490 



HISTOEY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



Shorthorns. The fight for supremacy will go 

 on in the West and Southwest, and while the 

 backbone of the Shorthorns is broken there will 

 be a new rival come up, and it will be a rival 

 worthy of your steel. Don't ignore the Sussex, 

 you will find a harder foe than the Shorthorns, 

 or I am vei-y much mistaken upon a three and 

 a half years' acquaintance. 



In 1856, although a strong and ardent ad- 

 mirer of Shorthorns, which breed of cattle I 

 had bred, handled and fattened from boyhood, 

 I happened by mere chance to obtain some of 

 Kimroe's stock, i. e., steers of his get, others 

 by sons of him. They fed so rapidly, weighed 

 so heavily and were of such wonderful quality 

 I could hardly believe that my vision was quite 

 right. After being thoroughly convinced of the 

 fact that my sight was all right, then I thought 

 I would decide to go largely into Herefords, 

 when, ever and anon, my long-cherished idea 

 of the perfect animal — the Shorthorn — would 

 cause me for a time to delay my purpose; but 

 not long. I started to breeding Herefords in 

 earnest — after feeding Hereford steers about 

 eight years — in 1866. In 1868 I bought the en- 

 tire Hillhurst herd of Herefords, of Hon. M. 

 H. Cochrane, the advent of which marked a 

 new era in live stock industry in New England. 

 At the head of this herd was the bull Compton 

 Lad (3764) 1327, which for quality, style and 

 general make-up, was never surpassed. Showing 

 this bull with the herd at all principal fairs 

 from the eastern borders of New England to 

 Pennsylvania, where he won seventy-four prizes, 

 including gold and silver medals, out of sevent}'- 

 five prizes competed for, and seventeen of these 

 against all breeds, and which was the means * 

 of making a host of friends for the Herefords. 

 The march of improvement has been onward. 

 Of the 840 head of stock imported by our firm 

 ■ — Burleigh & Bodwell — too many have been al- 

 lowed to go West for the interest of New Eng- 

 land, yet, the showing here is to be viewed with 

 pride by the friends of the great and cheap pro- 

 ducing race of cattle. 



The sale of Hereford bulls to the resident 

 stockmen for the year 1886 has been very fair 

 considering it is an off year, and as the years 

 roll on, following each other with rapid flight, 

 so will the panting and puffing engine steed 

 with fire and steam bearing their heavy loads of 

 noble bovine beauties, with the unmistakable 

 signs which the Hereford never fails to impress 

 upon his progeny, to the great manufacturing 

 centers, to the joy and satisfaction of the con- 

 sumer, and profit and pleasure of the producer. 

 Yours truly, H. C. Burleigh. 



Vassalboro, Maine, September, 188G. 



A CHICAGO butcher's TESTIMONY. 



About the first of October (1886) Messrs. 

 Fowler & Van Natta, the well known Hereford 

 breeders of Fowler, Indiana, sent to the Chi- 

 cago market a car load of yearling half-blood 

 Hereford heifers, that averaged 885 pounds in 

 the yards. They were purchased and slaugh- 

 tered by Mr. P. Mehan, for his meat market at 

 No. 2911 South Park Ave., Chicago. After 

 disposing of the meat of these heifers, Mr. 

 Mehan wrote the following letter : 



Chicago, Nov. 1, 1886. 

 Messes. Fowler & Van Natta, 

 Fowler, Ind. 

 Gentlemen : In regard to the twenty-five 

 Hereford heifers, bought of you for my market, 

 I wish to say that those heifers killed the best 

 of any cattle I ever slaughtered, and gave the 

 best satisfaction both to myself and customers. 

 They carried their weight on their backs, where 

 it is most valuable, and dressed a larger pro- 

 portion of high-priced meat than any other cat- 

 tle I ever used. Yours trul)', 



P. Mehan. 



These twenty-five heifers were raised on grass 

 and went direct from the pastures to the sham- 

 bles. The above letter, coming as it does from 

 a practical butcher, doing business in the city 

 of Chicago, is valuable testimony for the Here- 

 fords. About this time a correspondent of the 

 "Breeders' Gazette" had asserted that the Short- 

 horns were the best cattle, because they carried 

 a larger proportion of first-class meat than the 

 Herefords. Mr. Mehan says these half-blood 

 Hereford steers raised on grass, "carried their 

 weight on their backs, where it is most valuable, 

 and dressed a larger proportion of high-priced 

 meat than any other cattle I ever used." 



Messrs. Fowler & Van Natta with their 

 large herd of thoroughbred Herefords have 

 shown great enterprise in pushing the breed to 

 the front, that cannot be too highly commended. 

 They went to large expense in fitting cattle for 

 show purposes, and have carried off many prizes 

 at the large Fairs and Fat Stock Shows, in- 

 cluding the champion herd prize at the Illinois 

 State Fair three years in succession, and several 

 times they exhibited the grand sweepstakes 

 steer at the Chicago Fat Stock Show. The ex- 

 ample they have set of making steers of their 

 grade bulls and spaying their grade heifers, 

 and putting them in the market, was followed 

 by many more of our large breeders. If con- 

 sumers once get accustomed to the Hereford 



