Smyrna times., 1922-09-13
FARMERS AT STATE FAIR SAW
HEREFORD CATTLE EXHIBIT
GETS BETTER IDEA OF BREED
THAT is TAKING THE WEST
Over 200 Hereford Cattle Were On
Exhibition Something OF the His
tory of This Interesting Breed

A new breed of cattle is gaining
favor in Delaware. The National Here
ford Show, which was held for the
first time at the Delaware State Fair
this year, was an exhibit of the finest
beef cattle in the country. Massive
bulls and splendidly developed cows to
the number of over 200 from total
of eight different States comprised
the show. The Hereford breed has an
interesting history and portrays how
the economic necessity of having more
and better beef at the least cost will
cause the development of this or that
thing.
In the early Eighteenth Century the
demand for beef in England was very
small for the population was distinctly
an agricultural one, who bred cattle
and horses for work purposes only.
Finally toward the middle of that cen
tury with the growth of commerce and
manufacture the old system of just
killing for food those cattle which had
outlived their usefulness for work, was
found to be inadequate for the needs
of the people who had drifted into the
cities and manufacturing centres. A
need arose for more beef, and the best
beef that could be raised quickly and
at the least expense-in other words
cattle that could be raised on the
grazing lands of western England and
Wales, without being fed the precious
grain.
Two groups of men attempted to
solve this problem and by two methods
The one method was to raise stall-fed
animals which, when they were devel
oped, would have the greatest weight.
The result of this endeavor was the
growth of clumsy and heavy animals
which, when they reached maturity at
the age of four or five years, were
large enough, but very susceptible to
disease, because they were barn raised
This weakness was never outlived,a ,and
the results of this group were not sat
isfactory.
The group from which the Hereford
was derived was started by men who
wished to raise a breed of cattle which
would utilize the abundance of grass
and forage that the western part of
England and the corresponding por-
tion of Wales supplied. They did not
want to feed grain in any quantities.
Benjamin Thompson was the pioneer
in this field He selected two COWS
with the capacity of putting on fat
and by careful mating and selection
began to develop a breed which soor
attracted attention throughout the
cattle breeding world. His work wa!
begun about 1742 and continued to hi.
death in 1899, when his son took VI
the work and worked on the problem
until 1915. Many others in England
then began to develop the lines of tn,
Thompsons and soon Hereford cattl
began to have prominence at the cat
tie shows of Old England.
The first Herefords to be brough
to this country arrived in 1917, whe
the Hon. Henry Clay, noted Senate
and politician of this country, i'm
ported few of the breed. From tina
time they began to increase in popu
larity, but it was not until about 184
that any number began to be import
ed and bred. In 1910 William SOthar
backed by Senator Erastus Corning
I of Albany, N. Y, made an importa
tiOn which attracted considerable al
tention. From that time steady i'm
portation and breeding began unit
1876, when an exhibit of Herefords a
1.-THE Philadelphia Centennial intereste
cattle raisers on the western grain
lands. The evolution of the growth G
E the animals in this country from tha
!; moment was rapid and soon the Here
): ford assumed the place which it no
occupies of being the foremost bee
! bred in this country.
Herefords are remarkable cattle i
r that they have the qualities of bein
the best grazers in the world and con
5 bine with this the ability to fatte
early'and to be very hardy. Extreme
. of climate and scarcity of food al
little obstacles to the growth of til
I Hereford. In addition to this the
are prolific. Other things in the
! favor are that they are practical
I immune from tuberculosis, bring tn
l highest prices as beef and are ver
economical.
: In the corn belt and throughout til
Z weSta1n ranUa the Hareford iS kin,
+ In 25 states now there are more regi:
; tered Herefords than any other bree
of cattle. Fifty years ago the Here
fords in this country were a scar
number, but today the growth ha
| been so rapid that there are now owe
| 405,582 registered Herefords or 38 pc
| cent of all the registered cattle of a
| breeds. In numbers the Hereford
l second, with only 1883 behind til