IMS T R Y F If E E E F E D CATTLE 



283 



C. S. COOK, 



Of the firm of C. W. Cook & 

 Sons, Odebolt, la. 



Sotham importation scattered over the country. 

 Mr. Phelps, of Pontiac, Mich., had a few from 

 this importation, and the Crapo estate, at Flint, 

 Midi., had one of the largest herds in the 

 states. Mr. Shaw, of Chautauqua, New York, 

 had a herd. In Maine there were several breed- 

 ers, among them Mr. H. C. Burlcigh. As my 

 stock came to a marketable age, I took them to 

 Colorado and Texas for a market. The Colo- 

 rado sales resulted in giving the breed char- 

 acter and prestige, 

 and whenever the 

 bulls were used they 

 gave satisfaction. I 

 think it was the 

 fall of 1875 that 

 two car loads of 

 grade Hereford 

 steers were sent 

 from Denver, Col., 

 to Buffalo, N. Y., 

 direct from the 

 range, and sold for 

 7 cents, bringing 

 nearly $80 per head. 

 These were three- 

 year-old steers. 



It has been found 

 that the Herefords 

 came through the winters on the plains in better 

 condition than steers of any other breed. This, 

 I think it is safe to say, is becoming nearly or 

 quite the universal opinion wherever they are 

 known. The expense of taking bulls to west- 

 ern or southwestern centers was heavy, but there 

 seemed no other way to reach a trial of their 

 capacity for the range. It 'proved successful 

 and I have no doubt it was the shortest road 

 to success. The growing popularity of the 

 breed provoked opposition mainly and almost 

 exclusively from the Shorthorn men; and in 

 those days I had an idea that it was the 

 province of live stock and agricultural journals 

 to bring forth the facts in regard to the merits 

 of different breeds of cattle. I was then so 

 modest and unassuming that I questioned the 

 propriety of a breeder setting forth the merits 

 of his breed. It would of necessity be termed 

 partisan and one-sided. Under this feeling, in 

 a business letter to Geo. W. Bust, the then edi- 

 tor and proprietor of the "National Live Stock 

 Journal," I said: "I recognize the leading posi- 

 tion of the Shorthorn interests in this country; 

 but for some time it has seemed to me that as a 

 journalist you ought to find something to say 

 in the interest of other breeds. As a breeder 

 of 'Herefords, and believing them to be the best 

 breed for this country, I am somewhat sur- 



prised that they do not command the attention 

 . of the stock journals and . agricultural so- 

 cieties." 



I then quoted facts in reference to their 

 standing. Mr. Bust commented on this as fol- 

 lows : 



"It is not for us to urge the introduction of 

 either Shorthorn or Herefords, or Devons or 

 Galloways, to the exclusion of each other in the 

 beef producing districts. If there has been 

 more matter published in relation to Short- 

 horns than other breeds have been favored 

 with, it has been because the gentlemen han- 

 dling this description of cattle and their grades 

 are relating their experience more generally, 

 and because they have succeeded in awakening 

 a public interest in these cattle, which is con- 

 tinually bringing out all sorts of inquiry about 

 them from all parts of the country. Of course 

 this makes considerable of the Shorthorns in 

 the papers. But how about Herefords? We 

 know, of course, that they are a highly merito- 

 rious race of cattle; that their owners regard 

 them as even rivals of the Shorthorns; but 

 when a person asks a question about some mat- 

 ter connected with Shorthorns it is not proper 

 for us to suggest that perhaps Herefords will 

 answer his purpose as well or better. If we 

 would direct his attention to them by some 

 statement as to their merits, where are we to 

 obtain the facts? Are we to say that during 

 fifty-two years in the early history of the 

 Smithfield Cattle Club the Herefords won 185 

 premiums against 82 won by the Shorthorns? 

 The statement is a good one for Herefords, if 

 true, but will scarcely bear repetition on all 

 occasions, and at best is only one item in the 

 long statements which American farmers re- 

 quire to convince them of the superiority of 

 any race of cattle over their commonest scrubs. 

 Who are raising Hereford steers? What do 

 they weigh at different ages? How early do 

 they mature for the market? Where are they 

 sold? What did they bring? What did scrubs 

 do on the same keep? and what did they weigh,, 

 and what did they sell for on the same day? 

 and what was the net difference in profit result- 

 ing from the use of Herefords ? 



"Then, again, if some person, by some sort 

 of accident, acquires a suspicion that the Here- 

 fords are a superior race of cattle, and has 

 a disposition to buy them, where can he get 

 animals of strictly reliable blood, and where 

 is the public record by which he can satisfy 

 himself of the authenticity of the pedigree 

 offered him? If he buys Jerseys, he can find 

 two herd books published in this country. If 



