Mexico weekly ledger., 1894-05-03

n q level head II is tnat OF Il pilol
on a steamboat on the Missouri river,
with its treaeherous sand bars, its
changing currents and its constant
dangers. 1t has, however, its draw
backs, and the man who wishes to
have q home of his own and enjoy
its quiet, and who, besides, has de-
cided home instincts, will not choose
long between the pilot house and
the home when a young lady to whom
he is devotedly attached points the
way to the home. June 10, 1869,
he was married to Miss Mildred A.
Buckner, of st. Charles, Mo-, and
to them have been born two sons and
one daughter. We + inclined to
think the good lady did not think
much of the business of steamboat
ing, for we find that in the fall of
1874 the family removed to Mexico,
Mo-, and Mr.. Whitney was engaged
during that fall in the stock bust
ness, buying and shipping. June /,
1875, he went to Washington, DC,
and was clerk of the committee of
the house of representatives on the
District of Columbia, and for two
terms was clerk of the banking and
currency committee. A position like
this is all right for a young man for
two or three years, but all wrong as
the settled business oflife, and in 1880
N Hrt aMKs htjthRgffYg e re 81 4 far his in ne satine
County, Missouri, ten miles south
west of Marshall and for eleven years
engaged in general farming and stock
raising, handling mostly beef cattle.
When cattle began to decline in 1886
81 he sold his herds and made up
his mind to become a breeder of
Holstein-Friesians and a breaker up
Of the way toward making Missouri
the great dairy state for which nature
intended her. His first investment was
in twelve head of cattle costing ST.
800. This was the foundation of
the present herd, which now numbers
over one hundred. He has from
time to time added such individuals
as in his judgment would bring them
up to his ideal standard, and as a
result he has a herd which Is recog-
nized as one of the leading Holstein-
| Friesian herds in the West. In the
fall of 1890 he met Mr.. ME-. Moore,
of Cameron, Mo-, at the Kansas City
Exposition, for the first time, and
after discussing fully the necessity
for the state Holstein association they
agreed to organize it, and the follow
ing spring united in a call from the
Holstein- Friesian breeders of the
West to meet at Marshall,
Mo-, in the month of April.
The beginning was small, only six
breeders being present, and Mr..
Whitney was elected secretary. The
following October another meeting
was held, at which time the mem
bership had increased to twenty
seven, and it was then named the
Western Holstein- Friesian Associa-
ton. The second annual meeting
was held in Kansas City, October
26, 1892, when the membership
numbered ninety-six, and when the
important step of establishing aherd
book was agreed upon, one reason
being that they believed the fees
charged by the old association were
exorbitant. In the hands of Mr..
Whitney, and the able board of di-
rectors, the association has become a
very great success, and now num-
bers one hundred and eighty-five
breeders distributed through twenty
six states of the Union, and is still
on the increase. Mr.. Whitney is the
originator of the present system of
keeping the records, which is re-
garded by many as the most com
plete of the kind in the United
States.
The future OF the Hols.ein
Friesian breed OF cattle i'm the West
depends largely on the course pur-
sued by MIR. Whitney and those as
ISOLATED with him in the manage
ment of this record. They can make
the breed to a great extent what
they please. The color and general
outline is Interchangeable within the
lines Of breed, but the quantity and
quality of the milk and the beef
qualities of the animal are matters
of selection, feed and care. The
success of improved breeders every
where lies IN moulding and shaping
the breed by selection and skiilful
mating TO meet the wants of the
present and future market. Missouri
in time will be a great dairy state,
and the size of her cattle must be in
proportion to the richness of her
pastures. 1t is absolutely certain
now that the milk of dairy cows in
the future will be psid for accordingl
to its per cent of butter fat. The
large COW in arieh country that gives
a large amount of milk with at least
q normal per cent Of fat, and whose
calves viii meet the requirements of
the grazier, is the COW that will
stand high in favor, and the breed
that Is moulded and shaped to meet
that demand will be the popular