ftSS«vSv' }^'^\N!?->^ ^^.K ■NiSKK^JiKJN^^^SJ^^K^^^iN^KN^^^^SN^^S^i^ f!ER!)S:|\ND:FCO€K| AND HORSES:^*^" W'ADDEll o M-l TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 3 9090 014 547 877 Webster Family Library of Ve' 'edicine Cummings School of Vetenn. . .^.dne at Tufts University 200 Westboro Road North Grafton. MA 01536 With leaves o'er head and verdure to the brink, A restful place where cattle come to drink. Herds and Flocks and Horses By CAPTAIN A. H. WADDELL Copyrighted 1911 Published by the PEDIGREE PUBLISHING COMPANY 819 Exchange Avenue Chicago, 111. 5 Illustrations from Photographs by Robert F, Hildebrand, Chicago, 111. W. A. Rouch, London, England, Montague Dixon, London, England G. H. Parsons, Alsagar, England INTRODUCTION THE object of this book, which is dedicated to the stock- men and breeders of the United States, is to point out to those, who while engaged in the business of stock raising, may not have realized the tremendous opportuni- ties and extraordinary possibilities of the live stock industry in this country. Big as it is, and enormous as the numbers of live stock that are breed here are, the industry, as far as the breeding of pedigreed stock is con- cerned, is in its infancy. America, although, through the generous hand of nature, has been so richly endowed and plenteously provided for in everything that goes to make a large portion of it a stockman's paradise, seems not to have as yet realized the fact of its rapidly increasing population, the demands of foreign nations, the spread of civilization, and the increase of the inhabitants of the world. All these must be provided for; everybody must be fed; the rich and leisure classes of this and other countries, supplied with horses for their i)leasure and amusement, and the great military nations (tf the world provided with animals for the maintenance of their cavalry, artillery, mounted infantry, and transport. America, through her enormous grazing lands, her soil, fertility, and climate; through her splendid isolation, though readiness of access to the East and the West of the world, and through her absolute indej endence, seems chosen by Nature to play this great part in the world's welfare. Now is the sowing time ; let her scatter good seeds through- out those of her domains which are best suited for their growth, and surely shall she reap the richest of harvests therefrom. A. H. Waddell. Chicago, January, 1011. Herds and Flocks and Horses. THE EASIEST ROAD TO ACHIEVEMENT IS ALONG THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE. HOW often do we liud a voimg man, who, either from stress of circumstances, from the well meant but ill advised wishes of a father, the arbitrary ruling and powerful influence of guardians, bachelor uncles or old maid aunts, pressed into some profession or business for which he is totally unfitted, and against which his natural impulses and desires revolt, and which, while bravely as he may accept the inevita- ble, and nobly as he may work to make a success of that which is forced upon him, an unseen hand seems silently to point, and an invisible magnet attract him along a road he craves to follow but must not go. Thousands upon thousands of splendid young men, manly, level headed fellows, have been prevented from developing the best there is in them from this very cause, and made to pursue a course that has been against their natural tendencies and best judgment, and who, after honestly working out their very souls, have never succeeded in doing anything more than or- dinary, while, if they had been permitted to follow the normal and natural tendencies of their own inclinations, would have blossomed into something worth while, and left behind them names and records that would have been written down. Not only would they have done this, but they would have done it with a fraction of the labor, an atom of the wear and tear, and with a pleasure and delight that would have made their lives a dream in comparison, and their path along a flower-grown lane, instead of over an uphill road strewn with rock and boulders. With the normal youth of courage and constitution, with a clear perception of what life means, and the tremendous odds in favor of his endeavors if he pursues the right course, with this great big, generous world before him, it is a crime to try and wean him away from that which nature has best fitted him for, and his inborn aptitude, talents, disposition and wishes Herds and Flocks and Horses. call liim. This joung fellow will make a success of whatever he undertakes in this way, while he will make a miserable failure of anything else that is forced upon him, even if a fortune be expended on his education, and a princely amount of money given him to start the repulsive work. This young man, if allowed to follow the trend of his own desires, with a rudimentary education and no money, will bud, l)lossom and bear fruit of the richest kind, and will distance liis unfortunate contemporary to such a length that the latter will be completely lost sight of and left, even in the dawn of his career, and will have to fight for every inch of ground, till footsore, weary and worn out, he reaches those splendid years of early middle age, an old man, while the companion of his youth of equal years, is young, vigorous, happy and contented, dwelling in the midst of love, peace and contentment, in the bosom of his family, respected and beloved by his fellow men and honored by his country. Nature, through his brain, tells the normal young man whither to steer his course, and nature directs and guides him over the smoothest seas and easiest paths. It is unnatural to choose the wild Atlantic Ocean when a placid lake will serve the same purpose. It is against the dictates of a normal brain to juck out a rocky mountain path in preference to a Vieautiful country road when both lead to the same place. Obstacles at every gust of wind in the one case, and at every step in the other, present themselves, yes I throw themselves in the way, while the other path is smooth ; and by the very choosing of the one which nature has whispered in the ear to choose, the waves, pitfalls and quicksands of life have been avoided. So it is then, that the young man who voluntarily chooses that which he knows is best fitted for him, is bound to make a success, while the other poor fellow, bravely as he may fight, who has had his path and calling chosen for him, only finds failure at the end of an almost impassable road and a heart- breaking journey. Herds and Flocks and Horses. A MOMENTOUS QUESTION. ONE of the great questions that confront this country to- day, and one of vital importance, is that which has to do with the migration of the bone and muscle of young America to the great cities of the country. This continuous stream of young countrymen to the great towns and cities of the land, is due in a large measure, to the ''Fairy Tales" of wealth and greatness written in books and periodicals, and stories told around the fireside by some one who has heard what somebody said, and what somebody told somebody else. Glowing accounts are unfolded of how a young man fresh from the farm, had worked his