354 



HISTOEY OF HEEEPOED CATTLE 



the Eocky Mountains and north of the Cotton 

 Belt,' which will include part of Wyoming, part 

 of Colorado, nearly the whole of Montana, the 

 whole of Dakota, Nebraska, and part of Kan- 

 sas, not to mention such states as Minnesota, 

 Iowa, part of Missouri, is devoted to mixed 

 husbandry of the English type, then we have 

 hitherto been greatly in error, for it was the 

 district west of Chicago and east of the Eocky 



PHILIP D. ARMOUR. CHICAGO. 



The great packer and philanthropist was always a patron 



and lover of the Herefords. 



Mountains in which we imagined the Herefords 

 could profitably be bred by allowing the calves 

 to suck their dams, and reared for beef alone. 

 There is a mistake somewhere. However, Mr. 

 Matthews says nothing about the districts with- 

 in or south of the Cotton Belt, and as we im- 

 agine these include Arizona (]\ 248), New 

 Mexico, Texas and Arkansas, in some of which 

 localities, notably Texas -(^ -Ml), cattle are 

 reared for beef alone, there must be at least a 

 fair chance for the Herefords on the other side 

 of the Atlantic. 



"We have one more remark to make respect- 

 ing Mr. Matthew's statements. He says : 'After 

 the Shorthorns have pretty much driven the 

 Herefords out of England — for they don't seem 

 to have increased in number? at all ; in fact, 

 several other breeds seem to be gaining fast on 

 the Herefords, especially the Polled Norfolk, 

 Sussex and cross-breds — it will be something 

 strange if the Herefords are to supplant the 



Shorthorns in America. What if Mr. Cochrane 

 of Canada did buy about forty Herefords in 

 England last year ? What of it ? I hardly sup- 

 pose that forty Herefords would cost as much 

 as Colonel Cannon gave for one of Mr. Coch- 

 rane's Duchess heifers at Dexter Park last June, 

 namely, $8,000.' Now, the Shorthorn breed 

 has not yet driven the Hereford breed off one 

 acre of ground. The Hereford breed of cattle 

 is certainly anything but under a cloud just 

 now. The breed does not extend its area, that 

 we are aware of, except possibly, in Cornwall, 

 but it holds its own in its native districts. For 

 purity of blood, uniformity of character and 

 excellence of beef points the Hereford excels 

 the Shorthorn by a long way, and every score 

 of Hereford bullocks sold into the Midland 

 grazing districts displaces so many Shorthorns ; 

 if forties could be had where only scores are 

 obtainable, the displacement would be in the 

 same increased ratio. Mr. Matthews has not 

 an iota of evidence to support his assumption 

 that the Shorthorns are driving the Herefords 

 out of England — except across the Atlantic to 

 take their place. So far as displacement is 

 concerned, the Shorthorns have crowded out 

 mongrels to a great extent, but much remains 

 for them to do in this respect; and they are 

 pushing the Longhorns — a fine old race of cat- 

 tle — to sure and certain extinction in course of 

 time, because they contend on equal terms. The 

 Devons and the Norfolk Polled cattle are also 

 being crowded by the Shorthorns. But nowhere 

 have they displaced the Herefords." 



To add a little more Shorthorn testimony as 

 to the condition of the breed in these years of 

 which we are writing, and when these contro- 

 versies were being waged, we give a report, 

 made by Mr. George Y. Johnson, secretary of 

 the Kansas State Fair, to a Shorthorn Conven- 

 tion held at Topeka : 

 "Gentlemen of the Kansas State Shorthorn 



Association : 



"Your last year's essayist, Hon. F. D. Coburn, 

 came before you, very properly, as the advocate 

 or partisan of no particular breed, because he 

 is not a breeder of cattle. I come before you 

 under different circumstances — as a man, who, 

 having measured his ability by his pocket book, 

 his ability to rear by his acreage, his ability to 

 grow by what his land will produce; measur- 

 ing with some degree of accuracy, based upon 

 average intelligence, the relative profit of a 

 limited means devoted to breeding and raising 

 cattle. 



"After careful study and investigation, with 

 the aid of such information as I was able to 

 procure, I made my first venture in grade Short- 



