Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-07-06
Plain Words 10 Breeders Of Short horns.

lie StOck Journals nave 100 long re-
manned silent upon some important mat
ters connected with the successful man
agement Of Short-horns, possibly for
fear some one would feel aggrieved by
plain words. Duty to the public should
be paramount to every other considera-
ton, and from this standpoint of high
est duty we want to talk to our friends.
In the first place the pedigree mania
has about run its race, and is so nearly
dead that we trust this year will be the
end of it. We do not mean to make
any assault upon the value of pedigrees,
nor would we detract in the least from
the importance of first-class pedigree,
which is nothing more than the history
of well-established family, composed
of individuals of excellence. What We
mean by pedigree mania is, the willing
ness upon the part OF a purchaser to
take an inferior animal with an extra
pedigree, rather than extra animal with
an inferior pedigree. What il pedigree
worth, except as guaranty that every
animal in the ancestry was an animal Of
merit, and therefore the offspring of
the animal you propose to purchase will
be uniform in type and valuable? But
the immediate parents exert far more
influence over the offspring than the re-
mote, hence by far the most important
individual in the line of ancestry is the
parent. If that be an inferior animal,
the whole pedigree is vitiated and
it proves nothing. If you still affirm
that the ancestry were superior but
this individual is an exception, then you
virtually assume that this is a defective
animal, and hence should go for beef. 1t
may be inferior from hidden disease. or
from insufficient food in its calf life. In
the former case it is unsound, and
should not be used as breeder; the lat
ter is a ease of inferior or insufficient
aliment till it has affected the develop
ment of the animal. In such cases the
digestive organs are permanently i'm
paired, or they have not been developed
to possess the power they should In
no instance, then, should an inferior ami
NAL be used as a breeder Short horns
are so valuable that everything is being
used for breeding purposes, which does
more to injure the business with the
better class of farmers than any other
thing. Attend the sales, and occasion
ally you will be at one where the pro-
prietor was unfortunate in his herdsman
or was himself no manager; a calf is led
into the ring that in merit is not worth
over five dollars, but it has good pedi-
gree and sells for five hundred. Then
the farmer says, There is something
about this that | do not understand. y
N col, ! IL.
and sat just in front Of two gentlemen
very well known in Iowa, one a large
farmer and the other lawyer. An H.
terior calf was led in. The farmer re-
marked, That calf is not worth ten dol
lars But it had good pedigree and
sold for $3.50.
All says the lawyer, that shows
we do not know anything about this bu-
siness.
1T shows" quickly replied the farm
en- that the fools themselves do not
know anything about it"
The point to be made is this-we can
not afford such criticism. The great
breeders Of England made their reputa-
ton by breeding and showing animals,
in every way superior to anything that
could be produced by any other man
from any other breed. 1t is true that
sometimes an animal breeds so entirely
after his ancestor that he bellies himself
Such an animal is an exception, and
should not be sold. Our position is this /:
An inferior Short horn should never be
sold. If it breeds better than it looks,
it should be kept as breeder, and if it
does not breed any better than it looks
Gas is generally the case), it should be
sold for beef. Our advice is:
l. Nerer place an interior animal up
on tie market except for beet, and it will
do more to sustain the Short horn inter
est than columns of figures.
2, Never offer barren or unsound
animal at public sale, nor at private sale,
if it be permanently So
1t is not enough that the party state
all the facts; that will not do away with
the bad influences upon the sale. After
two or three are offered at any sale. peo-
pie begin to suspect that the manage
ment has been defective. 1t casts a
doubt and suspicion over the whole herd,
Our advice to every man who finds he
has a barren animal in his sale is to
withdraw her, and state that he sells
breeders and not barren animals
3. There must be at all times the ex-
hihition of the highest honor upon the
part Of the breeder. He must be ready
to correct all mistakes promptly and
fairly. The Short-horn interest is to-
day suffering under the blows of reck-
less breeders and traders,
We are glad to notice that the breed
ers of Iowa, in their conventions last
winter, passed resolutions of such lib
eral and honorable character that when
a vendor announces that he will be gov
erned by them, full confidence will be
given 70 them
Now we have said plain words to
breeders, we will also speak plain words
to buyers. If you attend sale and
find even a portion Of the animals are
barren or inferior animals, make no bids
and force every such animal out of the
breeders market. If you should estab
lish a herd, purchase good animals with
good pedigrees; then if you do not have
the best success the first year, do not
- al 70 %ho on.n,o1c %otoc