Arizona Herefords

Aristocrats of the Hereford world are Milky Way's MW Larry Domino 89th (in foreground above and right) and MW Prince Larry 15th (above in upper corral.) Latter was Grand Champion Bull at 1948 International, American Royal and Ogden Shows, and Reserve Champion at Cow Palace in San Francisco. MW Larry Domino 89th was Reserve Champion at 1948 International Show, and Grand Champion at the Cow Palace. This year for first time in history bulls from the same herd won Grand Champion and Reserve Champion at Chicago Show. Of course all of us who have heard the fascinating story of the birds and bees assume, when we see a little calf, that someplace along the line there was a Mamma cow and a Pappa cow. This is very true.

Unless you are a cowman, and have been for some time. it may be hard to realize that the average calf on our western ranges today looks very little like the calves grazing the same lands some years back. In those days a calf was a calf, the only requirement being that it had a cow-brute for a mother -otherwise it might be a burro. It was a long geared, rangy little critter that in time put out an enormous spread of horns and might be dun, black, brown, roan, red, white, or any spotted combination of these colors. At the age of four or five years he would weigh from 700 to 1000 pounds, could outrun a fair pony and jump a six-foot fence flat footed when he finally wound up in a stockyards where they had fences. But all of that is changed now. Cattlemen found out that the extensive daylight showing under the old Longhorn didn't weigh anything and wasn't good to eat. Now, well over ninety percent of the beef cattle on the range are solid red with white face and markings, showing a predominant Hereford influence. This goes back through a long line of mamma and pappa Cows. They are shorter legged and blocky, placid, and with anything like good forage will weigh a thousand pounds long before they are two years old. To those of us who are not strict vegetarians by choice or doctor's orders, this means more pounds of the better cuts of beef per critter, and much sooner. From an economic angle it means simply a more efficient mechanism for turning cow-feed into table meat. Arizona, with her warm winter valleys and cool summer mountains, has contributed much recently to this progressive change that is building better and better beef. It's hard to ascertain whether our climatic advantages naturally grow better cattle, or just appeals irresistibly to know-how stock breeders. But the modest facts are that for the past couple of years Arizona Herefords, in competition with the best of the nation, at such Live Stock Shows as Chicago, Kansas City, Dallas, Ft. Worth, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Denver, have been winning top awards in all classes.

The Herefords were developed in Herefordshire, England, and as a breed are older than the United States; it is recorded that Henry Clay imported a few head to his Kentucky farm in 1817. They were favored by the colonists because with their big boned, sturdy construction they were heavy on the business end of a plow. But it wasn't till along in the '80's that they were imported on a large scale purely for beef cattle.

About this time cow-ranching was in its heyday. Most of the West was "open range" and millions of cattle grazed this vast territory with nothing but a brand burned into their hides to prove ownership. Anybody with a fast horse and a long rope could get in the cow business pretty easy. Many did. A few got hung for it.

The packing industry was being organized and consolidated. Cattlemen were experimenting with many different breeds searching for something that would weigh more quicker than the old Longhorn and yet be hardy enough to survive under range conditions.

The hard winter of 1880-81 proved the "White Faces" had what it took to survive. During this decade the very best of the Herefordshire stock was imported at fancy prices by discerning stock breeders in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri. In just a few years, by careful breeding and good feed, a distinct improvement over the English Herefordshire became apparent. The day of the Longhorn was over, the White Faces were on their way.

Hereford breeding became big business; it takes a whale of a lot of bulls to father calf crops that run into the millions. At first cattlemen just bought White Faced bulls and turned them on the range with whatever cows happened to be present. The American Hereford Association was organized, and systems of registration and pedigree set up. First as a rather smelly appendage of County Fairs, and finally as Live Stock Shows where the most fastidious nose can find nothing to complain of, these cattle have been shown and judged for competitive awards. Conformation, which means more steaks and roasts, and less soup-bones and stew meat, and early maturity are the chief considerations.

To men in the know, these royal blooded sookies are not just so many cow-critters (you wouldn't think so either if you priced one of them) but each one, from blood strains and individual characteristics, must have something to contribute to the long range scheme of things. When I say, "royal blooded." I mean just that.