way to New York or Chicago, and after endless hardships, arrived at one of these great cities hungry and exhausted; and how, in a fainting condition, he was f(Hind by some benevolent old lady wlio took him to lier home, cared for him, nursed and fed him back to health and strength, and gave him a job watering the flowers in the gar- den, where he met her beautiful niece, heiress to many millions. How he wooed and won her, the magnificence of the wedding, and the flower strewn, sunny path they trod for ever after- wards. Another, after the hardest of digging, to earn enough to keep body and soul together ; sleeping in the corners of tumble down buildings and pest ridden and vermin swarmed lodging houses, secures, through the kindly hand of some philanthropic old gentleman, a position as office boy in a bank. Years and years of uphill labor, with never a breath of the prairie air or the sight of a summer country landscape, finds liim seated in the presidential chair. So the stories end in the books or by tlie fireside; but the "real thing" reveals a very diff"erent as])ect. The former, out of liis element, out of his station in life, out of himself in fact, has cut loose on the "Great White Way." The footlights have allured him, and soft brown eyes 10 Herds and Flocks and Horses. beckoned him away from his rich wife, and a divorce has left liim where he was a few years before, with no friends, no mone}^, and worse than that, no business or profession; the best part of his youthful days gone, too old to learn anything, no inclination to take off his coat and put his shoulder to the wheel, and in short a derelict upon the restless waves of life. The other, begotten in poverty, born in poverty, reared in poverty, and steeped in poverty, tinds himself in control of hundreds of thousands of dollars to be juggled into millions. The game is a tempting one, too alluring for such a brain to withstand, too great for such a man to control. He "plays the game''; it goes against him; and now, like hundreds, yes! thousands more, at forty years of age he is serving out a peni- tentiary sentence that will leave him sixty when it is over, a wreck on the Rock of Time. Not all turn out like this, however, but the percentage of those who succeed is but as a thousand to one as against those who fail. Nor is this to be wondered at. The cause is obvious. What are the chances of the farm bred boy against the son of the millionaire city man? A splendid school and college edu- cation, an inbred business instinct begotten of his father, a business training from the cradle to manhood, and a burning desire to follow in his father's footsteps; and through his superior education, and modern methods and environments, determined to improve and increase the business that has been left him, and double and quadruple his father's millions. The country man will find it a pretty hard game in these days of lightning rapidity, and amidst such surroundings, to buck against a combination such as this. Now let us for a moment reverse the question. Let us place this millionaire city man's son with his college education and drawing-room accomplishments, on a great Western ranch, in the open air, with all its bracing effects and exhilarating influences; its balmy breezes, the fragrance of its flowers, its glorious dawn, and its wonderful sunset. Let us place him there on the top of this rich, generous, fruitful soil, among the Herds and Flocks and Horses. 11 bawling cattle, the range horses, the sheep and the swine. ^yhere would he be? What use could he possibly be put to? What good would he be in comparison with the rugged, ruddy faced, good natured, smiling farmer's son, with a chest like a hogshead, shoulders like a hercules, and arms and thighs that a sculptor would love to copy? A young fellow who doesn't know what restraint means, a free, jovial, laughing, singinp son of the prairie, a man who would face a lion and think it fun, and a man who could throw his arms around his sweet- heart's or his wife's neck and say, this is Heaven to me with you by my side — I want no other — no divorce, no jail here. A life only of honest labor, a breeder of the flesh we eat, a man who feeds the world, a man who makes his countrv. FOOD, WATER AND SHADE Herds and Flocks and Horses. 18 ITS SOLUTION. THE solution of this question, is the realization bj the breeding and farming element of the country, that they have in the grass that grows and the stock thev can breed, an institution safer than any bank in America, and a fortune greater than any combination in the world. The breeders of herds and flocks, and the tillers of the soil, were the men who first made the world habitable, and until food, living, and present conditions are comi)letely revolu- tionized, and until every acre of cultivatable soil is jjut to some other use, the breeder and farmer will be the mainstay of the world. He is to the land what the ship is to the sea; the only practical means of support in the one instance, as the other is the only practical means of conveyance. Food is the one absolutely necessary essential to the main tenance of life, everything else without it is positively use- less. The world could not exist a fortnight without food, and although it might be argued that the fruits of the field would do, such an argument is based upon such ignorance as is not worth consideration. The vegetarian, in his plausible argument for a diet com- posed entirely of vegetables, and in every instance, brought about by an abnormal condition of his own digestive tract, whereby he is unable to assimilate and make use of animal flesh — which by the way, is the most easily digestible of all foods — shows a condition of abnormality, an unsound organi- zation, and a state of health which is certainly not calculated to improve the human breeds, nor add to the constitutional soundness and stamina of the race. These people forget that man is in reality a flesh eating animal, and while he is capable under certain conditions of existing upon a diet in some measure composed of vegetables, still animal flesh has been the diet that has made man what he is today, and will continue to be the basic principle upon which 14 Herds and Flocks and Horses. he must live, in order to maintain the physical strength and character of the race. The canine teeth, found in the mouth of every normal indi- vidual of the human breeds, is proof positive, not only of his flesh-eating nature, but also that he will continue to be a flesh- devouring animal so long as these teetli remain, and who shall say when this shall cease. As age succeeds age, and time in its flight rolls over millions of years, evolution is working its sure but unrecog- nizable changes in everything that is earthly, and so slow are the changes wrought, that it would be only after hundreds of thousands of years that the faintest alteration from conditions as we know them today, could be recognized, even by a scientist, who, if it were possible, had lived today, died, and come to life again a million years hence at least. This shows then, beyond argument, that man is a flesh-eat- ing animal, and that flesh has always formed the basis of his diet; and that part of it also, which has made him what he is since the day of his creation, and is the one thing that will continue to make and keep him from deteriorating both physi- cally and mentally. It is not the intention of the writer to go into statistics, but it will be perfectly clear to the reader that the vastly and rapidly increasing population of this country is going to call for meat supplies that are almost past belief and understand- ing. If the breeding of cattle, sheep and swine is not pushed, pursued, and made above all others, the foremost industry of the land, this extraordinary, this vast, broad, rich, fertile country, instead of being a land wherefrom the peoples of the earth may be supplied with meat, will become a purchaser from other lands to supply its own demands. With the business acumen of the ordinary American, and the keenness of his foresight, it is astounding that such ob- vious conditions as these seem to have been lost sight of. Humbugged b}^ stories of the amassing of fortunes, lured by Herds and Flocks and Horses. 