FIRST FAT STOCK SHOWS 415 



tained by farmers and ranchmen by a mingling of 

 the bloods. This was of course the beginning of 

 the end of that intolerance that had characterized 

 the earlier introduction of the Herefords. Mr. Gil- 

 lett and his colleagues had demonstrated at the 

 earliest shows that the Shorthorn had not altogether 

 gone to perdition for practical farm purposes, and 

 that the Herefords were not the one and only cattle 

 worth handling. In short, reason regained her place 

 in the calculations of unprejudiced men, who admit- 

 ted candidly that the Fat Stock Show had pointed 

 the way to a due appreciation of all good bloods. 

 Not only that, but the advocates of each knew that 

 they had now to work together towards the estab- 

 lishment of a similar and an earlier-maturing type. 



Some day the whole story of the Fat Stock Show 

 should be told. It was the clearing house for all 

 who participated in the work of shifting the basis 

 of American beef cattle breeding from an old to a 

 new dispensation. Old methods were on trial for 

 their very existence. New breeds, new ideas, new 

 faces and big capital kept the fires burning brightly 

 from one year's end to another. It was a crucible 

 into which all available material, new and old, was 

 thrown and tested. Nobody knew just what the 

 next Fat Stock Show would bring out or demon- 

 strate. This kept the interest in these successive 

 shows at fever heat. 



By day the discussions and comparisons went on 

 at the Exposition Building, and at night the war- 

 riors of the week held court at the Grand Pacific— 