For hundreds of generations no outside blood has been allowed to creep in, no mesalliances, no ill-begotten offspring cluttering up the landscape. And to underscore their claim to royal breeding, those that didn't come up to rigid standards became, well, just calves who sooner or later went to market without ever knowing the joys of parenthood.

With this carefully guarded background of blood lines, it is only natural that from time to time an outstanding sire or dam (just why they call these royal hussies "dams" is past me) would show up, whose prepotency was so great they transmitted certain desirable characteristics to all their progeny. Such a one was Larry Domino 50th, going back through a long line of Dominos to old Prince Domino himself. (The Dominos show up on one side or the other in most pedigrees.) Until his death in September, 1947, Larry Domino 50th, was the herd sire of Milky Way Hereford Ranch, Phoenix. Then there is WHR Royal Flash out at Suncrest Hereford Ranch, Phoenix, and WHR Double Princeps at Ranch Sacatal, Dos Cabeza. Such other famous blood strains as Domino Mixer, Hazford Rupert, Bocaldo, and Anxiety 4th, are well represented among the other breeder-members of the Arizona Hereford Association.

In 1916 the American Hereford Association established the "Register of Merit," based on a point system of Show awards won by progeny. Posthumously Larry Domino 50th, set a new record with an all time high of 575 points, and left a get of some 500 direct descendants.

To be one of these royal bovines wouldn't be a tough life even for you and me. His (or her) arrival is anticipated down to the day, his name has been decided upon, usually some combination of his illustrious blood names; there is a veterinarian or a satisfactory facsimile in attendance, and his mother has been watched over anxiously.

If all the ribbons won by Arizona Herefords in leading stock shows throughout the country this past season were laid end to end, you would have enough ribbons to blaze a path from here to Kansas City. All the highpowered adjectives in this modest journal could well be used to describe these superb cattle, truly outstanding in this country. Here is what happened in some of America's leading stock shows:

THE BEST IN THE WEST-ALSO NORTH, SOUTH, EAST

CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL LIVESTOCK SHOW: Milky Way won grand champion and reserve champion bull awards, plus 9 blue ribbons.

NATIONAL HEREFORD SHOW AT GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA: Suncrest Hereford Ranch, only Arizona exhibitor, had reserve champion bull in Proud Possessor, won 5 blue ribbons, plus several red and white ribbons.

NEW MEXICO STATE FAIR AT ALBUQUERQUE: Steeple X Ranch had champion bull and female and won several ribbons in other classes.

R. J. ROYAL AT KANSAS CITY: 78 exhibitors, of which four were from Arizona: Milky Way, Suncrest Hereford Ranch, Steeple X Ranch and Tal Wi Wi. Results: Milky Way, grand champion bull in MW Prince Larry 15th; Suncrest Hereford Ranch, reserve champion bull in SO Symbol Seth. Arizona breeders won a total of 10 blue ribbons and 7 red ribbons in 20 classes.

COW PALACE SHOW IN SAN FRANCISCO: 37 exhibitors with 4 from Arizona: Greene Cattle Company, Milky Way. Rancho Sacatal and Tal Wi Wi. Results: both grand champion bull and reserve champion were Milky Way Herefords and Arizona Herefords won 11 blue ribbons and 12 red ribbons.

OGDEN LIVESTOCK SHOW: Milky Way and Rancho Sacatal in 18 classes won 15 blue ribbons and 13 red ribbons, with Milky Way winning champion bull and female awards.

AT THE PHOENIX STOCK SHOW Arizona national exhibitors had competition from other Arizona ranches when Long Meadow Ranch came up with the champion pen of bulls and The Cowden Livestock Company won the award for the champion pen of heifers.

NATIONAL WESTERN LIVESTOCK SHOW AT DENVER: Milky Way captured five group classes and the get-of-sire award, while Suncrest Hereford Ranch won 10 best head and pair of heifer classes. These Arizona exhibitors took every blue ribbon offered in group classes and major awards for individual honors. MW Larry Domino 89th captured the grand championship. At this show Milky Way's calf, 8-month-old MW Prince Larry 37th, was sold for $36,750, topping the previous world's record of $33,000 for its class. All of which can be described as some bull!

