320 



HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



are required it is said from three to five acres 

 to graze a single sheep. The most of the 

 varieties being annuals, the re-seeding neces- 

 sary is each year, of course, diminished by 

 heavy stocking; we, therefore, have reports of 

 increasing scarcity of grass in all the older 

 districts. It is, in fact, the general opinion of 

 men best informed in regard to the system of 

 beef production, that it has already reached its 

 maximum.' >: To which our "Breeder's Jour- 

 nal" added : 

 "Judge Jones will 

 do well to get as 

 well posted on 

 Herefords as on 

 Shorthorns, and 

 he will then know 

 that the Here- 



JOHN V. FARWELL. 

 Chicago. 



fords are doing 

 well on the 

 plains ; and that, 

 while Shorthorns 

 are dying, Here- 

 fords are thriv- 

 ing; and by refer- 

 ring to our 

 September num- 

 ber he will see 

 that grade Here- 

 fords from the plains are selling at $5.25 per 

 hundred pounds, while grade Shorthorns from 

 the same range are selling at $3.60." 



WILLIAM WARFIELD'S WARNINGS (j[208A). 



The "National Live Stock Journal" published 

 an article from the pen of Mr. Warfield, of 

 Lexington, Ky., the great Shorthorn breeder 

 and advocate. Mr. Warfield, in answering his 

 own inquiry, "Is the future of the Shorthorn 

 interest to be a great one?" opens his article 

 as follows: 



"That is a question which has been present- 

 ing itself to my mind for solution over and 

 over again during the last few months. Clearly 

 its answer depends on many things. But all 

 these many cluster about and depend on just 

 one, namely, the conception which Shorthorn 

 breeders have of what Shorthorn breeding is 

 what immediate purpose they have in prosecut- 

 ing the work to what ulterior end they make 

 it tend. In other words, it is*exceedingly plain 

 that the future of the Shorthorn interest is 

 now in a peculiarly serious sense, in the hands 

 of Shorthorn breeders. It will become just 

 what they make it become. And it is not so 

 much energy that is now needed in them, as 

 intelligence, wisdom, and above all, honesty 



honesty to themselves and the interest in- 

 trusted to their charge. 



"Breeders may determine that there is noth- 

 ing but money, and money for them, to be got- 

 ten out of Shorthorns. If so, the future of 

 the interest is not a bright one. Men will 

 begin to look at everything from the point of 

 view of gambling; will, if possible, rouse fan- 

 cies and fashions, for this color or this strain, 

 which they can supply, and having roused 

 them, will pander to them and lose no en- 

 deavor to keep them at fever heat, and the end 

 will be the end of Shorthorns. Breeders in 

 this case will be simply beasts of prey, preying 

 on the community. Their interests ought not 

 to succeed; and by the stern logic of history, 

 which always works itself out, their prosperity 

 will be feverish and very short-lived. If this 

 is what the Shorthorn business is to be made, I 

 for one, want none of it, and will be among 

 the first to cry out upon it, and to help choke 

 it out, like a noisome reptile. 



"Breeders may, however, and doubtless will 

 (I have great confidence that they will) take 

 another view of the matter. They may remem- 

 ber that beef is now the real staff of life. They 

 may remember that America is to supply and 

 is already beginning to supply the world with 

 beef. They may remember that the Short- 

 horn race has, by constant proving, been 

 shown to be the best beef-producing race of 

 cattle, and that it has in it still further, per- 

 haps indefinite, capabilities of improving in the 

 same direction. And, remembering all this, 

 they may determine to prosecute the business, 

 because they see in it a livelihood, and, may- 

 hap, riches; but they will determine to prose- 

 cute it for this purpose and after this fashion, 

 viz., in ' order that they may furnish a race of 

 stock that will make the most and best beef at 

 the least cost, and so that they may improve 

 the stock of the country by their breeding. If 

 breeders look at the matter in this way, they 

 are benefactors of their country and of the 

 world. Their efforts ought to succeed, and by 

 the fine logic of history their prosperity will be 

 steady and long-lived. In a business point of 

 view, this case differed from the former one 

 exactly thus: That was the true Shorthorn 

 policy, this is the true long-sighted policy. 

 While it is morally true, therefore, that there 

 is an indefinite deal more of nobility in this 

 cause than in that, it is equally economically 

 true that there is an infinite deal more of 

 money in it also. It offers no sudden wealth, 

 but it offers steady progress in both kinds of 

 success. 



"This, then, is what I mean by saying that 



