HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



351 



grade two-year-old steer; for the best grade 

 one-year-old steer; and sweepstakes for the 

 best of any breed three years old ; for the best 

 of any breed two years old, and for the best of 

 any breed one year old ; for the best cow of any 

 breed three years old, or over; for the best 

 beast in the show. Here are eleven premiums 

 in the grades, six first and second. The Here- 

 fords took two seconds. The judges, in this 

 case, the president discharged for cause; and 

 when the Herefords came into competition 

 again with these and the thoroughbreds the 

 next day under a committee selected with 

 greater care, the Herefords took every premium, 

 and when we take the fact that the judges in 

 the first case were dismissed for cause, it was 

 not in good taste for such Shorthorn men to 

 claim honor for the awards. On the sweep- 

 stakes cow a special committee was appointed, 

 and the Shorthorn cow taking the award was 

 nothing more than what would be termed a 

 butcher's beast at the yards, and for the best 

 beast of the show, the Shorthorn steer taking 

 the award had been fully discussed in the press ; 

 and the admission of the animal was not gen- 

 erally deemed creditable to the Board or the 

 Shorthorn men. Out of eleven premiums the 

 Herefords took five, and were entitled to eleven. 

 For dressed bullocks they took two out of three. 

 Out of fourteen premiums they took seven and 

 were entitled to thirteen. The Shorthorns took 

 on grade steers four premiums on three steers 

 under a committee of judges that were dis- 

 missed for cause and under another committee 

 the Herefords reversed these awards. 



Shorthorns may have improved the common 

 cattle of the country, perhaps, as Mr. Nichols 

 said, $10 a head, or an addition of $400,000,000 

 to the cattle of the country. This was pretty 

 extensive figuring, and we promised to take the 

 Hereford and put him upon this Shorthorn 

 produce, and add $20 a head to the value, and 

 leave Mr. Nichols to estimate the result. This 

 is the point we made and continue to reiterate, 

 that beef can be made on Hereford cattle at 25 

 per cent less cost than on Shorthorn cattle. 



Mr. A. S. Matthews, in his efforts to bolster 

 up the Shorthorns and depreciate the Here- 

 fords, gave an account in the "National Live 

 Stock Journal" of the Shorthorns at Smith- 

 field. 



Tn 1879 the champion prize for the best beast 

 in the show was between a Hereford and a 

 Shorthorn under two years and six months old, 

 to which we have referred. The Hereford was 

 the equal in weight and gain per day, and was 

 worth more on the market, and still he was left 

 without the honor, For what reason ? Because 



of Shorthorn influence in the management and 

 in the judges. The facts given as to the judges 

 in the show of the Illinois State Board, is as 

 applicable to the Smithfield, and from this rea- 

 son, we presume, the Herefprd men have kept 

 from the show. 



Mr. Matthews then devoted considerable space 

 to show the greater weight of the Shorthorns. 

 If he had taken the history of Mr. Charles Col- 

 ling with the early Shorthorns, he would have 

 found that a. good portion of his life as a 

 breeder was devoted to experiments to reduce 

 the size and coarseness by crossing with the 

 Scotch breeds. 



Youatt says: "He (Colling) was sensible 

 also of the difficulty of breeding, with anything 

 like certainty, large good animals. He found 

 the Teeswater like all other extravagantly large 

 animals, frequently of loose make and disposi- 

 tion." The Scotch cross helped him out of his 

 difficulty, and the same is necessary now. Writ- 

 ers in those days gave the Scot credit, but not so 

 the writers of my time. 



Quotations were made by Mr. Matthews from 

 the "Mark Lane Express" to support his Short- 

 horn claims of important victory at Smithfield, 

 1879, and we gave him the benefit of that jour- 

 nal's remarks on the Bath and West of England 

 Show in 1878, where they said: "We consider 

 the Shorthorn cow class to be a disgrace to the 

 breed, and therefore to the breeder. We are 

 quite unable to discover the 'grandeur' and the 

 'superb character' of these old crocks, which 



DALE TREDEGAR (5856) 14682, AT 10 MONTHS. 

 Bred by H. J. Bailey, exported to Australia. 



some of the Shorthorn fanciers appear to have 

 the faculty of discerning, and do not hesitate 

 to record them as being just a rough lot of 

 cows; if their blood is of the bluest, their car- 

 casses are of the ugliest, and not worth anything 

 beyond contractor's price when they come at 

 last to the shambles. We cannot help thinking 

 that to an unprejudiced mind there must be evi- 

 dence of a something quite outside of agricul- 

 ture, and quite useless to the rent-paying farm- 

 er, in this Shorthorn 'fancy.' We are sensible of 



