Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1884-02-02

A
because / believe them To b. nlsu
the best milk cattle, but that Il moi
now my subject. Short horns da
not exist ~ an end In themselver--
their end i beef and ] consider
myself before all things n fellow
worker in tire great army who are
striving after beef production. The
luver OF Herefords, aud the
lover OF the West Highlanders, and
the lover of the Polls, court alike
my brothers. / depFecate anything
like antag0nism among our various
interests. What IL common 10 Us
all Is far greater than what divides
Us, A generous emulation, and. so
far as that involves rivalry, st1r-
dy rivalry should exist. That, IL
the condition of progress. But so
far from deprecating The appearance
OF these other breeds OH the Held
which was so long pre-. emption Of
the Short horns, greet il with en-
thusiasm and hope. qhe Short
horn breeders have now helpers In
their great work of improving the
feeding cattle OF our land, and
helpers that they need not blush 10
own as rivals. Nor shall / dehy
that Iny enthusiastic welcOHne 20
them has n selfish basis; as inuch
as i admire the newly-intrOduced
breeds, do not fear them. On
other fields the same cs,ntest has
been fought, and with no bad re-
suits TO the Shnrt-hofn, who have
easily held their OWE as the best
beasts yet known; and the impQr-
tation Of the contest 10 American
soil seems to me to he a personal
gain to the Short horns. When the
field was free to them they were
the prey of all sorts of theories OF
breeding, producing all sorts OF re-
suits. A keen rivalry OF breeds
viii force ShOrt-horn breeders to a
policy which before all things will
produce prime animals. Only In
the event either (I) that the SlIurt-
horn breeders should prove indif-
ferent iothe present crisis, or (ZJ-
should fail TO learn from il that the
age of fancy and paper is gone and
that of flesh and blood come, will
they ,ssin my judgment, fail to win
IN the conflict. And IL for either
rause they fail 10 win, for one
shall say that we deserve what we
get, and shall transfer my work 10
4 breed which is not stabbed Inthe
houselof its friends.
Thus, j say, therefore,, that these
fat-cattle shows are going to give
The law as to what kind of Short
horns are going to he bred. In the
lace Of It's hard logic fancy strains
must give way before beef strains,
and the day (happy day. is already
lawning when men will ask less
Does this COW have any crosses Ia
her which do not run back through
he same kind of crosses as her
)wn 10 The same arbitrarily fixe1)
original COW as she traces &c? (cOuld
nan invent more unmeaning
question y, and more. "Is this COW
! prime butchers beast, and her
ancestry and kindred, are They
rood butchers beasts ?" The day
) already dawning when only
hose Short-horns which are good
eedera and prime carcasses can ex-
81, and men will laugh at any pre-
ensiOn which shuns the test of
ests-the fat-eAttle ring and the
DUtcher's blocit. Men may vet
'Ooh-pOoh the fat show, but those
Who do so will only poOh-pOOh
themselves out of existence. The
lay is coming.when the plumb line
# the fat show is 10 be made the
eat of every breeders uprightness
when every beast which does not
il this procrustean bed is to be FORE
doomed to destruction.
Now this, / say, is a blessed pros
'ect. Herein we find at last an arr
'itrator for conflicting prelensions
, just and unswerving judge Ot
litiering practice, and above AL
OF the, as yet, unlearReg
nd unprotected. How easy, now.
O introduce dark hints into ingen-
IOus minds How easy to suggest
hat His Is questionable, and that
Iot. altogether according To rule;
hat NiS mans stock had this in a.
nd that mans something elsel
low easy To damn. with faint praise
nd TO destroy with an inuendO.
lew beginners readily perceive
hatthere il some magic (Or we
hOuld say jockeying) in Short. horn
reeding which they do not under
tand, and SO fall AN easy prey 10
anie fear. II is not AN easy matter
D become 50 well acquainted with
he long lists Of pedigrees and the
MS and outs Of ceniury's cOnlrO-
ersies as 10 have an opinion Ci
our own on all these questions.
of this ignorance the new
eginner Is buffeIed about among
he rival claims and tempted, often
D his own destruction, to take the
xtremest ground as the safest.
'ashions go up and fashions go
own, not, as Mr.. Healy hints, e.
ause of changes in breeding, but
ecause of ignorance and uncer-
Unity played on by the interested
reath of slander and who can
and in their swirl? A pitiable
Dndition or things, trulyl And
lere is but one remedy, "a returnto
ne beef basis, Encouragement which
III. bring the ciiief argument to the
vel of all. Now the fat shows
re going to force this return. am
Ut a prophet, but IL requires no
rophet to predictthis. call on All
ue breeders to rejoice with me in
he prospect.