636 A HISTORY OP HEREFORD CATTLE 



therefore, as illustrating what happened under the 

 system then in vogue to reproduce our account of 

 the "grand sweepstakes — open to all beef breeds" 

 at this Minnesota State Fair of 1897 : 



"Profs. Curtiss and Shaw and Charles Kerr pre- 

 sided at the drawing in this important distribution 

 of cash, and after the revolutions of the wheel liad 

 ceased it appeared that on the whole a fairly even 

 divide was secured. 



"Sweepstakes by ages came first and Mr. H. F. 

 Brown's Cruickshank Shorthorn Victor of Brown- 

 dale pulled down the first plum — that for best bull 

 of any beef breed three years old or over. Goodwin 

 & Judy's Blackcap King was declared best two-year- 

 old, and Mr. Sotham's Thickset claimed the yearling 

 bull championship of the yard. Honors were there- 

 fore easy up to this point, but Sotham closed up 

 the bull classes with a calf victory on Grace's sappy 

 son Excellent. The first round therefore ended 

 rather to the advantage of the 'white faces.' 



"In the cow class the problem was about like this: 

 'Here is a peach, a pear and a plum, all luscious 

 specimens; which is the best fruit?' A nice query 

 for a state fair association to propound, isn't itT Re- 

 minds us of our school-boy debates upon sucfh 

 weighty questions as, 'Which is the most destruc- 

 tive agent, fire or water?' or, 'Which is the most 

 dangerous calling, that of a soldier or sailor?' The 

 jury said they preferred plums. That is they 

 awarded the palm to that model of 'doddie' neatness 

 and compactness — Goodwin & Judy's round ripe Za- 

 ra 5th. The best two-year-old heifer in the yard was 

 found in the comely Shorthorn Browndale's Ella 

 Kennedy. The best vearling turned up in Mc- 

 Henry's Pride 7th and the crack calf was declared 

 to be Mr. Cross' Diana, which as mentioned in our 



