, 1923-01-18
Hornless Beef a
Future Product
Horns Are Going Out Of Fashion and
the Critter of the Future Will Be
Without Them.

Americas future beefsteak will
come from a naturally hornless steer
or COW. Bovine styles change just as
surely, if not as frequently and rap
idly, as feminine modes. The up-to-
date 'critter'' of the range n few years
hence won't wear any headgear or car
ry any arms, simply because neither is
needed. and nature is taking a hand
with the breeder in eliminating the
unnecessary APPENDICES.
That is the declaration of r. p.
Morris of Evergreen, Colo, pioneer
breeder of hornless Herefords and
veteran Of the western range.
with the gradual diminishing of
predatory animals from the open
range country Morris told Internal
tional News Service, horns are al
most as useless to cattle as chaps, spurs
and saddle would be to a New York dry
goods salesman. They are out of style,
are worthless as ornaments, "A
in shipping and necessitate double
stable space when worn by aristocrat-
ic range animals that are housed and
'petted' during severe weather.
"Dehorning is II painful operation.
Hence. why grow horns?
with these facts in view. cattle
breeders are manufacturing EN- with
ont horns. Exhibits at recent stock eX-
positions bear this out. There We're
more polled beef cattle at the Interna-
tional Stock show in Chicago and at
the Kansas City Royal this year than
ever before. Probably one-third of lie
heavy exhibits at the National Western
in Denver this week are hornless.
an the western and southwestern
range country the famous whiteface,
- .4,-gA AtIaY. lAnf fnr
lilies almost ten to one.
"Original Hereford stock in Ameri-
ca was possessed of long. graceful
observation-disclosures that served and
were needed us weapons. That, how
ever, was before Uncle Sam joined the
plainsmen in "A war to eXterminate
predatory beasts. The wolf-the stock
| mans greatest enemy-has almost dis
appeared from the range in the more
settled regions. Cougar are no longer
"A menace. Bears are scarce. Coyotes
/ are about the only stock killers left to
conquer. and even the wild dog isn't
so destructive as he was 10 years ago.
Also. more care is given to the calving
cows. They no longer need horns. The
order has gone out to disarm the boz
vine world, and nature is doing more
than her share to carry out the ukase.
"Herefords. today the most popular
range breed in the world, came from
| Herefordshire. England and indica-
/ ions are that the parent stock was
hornless. In the early days of the
white face breed in America, II sport,
or hornless freak, would appear in
frequently among the herds as the
progeny of horned stock. Bred back
to their horned herdmates, these freaks
produced Approximately 60 per cent
polled calves. Crossed with polled
stock, they invariably produced their
like, indicating that the polled strain
was the older and stronger blood. That
is the blood which is certain to sur
vive.
LESS than 20 years g the first
herd of all-polled. purebred HerefOrds
WAS founded by John Cannon of Iowa.
Since then more than 200 prominent
breeders have crossed their strains of
the white-face family and are letting
nature do the dehorning job. Twenty
years from now, l believe, horned range
cattle win be as much a curiosity as