HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



107 



CHAPTER XI. 



EARLY HEREFORD HISTORY IN AMERICA 



HEREFORD-SHORTHORN CONTROVERSY, FROM 1834 TO 1841. 



In 1834 Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois 

 and Michigan were organizing agricultural so- 

 cieties; and Wisconsin, then a state one year, 

 was discussing the propriety of such a move. 

 An agricultural convention was held at Albany, 

 JST. Y., in which the different interests of farm- 

 ing were discussed, and the necessity of state 

 aid urged. Among those prominent in this 

 movement were H. S. Randall, L. F. Allen, 

 F. Rotch, R. L. Allen, J. J. Vail, Jesse Buel 

 and C. N. Rement. 



The American Institute held its eleventh an- 

 nual fair in October, 1838, and among the man- 

 agers were Jesse Buel and C. 1ST. Bement of 

 Albany. At this date there were active efforts 

 for the establishing of agricultural societies, 

 but our investigations will be confined mainly 

 to New York. 



It is probable that at this time the Short- 

 horns had a stronger hold in Kentucky than 

 elsewhere. A sale was advertised at Powelton, 

 near Philadelphia, of Mr. Whittaker's cattle, 

 an eminent English breeder. A sale was held 

 at Bloomfield, N. Y., at which the highest- 

 priced animals were sold to Gen. Dudley of 

 Kentucky. At a sale held at Paris, Ky., eleven 

 In ad sold for $8,157 ; and ten animals of mixed 

 blood for $2,580 ; the prices at the Whittaker 

 sale referred to above ranged from $360 to 

 $540. H. Clay, Jr., sold this year his cow 

 Princess for $2,000. At a sale in Cincinnati 

 ninety-one head were sold, averaging $305, one 

 four-year-old bull selling for $1,450. These 

 prices will indicate the standing of Durham 

 cattle at this time. 



The New York State Agricultural Society 

 met the first Tuesday in February, 1839. Buel, 

 Allen, Vail, Van Berger and Spencer were a 

 committee to report names of offices, and among 

 the officers were Jesse Buel, corresponding sec- 

 retary, and C. N. Bement, treasurer. 



In 1839 the Royal Agricultural Society of 

 England was organized and received a charter 



from the queen. A society had existed previous- 

 ly, known as the English Agricultural Society, 

 and the Royal absorbed it. At this first show a 

 premium was offered for the best cow calcu- 

 lated for the dairy. The first was won by a 

 Hereford, the second by a Durham cow, and 

 this class, we think, was dropped from that 

 time. 



In 1841 the New York State Society held 

 their first fair at Syracuse. These movements 

 for the establishment of the Royal in England 

 and New York Fair at Albany, were made by 

 those in the interest of the Shorthorns as was 

 the movement of the writing of the "History 

 of British Cattle," by Youatt, and each of these 

 movements, if they had been written and 

 planned for the advancement of the Shorthorn 

 interest, and so given out, would have been 

 legitimate and proper commendable even ; but 

 when the Shorthorn men took the machinery 

 and charter of the Society for the Diffusion 

 of Useful Knowledge, to write up the Short- 

 horn and write down other breeds, it became 

 dishonest, and so. when they, under the sanc- 

 tion of the crown of England, established the 

 Royal for the advancement of agriculture and 

 the improvement of live stock, gave preference 

 to the Shorthorn race of cattle unfairly, it was 

 dishonest. 



We have made these points the writing of 

 the "History of British Cattle" by Youatt, the 

 establishing of the Royal Agricultural Society 

 of England, and the New York State Agricul- 

 tural Society because to these influences, more 

 than any other, the Shorthorns owe their stand- 

 ing- 

 Previous to the writing of the "History of 

 British Cattle" the Duke of Bedford had made 

 very careful experiments in grazing and feed- 

 ing of Herefords and Shorthorns, and these 

 experiments, widely published, resulted in the 

 adoption of the Herefords by the Duke of Bed- 

 ford on the score of economy; the details of 



