936 A HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



at Kingsley, la., on March 6 which averaged $294. 

 At this sale 26 bulls averaged $308 and 23 females 

 $283. The highest price here was $780 paid by 

 Thomas Mortimer for the young bull Beau Match- 

 less 382372. J. B. Ashley, Audubon, la,, paid $725 

 for the bull Rex Dorian 323948. George J. Anstey, 



year Phoebe was grand champion in almost every show and 

 Prairie Queen was the reserve champion, and their places were 

 accorded them without much contention. In the spring of 1907 

 Prime Lad 3d took sick and died after an illness of but a few 

 days. This was a sad blow to my expectations, as I had paid 

 $2,500 for him and had received but little benefit from his use, 

 having- but thirteen cows in calf to his service. 



"J concluded that I could not afford to turn backward, as I 

 had collected an unusual lot of females and had built barns and 

 had arranged my pasture for a cattle business. So I commenced 

 to look around for a suitable successor to the late head of my 

 herd. I addressed fifteen letters to the prominent breeders of 

 Hereford cattle, asking if they had for sale an outstanding two- 

 year-old bull. I found them to be very scarce that year and 

 after investigating the most interesting prospects I decided that 

 Prime Lad 16th presented the greatest possibilities as a sire and 

 show animal. I used him that season and the next fall. I was 

 not sure of my judgment on him as a sire, so I looked around 

 for the bull that sired calves which appeared to me to be the 

 best that were being shown. After visiting a few shows I de- 

 cided that the coming sire was Perfection Fairfax. I immediately 

 opened negotiations with his owner, Mr. Huxley, and found that 

 he could not be bought without my taking over the entire herd. 

 This I did, counting Perfection Fairfax in the deal at $5,000. 

 This was at a time when cattle were selling low. I afterwards 

 bought the entire herd of Clem Graves, thereby securing Beau 

 Real together with about twenty-five grand matrons of excellent 

 quality and breeding. The well known principle of breeding, 

 that the sire is half the herd, has been more than demonstrated 

 in my experience. 



"Prime Lad 3d died before he had an opportunity to contribute 

 much to Hereford history. Prime Lad 16th also died early in 

 life but in the two years that I used him proved his value as a 

 sire and had he lived until old j^ge his name would have gone 

 down in history as one of the greatest of sires. He imparted to 

 his offspring that size and quality, that level smoothness, that 

 beautiful head and character, that boldness and style so much 

 desired. His son, the grand champion Gay Lad 6th, shows the 

 superlative character and quality he transmitted, and his daugh- 

 ters are uniformly large, smooth, well balanced cows. 



"The record made by that grand champion and sire of grand 

 champions Perfection Fairfax contributes a page of Hereford 

 history that is truly remarkable, and today he stands the unchal- 

 lenged king of Hereford sires. The uniformity of his descend- 

 ants in all particulars, their excellent character, their general 

 pleasing make-up, their ability to put on flesh with even smooth- 

 ness, and their good bone and feet have distinguished them and 

 stamped them as a remarkable family, clearly illustrating what 

 influence a strong prepotent sire will have in a herd. Beau Real, 

 a grandson of old Beau Donald, also had the faculty of imparting 

 great uniformity to his offspring and his use added much strength 

 to my herd. I have recently added the two-year-old Farmer to my 

 list of herd bulls and I am expecting great results from his use." 