15 tlie phantom millions of Wall Street, fascinated by dreams of city life, the brawn and muscle of the country have been drawn in millions to these conjested masses, to live lives that for the most part have done little good for themselves, and nothing for the country. It is time to "Go Back to the Farm"; not to the hard labor and toil of our fathers, but to the pleasant and profitable business of breeding. Not also, to the raising of the old-time Texas steer and razor back hog, but to produce pure-bred stock, one of which will yield double, treble, quadrup^le the price of the stock that "father used to raise.'' To meet, therefore, the rapidly increasing and fast-grow- ing population, and consequently the crying demand for meat at reasonable prices, as well as the enormous calls upon America from every country on earth, for her refrigerator, as well as her canned meats, the breeding and stock raising in- dustry, with its ever ready and j)rofitable markets, presents by far the greatest opportunity for the country bred youth of America to make money, to make it quickly, and to make it in such a way, that with a level head, failure is next to impossi- ble. "The people must be fed." ^^5. m^^ J THE FLOWERS OF THE FLOCK X •j^g^ . Herds and Flocks and Horses. 17 WHAT BREEDING IS. BREEDING, in its broad sense, is the propagation of a species ; but it means very mucli more than this from a commercial standpoint. It means, in meat producing animals, an improvement through blood lines, selection and individuality, upon their ancestors. The crossing of two breeds of the same species, a combina- tion of which, in the opinion of experts, would develop benefic- ially in the offspring, certain desirable points outstanding in the one, while not so pronounced in the other ; and at the same time produce other valuable qualities outstanding in the other, while not so well marked in the mate. This method, followed by the most careful selection of stock animals on both sides, and through a system of the most careful registration, has been the means of producing — and especially in Great Britain, wliich leads the world by many lengths as the mother of scientific as well as practical breeding —a large number of various breeds of the domestic animals, to a point of perfec- tion, not only in general beauty of outline, fineness of quality, rapid development and early maturity, but of a size, weight and commercial value that has never before been reached, and the blood of which, for breeding purposes, as represented in certain individuals, is worth thousands upon thousands of dol- lars, which previously would have brought nothing more than their market value as ordinary food. This system of breeding has been pursued with such con- summate skill, care and exactness, that it is possible now to breed certain animals so true to type, size, weight and general cliaracteristics that they are as much alike as ''peas in a })od," as the old saying has it; and not only is this the case, but the flesh is so much superior to that of the same species of the old days, that it would, in many cases, not be recognized as coming from the same kind of animal. This splendid system has been pursued among all the animals that enter into the sphere of man's daily environment. 18 Herds and Flocks and Horses. Cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, poultry and more than that, for it embraces song birds, game, fish and the creeping things of the earth. Scientists have even nursed, strengthened, and developed bacteria of a vigorous and healthy nature that prey upon disease germs, and so maintain a health and vigor of body in those who otherwise would succumb to the inroads of these death-dealing organisms. Breeding for outstanding qualities such as are desirable in the various animals, has reached such a point that improve- ment seems impossible, but breeding is still in its swaddling clothes, its process in its babyhood, its growth limitless, and its possibilities infinite and extraordinary. In cattle, sheep and swine of the best beef, mutton and pork breeds, size, weight, type and outline, combined with enormously increased bulk and fineness of quality and a dis position to put on flesh in a short period of time, with the mini- mum amount of bone development, have been the principal characteristics sought for and obtained, thereby vastly in- creasing their value as feeding and meat-producing propo- sitions. The breeding of horses on the other hand has been directed along many channels, and each effort has met with such suc- cess as to be little short of wonderful. Galloping (running) in one instance, trotting in another, action in a third, com- bined with symmetrical beaut}^ and elegance of form; and al- ways— unlike the breeding of cattle, sheep and pigs — with an aim towards an increase in the size and quality of the boney frame. Heavy draughters have been bred for type, size, bone, weight and immense hauling powers, and thought has never been lost sight of towards improving the temper, temperament and disposition. Other animals have been bred along lines best calculated to better them for the purpose for which they are required, and the whole system has been studied and car ried to such successful ends that further improvement would Herds and Flocks and Horses. 19 seem well nigh impossible, still, as stated before, the dawn only has broken, and the day will develop such changes as the layman cannot realize, and only the scientist partially under- stand. CLYDESDALE MARES AND FOALS GALLOWAY STEERS A CLYDESDALE GELDIN< Herds and Flocks and Horses. 