HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



453 



grade calves. Chas. Saunders, Greenfield, 111. 

 Five yearling grades. Wallace Libbey & Co., 

 Ottawa, 111. Two three-year-old grades. Dut- 

 ton & Wilkinson, Maple Park, 111. Two grade 

 calves. Swan & Bosler, Indianola, Iowa. One 

 two-year-old grade. Samuel Weaver, Forsyth, 

 111. One thoroughbred calf. Number of ex- 

 hibitors, 13 ; number of thoroughbreds, 7 ; 

 number of grades, 46; total, 53. There were 

 exhibited 71 Shorthorns, 31 pure-breds and 40 

 grades, by 15 prominent exhibitors. The seven 

 Angus exhibitors included Gudgell & Simpson, 

 of Independence, Mo., who at the same time 

 also owned some Herefords, which we predicted 

 would in time convert them from their error in 

 selecting the Black breed, this prediction being 

 amply fulfilled at this writing. There were 

 nine pure and 10 grade Angus. Four Devon 

 exhibitors showed 13 pure and one grade 

 Devon. There was also one Sussex and four 

 Holsteins. Shorthorns were judged first. 



Herefords came next. There were no three- 

 year-olds shown. In the two-year-old class the 

 Wyoming Hereford Association took first on 

 Rudolph, Jr. (ft 336); George Leigh, second 

 on Slasher ; Iowa Hereford Cattle Co., third on 

 Stars and Stripes. In the yearling class, Adams 

 Earl took first, having no competition. In the 

 calf class Samuel Weaver took first on Christ- 

 mas Gift; G. W. Henry, second on Rossland's 

 Royalty. 



Probably no exhibitor ever entered a ring 

 more loyal to true cattle interests or with more 

 faith in the Hereford than Samuel Weaver 

 (J[337), of Forsyth, 111. (ff 338). Mr. Weaver 

 had attended the 1885 Show and Hereford 

 meeting and went home determined to try his 

 skill on a pure-bred Hereford steer. A month 

 later an extra good calf was dropped on Christ- 

 mas day. Mr. Weaver made the steer Christ- 

 mas Gift of it and brought him to Chicago 

 in 1886, a winner, as noted above. Mr. 

 Weaver is an unassuming man of sterling hon- 

 esty and wealth. His- wealth then, as now, 

 consisted of upwards of 4,000 acres of the best 

 land in central Illinois. He had been a cat- 

 tle feeder, and prepared cattle to successfully 

 top the market at Chicago for forty years; a 

 thoroughly practical and successful man in 

 every way. He looked upon the ephemeral 

 cattle fanciers who had made their money in 

 other lines as men who should be willing to 

 learn from, rather than teach, the veterans: 

 The jealousy of exhibitors disgusted Mr. 

 Weaver and when the President of the Here- 

 ford Society, a prominent grain dealer and 

 packer, came up to him and said authoritatively, 



"You must not expect to beat Mr. Lumber- 

 man's calf," it was the "last straw." 



Mr. Weaver knew he had the best calf, the 

 judges sustained his judgment in their awards, 

 and, believing that the way of the show yard 

 is hard, and to a man of his means unneces- 

 sary, he quit, showing in disgust, selling Christ- 

 mas Gift to an Ohio feeder, who again brought 

 him out a winner in 1887. 



We always regretted Mr. Weaver's action in 

 abandoning the show ring, though in our own 

 experience we could sympathize with him, and 

 we have been glad to see that he kept up his 

 interest in the Herefords and that his herd fell 

 into such capable hands as young Mr. Soth- 

 am's, and we have had great satisfaction in 

 learning from Mr. Sotham that he owes all 

 his present standing as a business man and 

 breeder to Mr. Weaver, calling his farm and 

 herd at Chillicothe, Mo., "The Weavergrace 

 Breeding Establishment," because of the gra- 

 cious helping hand extended to him unselfishly 

 by Mr. Weaver, when help was sorely needed. 

 In helping Mr. T. F. B. Sotham, Mr. Weaver 

 unwittingly built himself another monument 

 and at the same time proved a tower of 

 strength to the Hereford cause, in the day of 

 their need. 



In closing this resume of the shows of a 



vital year in Here- 



ford history, we 

 present the differ- 

 ent classes where 

 all breeds competed 

 together at Chicago 

 Fat Stock Show, 

 1886, in full. The 

 tables will be found 

 an interesting 

 study. 



Grades and 

 Crosses. There 

 was a good show 

 of three-year-olds, 

 but the contest was 

 narrowed down to 

 J. H. Potts & 

 Son's Champion, Morrow & Renick's Cyclone, 

 and George Leigh's roan Hereford steer. The 

 judges disagreed and the referee was called in, 

 who gave the first to Morrow & Renick, second 

 to Potts & Son, and third to George Leigh. The 

 judging was criticised and the correctness of 

 the awards called in question. The following is 

 the list of three-year-old grades and crosses 

 exhibited, together with their age in days, 

 weight, and average gain per day, since birth: 



WILLIAM A. TADE, 

 Bonaparte, la. 



