426 



HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



We expressly called the attention of the Board 

 to the following table as proving the standing 

 of the Herefords at Smithfield from the time 

 Youatt's dishonest history appeared till Short- 

 horn control abolished the competition between 

 breeds. 



Winnings before the Smithfield Club from 

 date of Youatt's history to 1851 : 



16 ys. 



92 1295 



6475 



45 



715 



3575 



Every cattle superintendent at the Illinois 

 State Fairs from 1871 to 1874, inclusive, except 

 Mr. Reynolds, was a Shorthorn breeder at the 

 time of holding the position. At Peoria in 1874 

 there was a vacancy in the Committee of Judges 

 on Herds, all breeds showing, when an outside 

 man was called in. This man was the only one 

 that examined the Hereford herd, and he 

 said afterward that the other members of 

 the Committee would not look at the 

 Herefords. At Ottawa, in 1876, the Here- 

 ford exhibitors made a special appeal to_ 

 the president, D. B. Gillham, to the superintend- 

 ent, and other members of the Board, that the 

 judges on herds be selected from men that were 

 not Shorthorn breeders men that should be 

 impartial in their judging. The superintend- 

 ent was active to get such a committee, and 

 secured the assistance of the marshal of the 

 ring (both Shorthorn breeders) in making the 

 selection. They said to the Hereford exhibitors 

 that they had taken special pains to get an im- 

 partial committee and that they had found a 

 referee from the central part of the state. 



Who? Why, , the noted Shorthorn 



breeder, to pass upon the merits of the Short- 

 horns and Herefords. There were probably no 

 men in the state of Illinois more unsuited to 

 occupy the place of a judge, or to select impar- 

 tial judges when the Herefords and Shorthorns 

 came into competition. The referee was the 

 head of the Shorthorn interest in Illinois; the 

 marshal was the hand; the superintendent in 



his fealty to the Shorthorns, was all the Short- 

 horn men could desire in managing the Cattle 

 Department to secure them in their position. 



Now, if the Illinois State Board of Agricul- 

 ture intended to be impartial, we submit that 

 it was not in good taste to place Shorthorn 

 breeders in absolute charge of the cattle de- 

 partment, and that they ought to have known 

 that Shorthorn breeders alone were not compe- 

 tent to act as judges when Shorthorns competed 

 with other breeds. Men who have been men- 

 tioned advocated special legislation in the board 

 in favor of Shorthorns and against all others; 

 while the Illinois State Board so organized 

 their committees that control of the awards at 

 least a majority of them was in the hands of 

 Shorthorn breeders. 



The Herefords were, therefore, forced to ap- 

 peal from prejudiced societies, run by self- 

 seekers, to that higher tribunal, the public. In 

 voicing this appeal to the public, we became the 

 target for ridicule. When we voiced the com- 

 plaint of the Hereford men to the Agricultural 

 Societies, we were called a "chronic kieker," 

 and "anything to beat Miller" became an axiom 

 of the opposition. When we saw certain con- 

 temporary Hereford breeders using this "any- 

 thing to beat Miller" crusade, to further their 

 own immediate ends, we abandoned the show 

 ring and worked the more zealously through our 

 "Breeders' Journal." 



Not being able to prevent the publication of 

 the "Breeders' Journal," our opponents at- 

 tempted to lessen 

 its influence b y 

 calling it a "trade 

 circular" and heap- 

 ing abuse upon its 

 editor, and by sub- 

 tly currying favor 

 with other Here- 

 ford breeders in an 

 attempt to have our 

 work discredited in 

 the Hereford camp. 

 But they were un- 

 successful, for al- 

 though some so- 

 called Hereford 

 breeders allowed 

 their temporary sel- 

 fish interests to be- 

 little them into a 



jealousy, for what they conceived to be their 

 own position as Hereford men, the great and 

 overwhelming majority have ever conceded us 

 that recognition that has so gratified us, 



j. j. HILL, 



St. Paul, Minn. Celebrated rail- 

 way magnate and lover of 

 fine stock. 



