A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



which occur between men drawn together as if by 

 a magnet, probably the closest intimacy Mr. Armour 

 ever had in the cattle industry. Both had absolute 

 faith in the great ranges becoming the great eventual 

 source of well-bred cattle, and the foundation of 

 my faith in that result came largely through being 

 with them much, and listening to their talks. And 

 this reminds me of a thing which seems absurd, 

 but in a way I still resent the advent of the auto. 

 My mind goes back to the easy exchanges of long 

 rides behind a team as against the difficulty of close 

 conversation in a "jitney." 



In my early days on the range, driving all day 

 with one of the Swensons, we would cover the whole 

 ranch problem. Now the conversations are short 

 and jerky in a car, and we find ourselves waiting 

 for the journey's end, and crowding into an hour 

 what we formerly took several days to drift over. 



John Sparks drew his basis for registered Here- 

 fords from several of the best Missouri herds, and 

 was in a sense forgotten until the records of Oregon, 

 Nevada and northern California began to tell the 

 story of improved range breeding. Mr. Sanders 

 records that Sparks was the largest factor in that 

 work. In 1899 Mr. Sparks sent a wonderful draft 

 from his Reno herd, joining Kirk B. Armour and 

 James A. Funkhouser in a public sale in Kansas 

 City. For many years I looked after a lot of little 

 private business for Mr. Sparks in Kansas City, and 



[40J 