21 ANOTHER SIDE OF THE BREEDING QUESTION. THE raising of beef, mutton and pork, is only one side of the great live stock industry of this nation, the other allied side being the breeding of horses; and great, and all important as the former may be, no less necessary in many ways is the latter. Horses, and particularly the heavy draught breeds, are in- dispensable to the requirements of the country, and particu- larly in the great agricultural West and the large cities, where heavy horse power is absolutely necessary, and will continue to be necessary, notwithstanding the motor vehicle and every other kind of mechanical contrivance. This generation, and another and another, and yet many more, will have passed into oblivion before the usefulness of the horse begins to show the faintest signs of wavering. He is more in demand today than ever before in his history, not- withstanding statements to the contrary; and his price is greater than it has ever been. So much are heavy draught horses of the Shire, Clydesdale, Percheron and Belgian breeds in demand, that importers are not able to meet the calls upon them, and their breeding in this country is in such a state of infantile helplessness that it actually amounts to nothing. Scrub and grade horses are bred, it is true, but their days are numbered, for in the course of general advancement and im- provement, they will pass from our sight and die the death that everything meets that does not keep pace with the general and overpowering demand for better things. The markets of England and Scotland, those mothers of heavy draught horse breeding of the Shire and Clyde families, and France and Belgium as the birthplace of those honest slaves, the Percheron and Belgian breeds, are ever open to the buyers of the world, and it is for the American purchaser to not only buy, but to purchase the very best that each country provides, and to lay the foundation for a heavy draught horse industry with sound parent stock, and in time, make foreign Herds and Flocks and Horses. purchase unnecessary. Imagine what this will mean for the country, and in cool moments of reflection, consider jouv own pocket, and what embarkation in heavy draught horse breed- ing would mean to your bank account. It is a sound, safe, solid investment; a crying demand for what the country hasn't got, and a demand that must be satisfied at whatever cost This is where England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Belgium have the quiet laugh at America, the silent chuckle at the United States. All these different countries are mentioned because we are obliged to go to them all for the fashionable breeds of horses each produces. We go to England for Shires, Hackneys and polo ponies : Scotland for Clydes and Shetlands ; Ireland for Hunters ; Wales for Welsh ponies ; France for Percherons and Belgium for Belgians, when we should be breeding them all ourselves as good or better, and for prices, which instead of going into foreigners' pockets, should find their way into our own. Tif te**^ GOOD MORNING Herds and Flocks and Horses. 23 SPLENDID EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES OFFERED BY AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS EDUCATION is generally regarded as something that enables anyone to read, write and talk grammatically, to be proficient in the knowledge of mathematics, his- tory, geography, a close acquaintance with the writings of the great men of the past and present, an ability to speak one or more languages, information regarding important past and present events, and the many and varied accomplishments of the age. This, however, is but a narrow view of the subject as it is \dewed by practical men of the world, and by those who have become proficient in the various professions and trades which go to make up the great mass of progress and achieve- ment. The man who could entertain a drawingroom full of ladies through his knowledge of things poetical, or who could charm them with his musical genius, would find himself hard pressed were he called upon to earn his livelihood on a Westerr ranch. The statesman would be in the same position when called upon to serve before the mast, or the clergyman who had to strip to the waist and work in the stokehole of a trans- atlantic liner. With the exception of reading, writing and arithmetic, the practical education of life consists in a thor- ough knowledge of whatever business a man elects to follow. and pushes to the limit of the capacity of a level head. There is no enterprise or business that offers greater ad- vantages to the rugged youth of America of today than the breeding of live stock. There is no produce so stable, no mar- ket so sure and no future so propitious as that of breeding meat animals and horses, and there is no country on earth so generously endowed by nature for its fulfillment. The world is fast becoming civilized, and faster calling for the blessings that civilization brings about. Vast territories of hitherto unknown countries are becoming peopled by the white race with their refining and enlightening infiuence; the earth is becoming more densely populated with human beings Herds and Flocks and Horses. 25 of more intelligent and intellectual minds, and the growth of human brotherhood is so pron.ounced that it is only the his- torian himself, who can actually realize in a thought, the progress that has been made in the last hundred years. Of all the nations of the earth, and of all its peoples, how glorious it is to realize that this great country, the United States of America, is in the van, and leads all others through its progressive ways, up-to-date methods and go-ahead princi pies. With all this, however, for some unaccountable and un- GENTLENESS AND INNOCENCE explainable reason, this country has not taken the advantage she might have done in her live stock industry, and seems to have been content in this regard, to depend more or less upon what has been going on in the past, rather than preparing foi the future. As has been stated in the early part of this book, America has for years been the great provider of meat and horses for other lands, and has reaped untold millions as its reward. Today, however, the question faces us, how are we going to provide for our enormously increasing population, and still retain the name of the great caterer to other nations ? Herds and Flocks and Horses. 27 TTVO OF A KIND If the live stock iudustry of this country is not increased, it will be but a short time before the United States will be unable to supply its own, and this is nothing short of suicide, self-sacrifice, when it is considered that the Western state.' alone are able today, to supply not only the requirements of the country, but to fill to repletion the peoples of Europe and the far East with all the meat that their own lands are in capable of producing, and all the horses that their immense armies are crying for and their fashionable pursuits demand There is enough grass in this Western country to feed stock- in numbers that can hardly be realized, and with the scientific methods of advanced farming, to grow enough grain to put tliem in such market condition as no other country could ap- proach. Even with such advantages as these, silos and silage, besides keeping stock in better condition, practically doubles the value of the corn crop, and enables the farmer to feed twice 28 Herds and Flocks and Horses. A HAMPSHIRE BARROW SOUTHDOWNS Herds and Flocks and Horses. 