Part 10

Gross Weight 1963 1795 1614 Net Weight 1317 1179 1055 Offal 452 389 394 Dressing per cent 67.1 65.7 65.3 Fore Quarters 354 308 277 371 303 275 Hind Quarters 287 283 247 305 285 256 Tallow 178 155 145 Hide 106 90 99 Head 55 47 49

Neither of these steers had marbled flesh. One family who ate some of one of the steers was said to have been made sick, due to the excessive fatness.

The feeders of this time gave very little or no attention to the marbling of meat. All they noted was whether an animal was getting fat or not. They didn't notice whether they were putting the fat on evenly.

From the very earliest improvement of cattle in Illinois, Shorthorn blood has been used more extensively than that of any other breed. They were the first pure bred cattle brought into the state and were the only pure bred cattle in the state for several years. They were more generally known by farmers throughout the state and at a very early date were found in almost every county.

Hereford cattle have ranked next to Shorthorns, both in number and popularity.

"About 1870, Herefords began to play an important part in beef production in this state, and it was only a few years after this time that they were taken into Sangamon county, where Shorthorns had first gotten their strong hold."

"The competition between the Herefords and the Shorthorns grew stronger each year. In February of 1885, the Shorthorn Breeders' Association, in session, decided to ask each member to contribute fifteen cents for each Shorthorn owned by him, to be used for the good of the Shorthorn interest. The rivalry between the different breeds of cattle was so sharply defined and closely pressed that they thought it indispensable to the protection and prosperity of the Shorthorn interest and thought the State Association of Shorthorn Breeders should be kept in an active and strong existence."

The following is a summary of reports gathered by the Bureau of Animal Industry in 1885, by sending out questionnaires to different parts of the state, showing the breed of cattle that has been used moot extensively in cattle improvement.

State as a Whole

No. Reports Breed Used

240 Shorthorns 80 Herefords 28 Angus 17 Devons

State by Sections

Northwest 27 Shorthorns Counties 9 Herefords 5 Angus

Northern 34 Shorthorns Counties 13 Herefords 5 Angus 4 Devons 2 Galloways

Western 32 Shorthorns Counties 8 Herefords 5 Angus 4 Devons 3 Galloways

Central 55 Shorthorns Counties 20 Herefords 3 Angus 1 Red Polled

Western 20 Shorthorns Counties 14 Herefords 7 Angus

Southwest 9 Shorthorns Counties 1 Herefords 1 Angus

Southern 44 Shorthorns Counties 6 Herefords 3 Devons 1 Dutch Belted

Southeast 10 Shorthorns Counties 2 Herefords 2 Devons

T. L. Miller

"Early in the "seventies," Mr. T. L. Miller, than a business man in Chicago, who owned a farm at Beecher, Will county, Illinois, became interested in Hereford cattle."

Mr. Miller was born at Middletown, Connecticut, on April 7, 1817. In 1842, he went to Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where he was in business until 1856, when he removed to Chicago, Illinois. Here he was in the fire insurance business until about 1870. He had bought the first 320 acres of his farm at Beecher and 207 acres three miles to the north. He commenced to improve the farm with buildings in 1862. His nearest railroad station then was Monee, on the Illinois Central. In 1870, the Chicago, Danville, and Vincennes Railroad, was built, and Mr. Miller bought about 340 acres of additional land to the west of that already acquired and laid out the village of Beecher. He closed out his business in Chicago and went to live on this "Highland Stock Farm" in March, 1870. A few years later, he laid the foundation for his herd of Hereford cattle.

Mr. William Powell, an Englishman, who later on bred and handled Herefords extensively on his own account both in Illinois and Texas, was jointly interested with Mr. Miller in some of his earlier ventures in Herefords. An item in the "National Live Stock Journal" for February, 1872, reads as follows: "We learn that Messrs. Byers and Campbell, of Nevada, Ohio, have sold to Messrs. T. L. Miller and Wm. Powell of Highland Stock Farm, Beecher, Will county, Illinois, an individual half interest in three Hereford cows and two bulls, and thirty-six pure bred Cotswold sheep. Mr. Miller's farm soon afterward became the center of the greatest American activity in the Hereford trade."

Thomas Clark

"Thomas Clark was born in Herefordshire, England, near the Monmouth border, in 1842. His father was a cattle grower of local repute, who used pure bred Hereford bulls, but did not profess to be a handler of pedigreed strains. Thomas Clark came to the United States in the spring of 1866, and after working for a time on a farm near Pittsfield, Ohio, was employed by a Cleveland butcher having a large city trade. Thrifty and possessed of an inborn faith in the "white faces" of his native land, by dint of hard work and economy in the course of a few years, Clark found himself in a position to get into business in a small way on his own account. As foreman and cutter in Cleveland, he acquired a practical familiarity with what lies under a bullock's hide, that was of distinct advantage in his subsequent career as a breeder and feeder of good cattle. He had an interest in his brother-in-laws little butcher shop in Elyra, but his own fondness for the fields led him to give most of his time to the 80 acres he had under lease near town. He moved on this farm and began breeding Hereford cattle. He bought his first bull, Sir Arthur (705), as a calf, from F. W. Stone of Canada.

"In 1877, when Mr. Clark's lease on the Ohio farm expired, seeing that the west was becoming a good market for Herefords, he decided to remove to Beecher, Illinois. He had shown every year at the Ohio fairs, and always won. He made one show at Erie, Pennsylvania, while breeding in Ohio, and another at Jackson, Michigan, in 1876, winning first prize on herd, in competition with seven Shorthorn and Devon herds. This was the first time Herefords had won that prize in Michigan, and the event caused a lot of controversy. Clark had, meantime, sold three calves to T. L. Miller and delivered them personally. He was impressed with the idea that Illinois would be a better location for his cattle business than Ohio. He bought 80 acres of land, about one and one-fourth miles from the village of Beecher. He afterward added forty acres to the home farm, and subsequently, bought twenty-six acres in addition. Mr. Clark always kept his own lands largely in grass, and leased fields for farming purposes. He brought his Ohio herd, numbering at that time about twenty-eight head, to Beecher.

"In 1877, Mr. Clark showed a herd at the northern Ohio Fair at Cleveland, winning all prizes shown for."