OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 333 



ST. VALENTINE 



136. Reputed to be the smoothest bull ever shown in Ameri- 

 can livestock exhibitions, the roan St. Valentine 121014, was a 

 prominent figure in the closing Shorthorn contests of the last 

 century. His breeder was the firm of James Gardhouse & Sons, 

 Highfield, Ontario, but he was calved the property of J. G. Rob- 

 bins & Sons, Horace, Indiana, February 14, 1894. His sire was 

 Guardsman 108200, and his dam was of the Verbena family, 

 the imported Verbena's Lady, volume 39, page 682E. St. Valen- 

 tine's showyard career started early under the efficient herdsman- 

 ship of the ROBBINS. His opportunities as a sire were excellent 

 and he sired two of the most famous show animals of the early 

 century, the grand champion bull of the 1900 International, The 

 Lad for Me, and the noteworthy female Ruberta (140). At the 

 same International the first prize young herd was entirely the 

 product of his loins. In 1898 at the Trans-Mississippi Exhibi- 

 tion at Omaha, he headed the first prize herd an4 shortly after 

 was transferred to the ownership of George E. Ward, Hawarden, 

 Iowa. His untimely death in the spring of 1901 cut short a 

 most promising breeding opportunity. At Mr. Ward's sale in 

 Chicago that year, cow prices reached averages hitherto uncom- 

 mon, forty-four head making $725, ten cows selling at between 

 $1,000 and $2,500. Since most of the cows were in calf to St. 

 Valentine there is no doubt that the chief cause of the high values 

 was the last opportunity to buy calves by this noted sire. 



