258 



HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE SHORTHORN MEN ENDEAVOR TO GET DOWN EASY 



. Those who remember the grade Hereford 

 steer "Conqueror" will say that he was a most 

 wonderful animal. We propose to give some 

 of the matter that was written about him and 

 our other show steers, as we think that the 

 Hereford steers exhibited in the years 1879, 

 1880, 1881, and later were largely conducive 

 to the pronounced success of the Hereford 

 breed of cattle. 



The show of Herefords made at the Fat 

 Stock Show, Chicago (1880), was made by C. 

 M. Culbertson, G. S. Burleigh and myself. Mr. 

 C. had one pair of steers that he bought, but 

 the rest were his own breeding. We made our 

 show of our own breeding. The cow "Maid of 

 Orleans" was only three years old and weighed 

 1,750 pounds. Our six two-year-old steers, 

 two thoroughbreds and four grades, were short 

 two-year-olds and weighed from 1,600 to 

 1,845 pounds each, off the cars. These animals 

 were all the get of the old imported bull "Suc- 

 cess." The "Maid of Orleans" was put up to 

 feed in May, and made, up to the time of the 

 show, 500 pounds. The two heaviest two-year- 

 olds made in eleven months, 800 and 850 

 pounds. 



Mr. Burleigh's were his own breeding and 

 feeding. Mr. Gillette and Mr. Moninger had 

 each entered a yearling for slaughter, but re- 

 fused to kill. The steer "Conqueror" was 

 dropped on or about the first of August, 1878, 

 being at the time that he was exhibited in 1880, 

 27 months old, weighing 1,845 pounds. The en- 

 tire lot was choice, one of which was slaugh- 

 tered at the show and another went to Detroit, 

 where he was slaughtered by Messrs. Smith & 

 Co. The other four returned to Beecher to be 

 held for another year. 



The six steers and "Maid of Orleans" were 

 sketched by Mr. Dewey, and were lithographed 

 in colors with the old bull "Success," making 

 a group of eight head, being the old bull and 

 several of his get. (See color plate.) 



The steer "Conqueror" was not fed until 

 January, 1880, with more than ordinary keep, 

 and at fifteen months old, did not weigh over 

 1,000 pounds. He had never been kept up, 



but had run in the yard and pasture until that 

 time. He was taken from the cow and raised 

 on the pail and fed corn and oats, ground, until 

 beets would do to give, when he had some of 

 these sliced with his meal, having for the first 

 six months some oil cake. 



The "Mark Lane Express" has said that a 

 Hereford calf cannot be taken from the cow 

 and raised on the pail, without detriment to the 

 character of the bullock. Four of the above- 

 mentioned six, bullocks were raised on the pail 

 and two on the cows. We recognize the "Mark 

 Lane Express" as one of the ablest and fairest 

 of the live stock journals, but think some of 

 their claims are based on customs, rather than 

 on facts. We should have been very glad if 

 we could have placed "Conqueror" on the 

 Smithfield show ground, not with the entire 

 confidence that we should win there, but that 

 we might have compared our best with the 

 best of England. 



Mr. Burleigh's yearlings showed early ma- 

 turity and ripeness to perfection; one a thor- 

 oughbred, the other a grade. So with our 

 grade, which took the sweepstakes for best 

 yearling in the show and the "Farmer's Re- 

 view" gold medal. 



This exhibit of Herefords should have gone 

 far to settle the question of early maturity, and 

 one other, that is, light hind quarters, com- 

 pared with fore quarters. Still another charge 

 of the Shorthorn men was confuted, to-wit: 

 that the Herefords were small. Of the three- 

 year-olds that were slaughtered, the Herefords 

 were over three hundred pounds heavier than 

 the three-year-old Shorthorn; and of the two- 

 year-olds, the Hereford was one hundred 

 pounds heavier than the Shorthorn, and in 

 both classes the Herefords had the advantage 

 of greater live weight. 



Another thing the Shorthorn exhibitors and 

 reporters made a great ado about was the forc- 

 ing process to which the Herefords had been 

 subjected; they claimed that "It was not so 

 much a contest for Herefords against Short- 

 horns, as it was skillful feeding and forcing, 