29 as many animals to the acre as he could under the old system. Such conditions, with the educational opportunities of acquiring practical knowledge through the various agricultural colleges, state fairs and live stock exhibitions, the youth of America whose taste runs in the direction of stock breeding, is in a better position to become expert in its methods than the youth of any other nation under the sun; and apart from this, the HAPPY AND CONTENTED future, the returns and the fortunes that await the stock breeders of this country are so immense, as compared with a like industry anywhere else, as to make comparison an impossi- bility. In addition to this, look at the life, look at the free- dom, look at the wholesome, free existence of the man who takes up this remunerative business, and compare it with the mechanical drudgery and nerve-racking work of the city man who must keep his nose to the grindstone from dawn till mid night if he intends to be in front in this frightfully fast and overcrowded race for existence ; and where is he at the end, and what his condition, though he be a winner? An old man, Herds and Flocks and Horses. overworked, overrun, stale, useless, unfit and unable to enjov the wealth he has amassed, and at forty or fifty years of age, rich in money, but penniless in health. Is the game worth the candle, when with healthy exercise, a level head and an easily attainable stock breeding knowledge, a man can amass a for- tune sufficient for the requirements of any normal mind a1 an early age, with comparatively no mental wear and tear, and in early manhood, not only be independent of the cares and worries of life, but rest happy in the reflection that he has made his money honestly, and live to a ripe old age in the bosom of his family to enjoy it? The towns and cities are stocked to overflowing with the dregs of society, glutted with the refuse of worthlessness, and filled to repletion Avith the youth of the country who have been lured there by stories of gold, only to be swamped in the avalanche of humanity that is hurled from dreams of glory into the whirlpool of despair. The agricultural colleges of this country, after years and years of patient, uphill labor, preparing the people of America for conditions they knew must come and are now upon us, must contemplate with intense satisfaction the fruits of their labors and for the rich harvest of agricultural knowledge they are yielding. The tremendous area of this country, which doubtless fathered the thought that there was more land than would ever be cultivated and turned into usefulness, was accountable for arguments against the necessity for scientific farming and advanced methods of agriculture. Present day conditions however, have shown how far wrong these people were, and how right the brainy, farseeing men who anticipated conditions as they now exist, and which, with all their farsightedness, they are at present only partially prepared to meet. What these pioneers of up-to-date agriculture have accomplished is written down in tlie s])lendid institutions of the country, and stands silhouetted in the golden sunset as a never crumbling monument of their s])lendid hopes and glorious achievements. Herds and Flocks and Horses. 31 -^•^^^^^..^ CHESTER WHITES The same conditious which confronted agricultural Amer- ica at the advent of its colleges, stand out in bold relief before the producers of beef, mutton and pork animals today, as well as the raising of the various breeds of horses which are so much in demand throughout the world. This condition of the live stock industry of America focusses itself upon those who have been endeavoring to advance the interests of the stock man through modern methods of breed- ing and feeding, as demonstrated in the live stock departments of the great fairs and stock shows throughout the country. The agricultural colleges have augmented their splendid work in advanced farming by making breeding upon the most practical and scientific methods one of the great aims and ob- jects of their usefulness. Experimental breeding farms have sprung into existence, and under the careful nursing and fos- tering care of i)rofessors who have spent their lives in arriv- ing at a point of present day perfection, which render these institutions second to none, have shown most clearly, and proven beyond doubt the benefits that advanced methods in live stock breeding mean to this country as a nursery, and the wide world as a market. 32 Herds and Flocks and Horses. SHORTHORN BULL, ANGUS BULL Herds and Flocks and Horses. 33 HEREFORD BULL GALLOWAY Bl'LL 34 Herds and Flocks and Horses. Among all the great fairs and stock shows of the United States, the International Live Stock Exposition at Chicago stands pre- eminently as the embodiment of all that is best and the achieve- ment of all that has been aimed at by these agricultural colleges and experimental stations. The steady improvement which has marked the progress of this marvelous exposition in the breed- ing and feeding of live stock year by year, is positive proof of its extraordinary success in the improvement of meat animals and heavy draught horses. The champions of the year, from all the fairs and shows of the country, gather at this court of last resort, for the sentence of the supreme judges of the land, whose verdicts are final and cannot be apijealed. At no other place is it possible to give the students and teachers of these colleges, or the lay student, such practical and liberal education on live stock problems. The student and stockman, however, are not the only beneficiaries of this great show, for it reaches over a far wider range of interest than this. The railroad man particularly is interested because the spread and development of the live stock industry must increase the traffic and tonnage of his road and aid him in the organization of his system and methods of rapid transportation, for the simple reason that this highly bred and early matured stock requires intelligent handling, and a method of despatch which calls for rapidity and safety of movement, as well as opening up other and larger sections of the country for breeding operations, which in its turn means an increase in his railroad mileage as well as adding enormously to his returns. To put it plainly, the fertility of the soil is dependent upon the animals fed upon it, while the railroads are depend- ent upon the crops. The capability of the farmer and stockman to increase his animal production, and the student his knowledge, by follow- ing the teachings so plainly shown as the result of the work done by these colleges and experimental stations, will be in- creased tenfold by their attendance at the great Chicago Ex- position, watching the judging of the various breeds, the Herds and Flocks and Horses. 35 methods adopted bv the men whose verdicts are so carefully looked for, comparing notes and ascertaining the Avhys and wherefores of this and that judgment, and employing the twelve days of the combined Horse and Live Stock Show in a workmanlike investigation of the different lots and classes, they will obtain more useful, lasting, valuable and practical information, than they would gain in studying even the best works upon the subject for a year. SHETLANDS Herds and Flocks and Horses. 