a source of unfailing pleasure 

 and interest provided you know the history. The Short- 

 horn breed of cattle is such a product. Round about its 

 record there is entwined a story which, once known, throws 

 an indefinable charm about each and every herd; a story 

 which, beginning several centuries ago in the little valley 

 of the river Tees, ends only in your own pastures, by 

 your own fireside; a story bristling with great personal 

 triumphs; replete with stirring scenes; abounding in bene- 

 fits conferred upon the farming world; a story of great 

 deeds performed in the arts of peace; a story which Invests 

 the breeding of Short-horn cattle with a dignity that gives 

 your profession rank with the most honorable pursuits of 

 man. To me this story has ever possessed a peculiar fas- 

 cination. It seems indeed to me the one romance of live- 

 stock history: the humble beginning; the long years of 

 incubation and patient experimentation; the dawn of pop- 

 ularity; the first great victories; the occupation of two 

 continents; the dazzling values of the seventies; the rival- 

 ries of great breeders and exhibitors; the era of unparal- 

 leled speculation; the plunge into the depths of depression; 

 the purification wrought by the fires of adversity; the 

 struggle with contending breeds, and last but not least 

 the sunshine of present day prosperity. There are pictures 

 to be seen in this panorama that ought to have a place 

 in the mind of every man who breeds or feeds a Short- 

 horn. There are inspirations to be gathered from a study 



