HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



343 



the Hereford men have no cause to grumble; 

 it was their blood 'on top." 



"Our friend, Mr. T. TL. Miller, of Beecher, 

 111., U. S. A., who is the most persistent and 

 consistent advocate of Hereford blood, pure or 

 adulterated in every possible way, provided it 

 is 'on top,^ will have a most unique example to 

 quote in favor of his long time argument to the 

 effect that the Hereford bull on the Shorthorn 

 cow would, could and should work wonders. As 

 a matter of fact it has produced a champion 

 prize winner at Chicago in 1883, and a cham- 

 pion prize winner in London in 1884; the latter 

 being such a winner as no show has ever before 

 produced. This is saying a good deal, but we 

 think it can be sustained. Look at 2.03 pounds 

 per day from birth, for the heaviest beast in the 

 show; only 148 pounds lighter than the ele- 

 phantine 'Welsh Jumbo,' which, at Birmingham, 

 stood, tail, if not head, above the six feet high 

 partition boards ! Has there ever been weight 

 for age to equal this ? Again, the most remark- 

 able feature about this animal is the gain of 6 

 cwt., 2 qrs. (728 pounds) in the interval of one 

 year and one week between the Birmingham 

 Show in 1883, and the London Show in 1884. 

 It was not at all difficult to find fault with this 

 animal. He had weak points, from the point of 

 the shoulder to the outside flank and thigh, to- 

 gether with a comparatively indifferent cut of 

 rump steak ; but all this was simply nothing 

 when considering the top, together with his im- 

 mense substance through the heart, and where- 

 ever substance is valuable — with but slight 

 drawbacks. WTiatever his faults may have 

 been, his weight was almost all in the best 

 places, and such a weight in such proportions 

 we may not see again. Such results two years 

 following in America and in England should go 

 far towards bringing-'about the life-aim of T. L. 

 Miller, which — so far as we understand it — is 

 to put the Hereford bull 'on top' of all the cow 

 stock of the Hnited States, from pure-bred 

 Shorthorns to the native scrubs and the long- 

 horned, half Spanish cattle of far-away Texas. 

 Indeed, his enthusiasm does not stop here; he 

 would put the white-face trademark on all the 

 cattle of the world." 



This cross-bred ox took, in addition to the 

 champion plate of £100 ($500), the £50 ($250) 

 cup as best ox or steer, the £30 ($150) breed 

 cup as the best cross-bred, and the first prize 

 of £25 ($125) in his class; in all, £210, or 

 $1,050. He also took the champion prize at 

 Norwich. 



To show the difference in gain per day, and 

 contrast Mr. Wortley^s Hereford steer with the 

 Shorthorn steer shown in Chicago, we quote 



the following from the English "Live Stock 

 Journal," which was published under the title 

 of "A Tale of Two Champions" : "It may be of 

 interest to compare the returns made for a 

 year's feeding by the two animals which may be 

 deemed the champions of the season here and 

 in the United States. 



"The American champion, 'Clarence Kirklev- 

 ington,' an almost pure Bates Shorthorn, had 

 this advantage over Mr.. Wortley's half-bred ox ; 

 that the trial continued until his carcass was 

 examined in the butchers shop. 'Clarence 

 Kirklevington,' at his death, had a live weight 

 of 2,400 pounds, at an age of 1,372 days. The 

 Islington champion had a live weight of 2,589 

 pounds at 1,292 days — a marked superiority 

 for the Britisher. 



" 'Clarence Kirklevington' had for his last 

 ^fear's feeding increased 355 pounds; Mr. Wort- 

 lej's ox in the same period, waxed 811 pounds, 

 or more than double, and most wonderful of 

 all, the Islington champion weighed at Nor- 



COMPANY ATTENDING STOCKTONBURT SALE, 

 AUGUST, 1894. 

 Lord Wilton (4740) 4057 and two ol his sons. 



wich, on Nov. 20, 1884, 22 cwt., 3 qrs., 13 lbs. 

 (or 2,561 pounds), and had on Dec. 6, in spite 

 of traveling, etc., put on 31 pounds more, show- 

 ing a steady increase still going on." 



Referring to the above comment on "Kirklev- 

 ington" carcass and the credit given to the Bates 

 breeding, it is due history to say-that it was one 

 of the worst carcasses in the show; and the 

 award was the great and crowning blunder of a 

 series of blunders committed bv the judges of 

 the Fat Stock Show of 1884. 



In this connection we would contrast, or 

 rather compare the champion ox at the Smith- 

 field Club's first show in 1799. At seven years 

 old, winner of the first prize at the first meeting 

 of the Smithfield Club in 1799. Bred bv Mr. 



