A HISTORY OF SHORTHORNS IN KANSAS 577 



would ever be known outside their own vicinity. 

 He would have been considered foolish indeed, 

 who should have pointed out the oldest as future 

 president of the American Shorthorn Breeders 

 Association; the second, editor of the official 

 organ of that association : and the third, then an 

 overgrown boy, as one of the best judges of beef 

 cattle in the world and one of the best beloved 

 members of the entire Shorthorn fraternity. Yet 

 such advancement has resulted from the first 

 purchase of a good Shorthorn and Subsequent 

 purchases made by a wise father and urged by 

 the enthusiastic sons, who were good cattlemen 

 and who learned that there was something better 

 in store for them than could be gained by com- 

 peting in a crowded industry, trying to 

 make over an article that had been made or 

 marred by someone else. 



There was plenty of room at the top. It was 

 possibly not until the days when Gallant 

 Knight's calves began to show the quality of his 

 wonderful ancestry that the Tomsons saw vis- 

 ions and dreamed dreams of a great future for 

 them and their favorite breed of cattle. What 

 they saw has come to pass. When the leading 

 Shorthorn breeders of America are listed, the 

 name "Tomson Bros." is always near the top of 

 the roll. 



It was accomplished by enthusiasm, the qual- 

 ity called stick-to-it-iveness, and conservative 



