Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1877-06-27

~ yOu al = OuO VI uAOo0 WioO "Au 6SSSs
and rare and exceptional men Who
have succeeded in establishing two
grass blades in the place whereon but
one heretofore flourished, you are, by
nature, Shortohrn man; !. e., you
are capable of handling the most
finished products Of modern skill
which must be dealt by literally and
not parsimoniously The special
points IN which the Shofthorn ex-
GELS are, first, early maturity and
aptitude to fatten at any age. Sc
eond, the perfection Of their digestion
and the complete assimilation of their
food, so that there is less waste IN
feeding them than in any other cattle.
Third, the excellence of the beef and
small proportion Of coarse parts and
ofal. Fourth, the great quantity and
excellence of their dairy products for
which they we're first originally dis
tinguished. Fifth, and above all
their great race prepotency, enabling
them to transmit their splendid quail
tiles to their grades with extraordi-
nary certainty. We hold this to be
the ultimate test of value in any
thoroughbred breed, as it is plainly
impossible for the average farmer to
maintain the standard of thorough
bred races. but far from impossible
for him to avail himself Of the great
value of thoroughbred males, grades
being usually better adapted to his
uses and more valuable in bis hands
than thoroughbreds. The grade
shorthorn, from good dam. is
probably very generally better
grazing animal than thoroughbred;
whereas, in the stall the thoroughbred
could be fed with more profit. Fancy
breeding has injured the Shorthorrs
with the general farmer by causing
the impression that if any Short horn
bull is worth from ten to twenty
thousand dollars, it must be but an
impure and defective one, which can be
had at from one to two hundred
dollars. There can be no greater
error. We know whereof we write
when we say that the lowest priced
animal may be, and usually will be-
the best and most valuable for the
farmer for the high priced beast is
the outcome of an expensive and
highly artificial system which the
farmer can by no means keep up, nor
can the beast keep up without it
There are many families Of purely aud
well bred Shorthorns of the best beef
and milking qualities, the bulls of
which are not in demand, for the
| fashion able herds may be had at from
one to two hundred dollars. This sort
of bull, we think, the farmers of the
Atlantic grass and grain States not
only ought to buy, but they must buy
them or quit raising cattle for it is
evident that thus only can they com
pete with the Western farmers in the
beef markets of their own cities. The
difference in price between good and
bad beef is increasing, and must in
crease. Proximity to the great
Eastern markets will enable our
farmers to put the best beef on sale in
the best condition, and the transport
tation problem is bound to be solved
in the future by an equal system Of
tariff. The iniqulty Of causing a man
who lives near market to pay great
part Of the cost of bringing to market
the goods of his distant competitor, is
too glazing, too outrageous, too
Numerically opposed to natural jus
tice to be permanently tolerated. But
ifwhen the day of equalization comes
the Eastern beef producers have
nothing but scrubs to offer, while the
West continues to send forward highly
fed and nearly purely bred Shorthorns,
the case will still be against the
Eastern man, and he will be driven
out of the highest position IN his own
market by the man who grazes ard
feeds at the opposite border of the
Continent thousands of miles away
Even here in Southwest Virginia, one
of the best grazing regions in America
the use Of well bred bulls is diminish
ing, and most of the superb animals
bred here are sold to distant States
and other sections, while the scrub
element is increasing. It is coming
to the pass that breeders will have to
cut their Fall calves, for they will be
worth more as beef than farmers in
their blindness are willing to pay for
them as bulls. 1t would unques-
tionably pay large buyers of steers to
purchase and give away Shorthorn
bulls in those sections where they buy
stock. There is the most convincing
evidence that the Shorthorn grade
will pay everybody who handles him.
, at any and all ages, fifty per cent.
more than the scrub on an equal
investment. Let it be understood
that this statement is predicated on