37 J' THE TOMORROW OF THE STOCK BREEDING INDUSTRY. SOME poetical wag, commenting upon tlie trials and vicis- situdes of this mortal life, and the rapid changes that are made, in time that seems too short for anything, re- marked, that "Grass is grass and hay is hay, We're here tomorrow and gone today." The man meant well, and there is a truth in the couplet, however funnily it may be expressed. They say tomorrow never comes, but if the actual word doesn't arrive in reality, the rapidly passing days, weeks, months and years, make us very positive that things are mov- ing, and at a rate — while the progress of actual time is just the same — that seems to be impossible, and which — could our fathers reappear and behold — would be utterly inconceivable to them. This seemingly rapid rate of speed is due to improvement, and improvement alone, and for proof we have only to look at the steam engine of but a few years ago and the locomotive of today, the typesetter of only a little while back and the linotype operator at his work now ; the steamship of but a few moons since and the ocean flyer of the present time; the tele- phone, wireless telegraphy, and statements from men like Sir Oliver Lodge and Professor Fessenden, that it may be only a question of time before weather can be controlled and literally "manufactured," and that the running of machinery will be accomplished by power obtained from the sun, the wind and the waters of the sea. In addition to this. Dr. Chree in- sists that it is not improbable that electricity in the air has 38 Herds and Flocks and Horses. How different from their dwelling place of old, With freedom's joys and shelter from the cold. influence on the growth and health of trees, and that in a short time this influence ma}^ be turned to great agricultural and economic interest, while "hot air," an element much in vogue at the present time, though absolutely' and utterly use- less, possessing nothing, meaning nothing and devoid of the smallest particle of value, except to inflate the balloon which is intended to elevate the car of some political orator, to heights unknown before and achievements undreamed of, even in the political world, and which always bursts, we are told will now be put to such use in the kitchens of our homes that will do away entirely with wood, coal, coke and every other kind of fuel, to the intense delight of our wives, the cleanliness of Herds and Flocks and Horses. 39 our houses and the everlasting gratitude of the owners of coal mines, coal merchants and vendors of warmth producers. Well, they have had a pretty good inning and deserve a well earned rest. Now let us look for a moment upon improvement in an- other direction, and which has more to do with the welfare of the peoples of the earth than anything, is more necessary than anything else, and, in short, the tirst and foremost of all things to be considered— "food'' — and that part of it more particularly which we call "meat" — animal flesh. Without food the world could last but a few days, and with- out its chief essential, meat, but a comparatively short time longer, and that time would only be long enough to allow the human race to dwindle, dwarf and die, even the strongest, most robust and most rugged of them. The weaker and the less vigorous would wither and die like flies at the end of summer, or like a rose denied the warmth of heaven, the air of the glorious day, the refreshing dew of night, and its natural food from the generous soil of the earth. Man has become what he is, from a diet of his natural food, meat, and though omnivorous in his habits, and able in a measure to maintain himself for a season upon the fruits of the field, still without the basic principle, the brain, bone and muscle producer, meat, he could neither maintain nor reproduce himself to the same standard of physical, constitutional and mental excellence in which he is found in our time. The question of stock raising in America today, is of such momentous importance that it will have to be pushed forward along such lines and pursued by such methods as will eventually make it the very foremost industry of the nation. The time is coming and is near at hand, when the youth of this country must turn his attention from the allurements of the towns, the follies, frivolities and the nothingness of lives spent in vice-gorged cities hunting for the elusive dollar which Cometh not, and get him back to mother earth, the soil, the Herds and Flocks and Horses. 41 farm, the great free open land, the prairie, the valley, the meadow, and there take np methods new, the modern breeding of the lowing herd, the bleating sheep and the swine that maketh the shrill noise. America today, is increasing in population so rapildy, that it is only when brongh t face to face with the condition, and the question of meat supply, that the true state of affairs is real- ized. Nothing will stop the influx of aliens into this hospitable and generous land, nothing will stay the enormous increase in population, and nothing, absolutely nothing, will choke the wail of man for meat. What will hapjien? And there is not a fraction of a moment left for doubt. Why, America will not be able to supply her growing millions; she will not be able to export the refrigerator and canned meats that have made her the purveyor of other lands, and the commissariat of the armies and the navies of the world, but she will have to buy for her own people, and at such a price as will shake the very treas- uries of her almost limitless wealth. The United States of America have been the base of meat supplies for so long that the name is proverbial, but once let the other nations of the world discover that her supply is short, her breeding industry not producing what her craving children cry for, and watch them put the screens on, watch them de- mand the prices, and then watch the result. America is capable of supplying her population, whatever that might be, with double, treble, quadruple and more, than it needs or will need for hundreds of years to come, and Avith the name she has earned, the fame she has achieved as a uni versal provider, is it worth the risk to run the chance of being outdone in the struggle for existence over the ques- tion of meat, when she has wi thin her doors, the resources that only need development along modern methods of breeding and feeding to render her position impregnable, even by the great- est of other stock raising countries. America must not forget 42 Herds and Flocks and Horses, MAKING BACON PUTTING ON MUTTON Herds and Flocks and Horses. 