HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



321 



it depends on the conception of breeding taken 

 -by breeders, as to what the future of the Short- 

 liorn interest will be. Let me refer before clos- 

 ing to what seem to me some dangers now 

 standing in the road of progress in the right 

 direction, or threatening to take up position 

 there. And, first of all, I would name the in- 

 ordinate rage of fancy pedigree — often to the 

 exclusion of the better pedigrees. If we were 

 to breed to stock some nobleman's park, with 

 slim, deer-like fawns, or to tickle his fancy 

 with beautifully printed lists of names in royal 

 succession, such a rage would be legitimate 

 and correct; but if we are to breed for the 

 beef-producing interests of America, where no 

 nobleman has a park, it cannot fail to be ruin- 

 ous. Not approved paper, even though it 

 reach the commendation of all experts (a thing 

 hardly possible to realize), but the butcher's 

 block is the true test of a pedigree; and that 

 pedigree is necessarily best which produces the 

 most and best beef, not that which has at- 

 tached to it the longest list of 'fancy' names. 

 Oh, that all could come to see this. 



"Next, the dangers from foolish fashion 

 threatens us. The rage for color is now reach- 

 ing a point which would be laughable were it 

 not serious. Beyond all question roan is ~the 



Shorthorn's peculium, beyond all question it is 

 its covering of beauty. Yet, imperious fashion 

 demands a dark red, which is correlated almost 

 hopelessly with harsh hair and harsh handling. 

 As a consequence hundreds of the best bull? 

 born are every year sacrificed on account of 

 color alone. The moral is evident. Gentle- 

 men, if you breed for color you will get — color; 

 but what we want is beef. To get it we' must 

 breed for it and it alone, and cast off' all silly 

 ■burdens, carrying which, will delay or hinder 

 the attainment of our one great end. 



"I do not mean the rise of Hereford or 

 Aberdeenshire interest as a danger to the 

 Shorthorns. We are alike laboring for the 

 same end, and I welcome aid in beef-producing 

 from all other breeds. The introduction of 

 these new breeds will help — not clog — our 

 progress, and their interest and ours need never 

 clash. They cannot clash unless one or the 

 other of us lose sight of our great common end, 

 and seek to pander to fancy or fashion. I am 

 for beef, and I am for that breed which will 

 produce the most and best of it. That breed 

 I believe to be the Shorthorns, and on, I think, 

 thoroughly tested grounds; but I welcome all 

 others to trial on our broad pastures. Short- 

 horn breeders have not them to fear — they 



SCENE ON THE FARWELL RANCH, TEXAS. 

 Cows of the T. L. Miller herd in early spring, after a bard winter. 