PETE GRAVES, THE FAMOUS HERDSMAN OF ARIZONA'S MILKY WAY RANCH, GIVES MW LARRY DOMINO 89TH, ONE OF NA-

His “Show” possibilities are determined in the first few days of his life. If he has good conformation, a broad, blocky little frame, a short neck and the right shaped head, he is on his way to cow-heaven without dying; in time he might even top Larry Domino's record-and be worth upwards of $40,000 to his owner, all of which is no concern of his. He has a retinue of humans to look after his welfare and fret about such things. For the first couple of months he stays with his mother in a lush pasture under the watchful eyes of the vet with nothing to do but sleep, get up and nurse and then lay down and sleep some more. At the end of this time, lest he become undernourished with such a wearing life, he is introduced to an auxiliary mother, a wet nurse if you please, to supplement his mother's milk supply. Then to make doubly sure that hunger pangs never gnaw at his little innards he begins getting a specially blended ration of grains, bran, and calf pellets.

But if he is going to be a Show calf there are a few things he must learn in return for all this thoughtful attention. He is fitted with a little halter and is taught to lead, and by easy lessons learns the rudiments of showmanship, how to walk, how to stand, and how to hold his head in the best traditions of the Show-ring careerist. Meanwhile he is groomed daily. has his hair curled, his hoofs manicured (or would it be pedi-cured?) and his face combed by a specialist in bovine beauty culture. All of this is what is known in the trade as “fitting.” His growth has not been forced, but he has been given every advantage to do all the natural growing he could. Then he learns about trucks and trailers and trains. He rides east and west and north and south, wherever there's a top ranking Live Stock Show, and always with one or more attendents to see that he doesn't get hungry or thirsty, and stays pretty. He becomes very blase in a bored sort of way. He is admired by the lay spectators and scrutinized longingly by cattlemen. The judges go over him with practised eyes Then he learns about trucks and trailers and trains. He rides east and west and north and south, wherever there's a top ranking Live Stock Show, and always with one or more attendents to see that he doesn't get hungry or thirsty, and stays pretty. He becomes very blase in a bored sort of way. He is admired by the lay spectators and scrutinized longingly by cattlemen. The judges go over him with practised eyes

TION'S OUTSTANDING HEREFORD BULLS, A BATH, SHOWING HOW A CHAMPION BULL IS MADE READY FOR THE SHOW-RING.

"Have to get those pretty curls all fixed up. And aren't you swell!"

"A little wax on your horns will make 'em shine like a new penny."

"We have to comb out the tail. Can't have you look like a tramp."

"There you are, Mr. Feeney! Aren't you proud of Larry?"

And weigh his good points against any that might not be so good, and then see how he stacks up with the other white faced aristocrats in his class. Nor is the she-stock left out; there are heifer classes where she has the same chances to win acclaim.The competition is stiff up in these brackets. If our young skinful of royal breeding is as good as we hope he is, he may be judged the Champion of a show, or Reserve Champion, or come off the Show Circuit with a basketful of assorted merit ribbons. Successively, according to his age, he competes in several different classifications, and is eligible for awards in these classes at each of the accredited Live Stock Shows where he is shown. His Show career is over at about two years old. Many of these top ranking White Faces travel farther in this time than many people do in a lifetime. And lots of them have insurance policies costing six percent of the valuation that would make you jealous, with this valuation jumping appreciably as the top awards begin to stack up.His future does not become bleak and meaningless when his short Show career is over and he goes home and hangs up his trophies; in fact looked at cattlewise it is just beginning. and him such a young whipper-snapper with the best years of his life still before him. If his wins are impressive enough he becomes the headman to a harem of some Hereford breeder's fancy blooded cows, with a fabulous value. Or some farsighted cattleman buys him and takes him out to where there's a whole ranchful of winsome cow-wenches. While all of this is done in the interest of better beef for us to eat, it certainly makes for a Utopian existence to this royal uppercrust of cowdom.

Come to think of it, when I'm on Earth next time, if I can be one of these blooded Hereford bulls and find me a well patronized water-hole after I've covered the Shows and won my share of ribbons, it will be all right by me.