232 



HISTOBY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



CHAPTER XVI. 



AN INCIDENT OF AN EARLY CHICAGO FAT STOCK SHOW 



The Hereford breeders considered that if 

 they could only have a fair contest with other 

 breeds on the butcher's block they would 

 win a victory over all other breeds that could 

 not be gainsaid. They estimated that a re- 

 liable and accurate record of every part of the 

 slaughtered animal would be kept, and facts as 

 to the percentage of dressed meat to the live 

 weight, and also the weight, both live and 

 dressed, would be something that could not be 

 talked down or hid. 



We are very glad that these records of the 

 Chicago Fat Stock Show of 1879 are available. 

 At that show a Hereford, a Devon and Short- 

 horn were dressed in competition. We present 

 here an engraving (fl 124) taken from a photo- 

 graph of the rib roast cuts from the Hereford 

 and Shorthorn steers. Both show well-marbled 

 meat, but neither show as well as they would 

 have, had the weather been cooler. Neither of 

 the beeves ought to have been cut; the meat 

 of either not being as good for being cut so 

 warm as it would have been had it had time to 

 cool. The Hereford suffered the most in this 

 respect, from being the thicker-fleshed nearly, 

 or quite, 40 per cent. Both show marbling and 

 well-marbled. Another point is that the beef 

 was too fat. This is perhaps true. True for 

 economy in making and economy in use; but 

 the breeder who came before this show or Smith- 

 field with lean steers would have gone away 

 with little credit and no honors. 



If these steers were made over-fat, there was 

 a point where they could have stopped, and 

 their meat shows them to have had good feeding 

 qualities. 



Thus much in common ; but it is fair to give 

 somewhat of a comparison of the two. The 

 Hereford steer was one of fourteen steers, all 

 that there was of the lot, and was from a com- 

 mon native cow and by a Hereford bull. 



The Shorthorn steer was one of sixty, selected 

 from 600, and from a herd that has had an 

 American and English reputation for years as 

 the best steer herd in America, if not in the 



world, and probably no breeder in the two coun- 

 tries stood higher as a breeder of steers than 

 did Mr. John D. Gillette, (ff 125) 



Probably no man understood better the char- 

 acter and merits of a bullock than did Mr. Gil- 

 lette. There was no man that was more familiar 

 with the individuals of his herd than was Mr. 

 G. Under all of these advantages the Short- 

 horns came to this test with the prestige of be- 

 ing from the most noted herd in this country. 

 A selection of one from sixty and sixty from six 

 hundred the one of six hundred selected by 

 the most experienced breeder in America. 



It must therefore be conceded that the Short- 

 horn came to this test with all the advantages 

 that an animal of the breed could claim or wish. 



Mr. G. entered two steers for dressing 

 Snowflake and Drake, both three and under four 

 years, and selected from these the steer Drake 

 said to be three years old May 15, 1879, out 

 of a three-quarter Shorthorn cow and by a thor- 

 oughbred Shorthorn bull. 



The Hereford steer was three years old May 

 15th, 1879, and it is well to state that the exact 

 age of the two steers was not a matter of rec- 

 ord, but were claimed to be three years old, and 

 dropped as near as could be ascertained in May, 

 and called the 15th. 



On the record the two steers stood as to age 

 alike. 



For some reason the Gillette steer was not 

 measured, and therefore the measurements of 

 the Hereford are not used, as there is no means 

 of comparison on these points. 



The age alike, the gross weight of the Here- 

 ford 1,963 pounds, and the gross weight of the 

 Shorthorn 1,795 pounds. Stating these facts, 

 we will give the official statement of the society, 

 made up by the secretary : 



LOT 9. DRESSED BULLOCKS. 



Not less than two entries will be considered. 



The bullocks to be killed, dressed and weighed 



under directions of the awarding committee. 



