HISTOEY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



293 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



QUALITY IN BEEF; SOUND CONSTITUTION INDISPENSABLE TO IT 



It is a fact in history that never, in the 

 years that preceded these Fat Stock Shows 

 in America, had the attention of the public and 

 the interest of the people been so aroused in 

 the matter of good beef, and good and profita- 

 ble beef cattle, as at this time. 



Many, from not having examined into the 

 subject, thought good beef was a matter of 

 chance and not the result of earnest and in- 

 telligent effort. The Chicago "Tribune" had 

 the following to say, in regard to the interest 

 awakened and the quality of beef: 



"That the Shorthorn and Hereford forces 

 are being marshalled, thoroughly equipped, 

 and better disciplined and prepared than ever 

 before for the great conflict of the breeds, 

 none will deny, who have the least interest in 

 this commendable strife between the two rival 

 breeds of beef cattle. The general public in 

 both continents will never duly appreciate the 

 great debt they owe the Chicago Fat Stock 

 Show, for the improvement from year to year 

 in the quality of beef that will be exported 

 from this market as the result of the emulation 

 in this normal school for the feeder and 

 breeder. 



"And as other countries must compete in the 

 European markets with this class of goods, they 

 must keep pace with our feeders or retire from 

 the trade. 



"The Shorthorn breeders have not, until 

 very recently, manifested much interest in this 

 contest, which has already created a boom in 

 the Hereford market, that has at least seriously 

 silarmed the thousands of breeders of this fa- 

 vorite class of cattle, who have deceived them- 

 selves with the impression that they had 

 nothing to fear from the handful of whitefaced 

 breeders, or their cattle. 



"The number, influence, wealth, unparalleled 

 energy and enthusiasm Hereford advocates 

 have developed so suddenly startled the stock 

 breeders of the country, who have been com- 

 pelled to recognize the excellence of the com- 

 paratively new candidate for public favor. The 



previous indifference of the Shorthorn men as 

 to the possibility of their defeat is in striking 

 contrast with their evident anxiety and the 

 earnest efforts being made at this date to spare 

 no pains or expense to regain their former 

 prestige. 



"The grade Hereford steer Conqueror, the 

 Hereford cow Jennie (fl 201), and other re- 

 markably fine whitefaced bullocks exhibited 

 during the past four years at the Fat Stock 

 Show, have opened the eyes of the most 

 prejudiced friends of Shorthorn cattle as to the 

 necessity of preparing a much better class of 

 cattle for future shows, or gracefully confess 

 a most humiliating defeat." 



The butchering and comparing of the dif- 

 ferent animals at the Fat Stock Shows brought 

 intelligent reports from able men and made it 

 a matter of record; and brought to the people's 

 notice that fat could be marbled between the 

 lean; and that it was not necessary to eat blue, 

 tough meat, if only the right quality of steers 

 were fed. 



It was our great aim and effort to show that 

 Herefords possess the requisite qualities for a 

 beef animal, in perfection. 



Prof. Tanner of England, in a lecture de- 

 livered before the Marshbrook Improvement 

 Society, on the economical production of meat, 

 states the case as follows: 



"We find that the old breeds of cattle, the 

 unimproved breeds of cattle, differed very ma- 

 terially from those of recent date. In other 

 words, we have modified by careful breeding 

 the powers of the animals we raise upon our 

 farms for doing this work. The difference to 

 be observed in the local breeds, which were 

 existing in different parts of the country forty 

 or fifty years ago, were largely traceable to the 

 local influences of soil and climate. Since then 

 we have adopted improved and more valuable 

 breeds, and they have succeeded just in propor- 

 tion as they have been introduced into districts 

 that suit their peculiarities of character. For 

 instance, the produce of the Highlands of Scot- 



