CHAPTER VIII. 



FIRST FAT STOCK SHOWS AND THEIE 

 INFLUENCE. 



From the beginning of their effort to introduce 

 the breed into the cornbelt and upon the range the 

 advocates of the Herefords had never lost an op- 

 portunity to claim superiority for their cattle over 

 the Shorthorns of that era in point of constitution, 

 feeding quality and general adaptability to the prac- 

 tical demands of those whose object was the eco- 

 nomical production of beef. Fortunately for them, 

 at the psychological moment in their campaign the 

 American Fat Stock Show was established. This 

 afforded them the very stage they needed to demon- 

 strate the value of their bulls as steer-getters, in 

 such a way as to rivet the attention of the entire 

 country. It is impossible to exaggerate the im- 

 portance of the influence exerted by this exhibition 

 not only upon the Herefords and the Shorthorns, 

 but upon the general type of American beef cattle 

 as bred in 1880. We shall here digress long enougli, 

 therefore, to outline the part it played in Hereford 

 progress. 



The initial American Fat Stock Show was held 

 at Chicago in the fall of 1878 under the auspices of 

 the Illinois State Board of Agriculture, and it is 



388 



