HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



279 



himself, generally, don't grow the Hereford 

 instead of the Shorthorn? It can't be now, 

 after growing them for a century, they could 

 not have increased the Hereford numbers so 

 as to supply themselves if they agreed with 

 Mr. Miller. Nor can it be the high price of the 

 Hereford per head that the English farmer, in 

 the ordinary circumstances, cannot purchase 

 them, for no one knows better than Mr. Miller 

 that there never has been a time, nor is it so 

 now, that the best class of thoroughbred Here- 

 ford cows in England cannot be bought for as 

 little money per head as the lowest classes of 

 thoroughbred Shorthorn cows. Could it be pos- 

 sible that the English farmer does not know his 

 own interest? He is certainly a great booby if 

 Mr. Miller's assertion be true. I said before 

 that the Hereford put in his first appearance 

 in America in about the years 1816 and 

 1817, and his arrival was but a few years be- 

 hind the Shorthorn in this country. If they 

 are such excellent cattle, what has become of 

 all the descendants of all these early importa- 

 tions? Strange the farmers of the older states, 

 where the Herefords were first imported, did 

 not discover their usefulness as best beef and 

 cheap consumers and perpetuate the tribe by 

 breeding them. The Shorthorn cow imported 

 "Young Mary" alone, that arrived in America 

 seventeen years after the first importation of 

 Herefords, has more known descendants than 

 the descendants of all the early imported 

 Herefords put together. The truth is, the 

 Herefords were weighed in the balance and 

 found wanting by the farmers of the older 

 states; they sold them off to the butcher for 

 what they would bring as a bad investment, 

 and this is the reason that there are not more 

 descendants of the early importations of 

 Herefords in the older states where they were 

 first imported. Just as after a thorough trial 

 by the farmers in the new states they will be 

 disposed of. The idea of such an animal as 

 the Hereford, heavily developed (as a tribe) in 

 the head, neck and fore-shoulders (the waste 

 and least expensive portions of a beef) im- 

 proving to any great extent our American 

 scrubs and Texan s (that are also heavily de- 

 veloped in the same parts) for any purpose 

 whatever except work-oxen and freighters 

 (these two classes need big heads and necks), 

 seems extremely ridiculous, and no one knows 

 better than Mr. Miller that the average farmer 

 in England, as in our older states, has dis- 

 carded them, and that the new states will also 

 after a thorough trial. Wherefore the bold 

 assertions derogatory of the Shorthorn a 

 beast unequaled and without a rival by the 



united testimony of intelligent farmers in 

 every clime, for any purpose whatever for 

 which the race is adapted and intended ? 



Very truly, THOS. C. AXDERSON. 



We here give Mr. Anderson the benefit of his 

 opening and closing arguments. We have no 

 right to expect, -when we follow the trail of 

 this class of men, that they will stop at any 

 means to obtain their ends; and we shall bring 

 the best record of Shorthorn men to show that 

 this has been their practice. It is possible that 

 Mr. Anderson was not familiar with our for- 

 mer herdsman's habits when he made the com- 

 pact with him; it may be that he did not know 

 him when he took him into his family. It 

 may be that Mr. Anderson sent him a\vay from 

 Side View because he proved less important 

 as a witness than estimated; it may be that 

 taking Watson into his family had a bad look 

 to it and gave support to the charge of a con- 

 spiracy. It is immaterial why Mr. Watson left 

 Side View, Kentucky. He left and knew not 

 where he was going. Mr. Anderson probably 

 regretted that he took this job in hand, and he 

 had to make other apologies in his attempt to 

 make the public believe that he intended an 

 honest fight. 



The following appeared in the "National Live 

 Stock Journal," June, 1881 : 

 Editor "National Live Stock Journal" : 



Mr. A. Matthews calls attention to my steers 

 "Will" and "General," as they appear in the 

 reports of the Fat Stock Show. He says the 

 "General" was entered as dropped Nov. 28, 

 1877, and on Nov. 10, 1879, he would have 

 only lacked eighteen days of being two years 

 old; and instead of being 612 days old he was 

 712; and as he weighed 1,397 pounds, instead 

 of gaining 2.28 pounds per day, he gained 1.96. 



I find by reference to the Society's report, 

 page 37, Hereford steers one ' and under two 

 years, his age is given as 712 days, gain 

 1.96. I find on page 96 of the same report, 

 Lot 6, Sweepstakes ring, he is reported as 712 

 days old, gain 1.96. Mr. Matthews ought, with 

 his large practice in detail statistics, to have 

 become proficient in figures, and he should be 

 very careful not to put forward false or care- 

 less statements. 



Again he says: Mr. Miller entered two 

 steers at the show, Nov. 15, 1880, "Alexander" 

 and "Will." Now if "Will" of 1880 was the 

 same "Will" as that of 1879, he was entered 

 at the show of 1880, Nov. 15, "Will," age 1,018 

 days, weight 1,650 pounds, gain per day 1.62 

 pounds, and if "Will" was 1,018 days old on 

 Nov. 15, 1880, he would have been/ 370 days 

 before that, Nov. 10, 1879, 648 days old, in- 