43 ^HOliTHORN COWS that there are others, and live ones, too — progressive, up-to- date, rich countries that are buying the best breeding stock that money can jiroduce. Countries keenly alive to the meat demands of a rapidly growing world that would run their tlags up top mast high and belch forth a salute of national combina- tions that would shake with joy the other nations of the earth, to see America running second. With the splendid perfection to which modern farming and feeding have attained, and the wonderful methods of fertilizing and inoculating the soil, the extraordinary strides irrigation has made, and the mechanical conveniences now placed in the farmers', breeders' and feeders' hands, stock breeding on modern principles can be made, not only one of, but the most remunerative of all pursuits, as well as one of enthralling inter- est and undreamed of possibilities. Compare the range cattle of a few years ago with the Shorthorn, Angus, and Hereford beef cattle of to-day. The 44 Herds and Flocks and Horses. HEREFORD STEERS old-time sheep with the present day Southdowns, Shropshires, Hampshires and other breeds. The hogs of the past with the Berkshires, Poland-Chinas, Durocs, and others of the present. Compare all these, I say, and then understand that cattle, sheep and swine breeding in America in the year of grace 1910 is in its infancy, its absolute babyhood. It has not finished suckling; it has not left its mother's breast. Look at the canned meats of but a short time ago and those of today, and yet with all their superiority, all their quality and all their up-to-dateness, the canned meats of tomorrow would grace a banquet table of today. And why — simply and solely on account of improvement and improvement alone. Herds and Flocks and Horses. 45 THE CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL LIVE STOCK EXPO- SITION AND WHAT IT MEANS. THIS immense gathering togetlier of live stock is a most active and potent factor in extending and improving the breeding and feeding interests of this country, which year by year is placing them on a higher plane and more stable foundation. The improvement that has taken place in the herds and flocks and horses of the great Central West, through the influence of this show is marvelous, and the state of per- fection it will reach as time goes on will be still more extra- ordinary, and those who come after us will speak of the found- ers of this great institution and accord them the honor which is theirs, as we at present, thank the pioneers of the first agri- cultural colleges and experimental breeding stations. The idea, above all others, which the directors of the Inter- national had in view at the inception of the institution, was to make prominent and conspicuous that of education. Every feature of the show aims at the betterment of everything with whicli it is concerned, and towards the most improved methods in breeding and feeding. The Chicago International Live Stock Exposition is with- out question the most extensive and comprehensive in the world, and brings together a greater number and greater va- riety of breeds than are to be seen in any other country. One of the most useful, interesting and popular features of this great exhibition is found in the recognition it gives to the agricultural colleges of the country. The experiment stations connected with these colleges are given classifications which are limited to their entries, and these contests have in- spired the colleges of competing states to make their animal husbandry departments the strongest, most popular and con- spicuous connected with these institutions of learning. Live stock judging contests have been established between the stu- 4 6 Herds and Flocks and Horses. dents representing a dozen or so of the leading agricultural colleges of the country and from which an army of trained stockmen are annually developed. The promoters and officers of the International have left nothing undone that this great combination of cattlemen, horsemen and business men could conceive, and still, with all they have done, and with all they are doing, the future will present such conditions as will dwarf the doings of today in the cattle and horse breeding industry of the nation. Chicago, the great and rich metropolis of the prolilic West, with its immense stock yards and packing plants, is but a village in comparison with what it will eventually become, and this is not only because of its situation, but because of the fact that the \yest is the land of extraordinary resources, prolific soil, an endless source of food supply, and a territory in which live stock of every description can reach perfection. The In- ternational last year amazed the throngs who witnessed it and astounded the Easterners and foreigners who came to see, and there is no doubt that their impressions and experiences will bring others, and in larger numbers to the City of the Great Lakes, and who, through the warm-hearted generosity and kindliness of their Western brethren, will reveal to other people and other lands, the bounty of this wonderful Western country, and the numbers, size, beauty and quality of the animals thereof. Chicago, with its brains, wealth, courage, business acumen and splendid position, and the West, with its immense area, soil, fertility and climate, must advance, grow and develop in spite of itself; nothing can stay its progress, nothing divert it from its splendid course, and nothing exceed in quantity and quality the live stock that comes to its market and grows and fattens in the territories around it. The immense and far-reaching railroad systems which traverse and intersect this richest of all breeding and agri- cultural sections of this country, and Avhose carrying trade is responsible to the ranches and farms tributary to these veins Herds and Flocks and Horses. 47 of eoiniiuinication, offer facilities, that, considei-ing"KLr>-. 1.' »«^. t-, AND CHINA SOWS Herds and Flocks and Horses. 53 weight in a minimum amount of time has been brought about coincident with the shape, make and characteristics of the animals. This is scientific breeding of the most advanced kind as we understand it today, and which has proved by re- sults to be not only scientific but practical in the extreme. Stock breeding in the ordinary acceptation of the term has been regarded as rough, coarse work, but let it not be over- looked for an instant that the gentle hand of refinement has marked the course of every stage of advancement until the lean, angular, coarse looking cattle of the past have been moulded into the excpiisitely beautiful creatures of today. We have from childhood looked upon the pig as an almost sm:. ipSHIRES 54 Hlrds and Flocks and Horses. unspeakable animal, and as we recall him in his squalid sty of the old days, he almost seemed so ; but look at him now, as we see him feeding on the broad acres of this Western land, or contemplate him in prize lots at the great stock shows of the countr}', and we stand amazed at the wondrous change. Compare for an instant the old spotted sow with her snout buried to the eves in disgusting swill, as she stands up to her belly in filth, and then look upon the Berkshire, the Poland- China, the Chester White, the Duroc-Jersey, the Tamworth, the Yorkshire and the Hampshire breeds in their surroundings to- day. Comparisons they say are odious, but can anyone imagine anything more elevating than we see in this extraordinary transformation? The stock breeders' calling is a manly, splen- did and enobling one. The man Avho engages in it along the lines that he must follow in order to make a success of his un- dertaking, is helping the Creator's great work designed for a goal of exquisite achievement ; he is playing well his part ; he is feeding his brethren ; he is improving the health and strength of his fellow men, adding to the manliness of man, and increas- ing the wealth and prosperity of the world. Sheep, as an emblem of gentleness, we have loved to hear of and read about in our childhood days, and we learned to love them when we saw them in the fields and heard the mothers call their lambs, as the little creatures raced and gamboled in the meadows. We recall the tinkling bells, as the flock was slowly driven down some beautiful lane to its fold Herds and Flocks and Horses. 55 HAMPSHIRES at night. They all seemed the same to us in those days, and really there was but little difference as compared with what we see today. Look at the Shropshire, the Hampshire, the Cotswold, the Southdown, the Cheviot, the Dorset, the Oxford- Down, the Leicester, the Lincoln, the Suffolk and the Ram- bouillet, which are the fashionable breeds of today, and see how they compare with those that were thought great when we were boys. The whole thing is beautiful in the extreme, and in it we can but see the hand of a Divine power that works only for good, and towards an end that must reach absolute perfec- tion. Herds and Flocks and Horses. 57 HORSES. OF all the breeds of horses that use and fashion make neces- sary and valuable, the heavy draught horse from a live stock point of view stands paramount and pre-eminent. Never in the history of heavy draught horse breeding has this class of animal been in such demand or so valuable, and not withstanding the motor truck, he is gradually becoming more so. No mechanical device has yet been discovered, nor will be discovered for who shall say when, that will take the i)lace of SHIRE STALLION 58 Herds and Flocks and Horses. SHIRE MARE this great powerful and magnificent animate creature, capable of hauling immense loads and along such places and thorough- fares as nothing else could do, and where motors powerful enough to bear the loads, Avould be incapable of dealing with them in such a way as to make them handy, serviceable and practical. The brewer's dray, the immense wagons for hauling coal, machinery and other cumbrous material, as well as for opening up the vast territories of as yet untouched sections of Herds and Flocks and Morses. 59 CLYDESDALE STALLION the country, it has been proved that size, strength, weight and power is of so much advantage that the heavy draught horse will completely replace the lighter draught breeds, until, as is always the case, the weaker must succumb to the strong. The demand for these great creatures today, not only in this country but all over the world, and the enormous prices paid for them is almost past belief; where do they all come from? Why, England, Scotland, France and Belgium. This great, young, rich and growing country is literally screaming 60 Herds and Flocks and Horses. CLYDESDALE MARE for these animals, and they are one of the few things that America is unable to supply to her own people.* The countries just named are breeding these horses and getting rich upon them, and this wonderful grazing, breeding and feeding land is going abroad and jjaying i)rices for animals that they ur- gently require and must have, which makes the foreign breeder laugh in his sleeve, while the next moment he goes down on his knees and thanks his God that it may ever "be so. Herds and Flocks and Horses. 61 The situation is ridiculous when it is considered that with all the pure Perclierons, Belgians, Clydesdales and Shires in this country there are almost none that have been bred here. Foreign breeders will not sell their best stallions or their best mares, except for prices that their own countrymen can- PERCHEROX STALLION 62 Herds and Flocks and Horses. PERCHERON MARE not afford to pay, or refuse to give, and then open their mouths so wide when an American buyer appears as to make the price prohibitive. Here is a field of enterprise as yet almost un- touched, that will yield millions upon millions of dollars to those who take it up, and take it up sensibly, practically and thoroughly. The blood, the breeding, the size, the weight, the bone, the substance, the temper, temperament and disposition are there ready-made and can be bought for dollars. The foreigner has had all the trouble ; it is he who has made them what they are. Herds and Flocks and Horses. 63 and it is he who has made them worth the money they bring. The American has only to lay in a stock of this extraordinarily v^aluable material, reproduce it on his own soil and sell it to the world in ever increasing quantity. With the opening up of the enormous sections of virgin territory, here and in Canada, Mexico, South America, Africa and the Far East — and they will all want them — America will find a market thai will in time tax even her own extraordinary resources, but thai will be a long time, and in that time who can count the millions that will have gone into the American breeders" pockets, and this is only the draught horse side of the ques- tion. f % BELGIAN STALLION 64 Herds and Flocks and Hcrses. BELGIAN MARE Herds and Flocks and Horses. 65 HACKNEYS. THE hackney is the most fashionable and popular heavy harness horse in the world today, and brings more money than any other. America and every other coun- try on earth is going to England to buy them at prices that would make George Washington turn over in his grave, the Duke of Wellington sit up, and Napoleon Bonaparte get clean out of his resting place; not because these gentlemen would HACKNEY STALLION 66 Herds and Flocks and Horses. HACKNEY MARK regard the hackney as the best kind of horse for military pur- poses— an animal that was always uppermost in each of their minds — but because they would see in half a dozen fashionable hackneys as much money value as would have mounted a regi- ment of cavalry in their days. Not only is the hackney the most fashional)le and valuable of heavy harness horses at present, but he is becoming more and more so as time goes on. There are fortunes upon fortunes in him, and he, like the heavy draughter, is a ready-made and highly finished aninml of the highest order. We see him every- Herds and Flocks and Horses. 67 where; we find him in the capitals and fashionable towns and country places of every European land, as well as in every hole and corner of the British possessions. We find him in Argen- tina, and even in the far East, and, like the Shire and the Clydesdale, where does he come from? England, of course. America is breeding a few, but what do they amount to among so many. He is a popular favorite, and in England is being l)red with greater care today than he has ever been before. Other countries have caught the hackney fever, and he is being exported all over the world. Within the past twelve months the United States and the Argentine Reiniblic have imported no less than sixty stallions and fifty-five mares for breeding purposes from English breeders, and Australia, Canada, Cape Colony, New Zealand, France, Spain, Austria, Russia, Bel- gium, Japan and Chili have been heavy purchasers. This indicates what a general favorite he is, and means very plainly that breeding will pay, and it will pay in America better than anywhere, when once they get him here, and get him going