CHAPTER VIII CATTLE DEVELOPMENT IN OHIO England can rightly claim the honor of improving and developing the cattle of the world. The work of Bakewell and Collings and Knight and Bates will never be forgotten. Accounts of their successes with cattle improvement were not long in reaching America, and as early as 1783 we find importations being made from England into Virginia and Kentucky of the “Shorthorn" or milk-breed cattle by a Mr. Patton, and who followed with a second importation in 1817. Some of this milk breed were introduced into Kentucky about 1803. A direct importation from England to Kentucky was made in 1817, with the comment that "the cattle were the best of the kind to be had in England." Ever since Ohio was organized as a state the Miami and Scioto valleys have been regarded as the stock region of the state. As far back as 1808 cattle were supplied for the Eastern markets from this section, and there is no doubt that some of the de Cattle Development in Ohio scendants of the Virginia importation of 1783 found their way into the Scioto valley, while it is also probable that some of the best cattle in southern Ohio owed paternity to Kentucky and were descendants of the bulls1 Phito and Shaker, which were imported into Kentucky in 1803. The first importation made into Ohio from England direct, was made in 1834 under the auspices of the Ohio Breeding and Importing Company. On November 2, 1833, Governor Trimble, George Renick, General Duncan McArthur, and others, for the purpose of promoting the interests of agriculture and of introducing an improved breed of cattle, formed a company and contributed the amount necessary to import from England some of the best improved cattle of that country. The sum of $9,200 was very soon subscribed in ninety-two shares of $100 each, and after making the necessary preliminary inquiries and arrangements, the company appointed Mr. Felix Renick of Ross county, Ohio, their agent for the purchase and importation. 1 Farmer's Guide, page 92. Farmer's Chronicle, vol. I, page 89. Ohio Agricultural Report, 1867, page 301. Nineteen bulls and cows of the pure-bred Cattle Shorthorn and Durham stock were pur- ment in Developchased from some of the most celebrated Ohio and successful breeders of England. These were brought to Ohio, and kept together, under the care of an agent, and they increased in number by additional importations from England, when the whole was sold in October, 1836. After paying all expenses a dividend of $280 per share was divided on the ninety-two shares of the stock company, amounting to $25,760. This was really the beginning of the cattle business in Ohio. The greatest benefits resulted to the country by the introduction of this improved English Durham stock into the state of Ohio by that company. The immediate effect of this importation was to arouse an interest in improved cattle breeding. It made it possible to have an improved breed of cattle throughout the state as a result of crossing the English stock with the common stock existing at that time; and a very fine, large, and thrifty race of cattle in many parts was bred by this laudable enterprise. We must not forget, however, that the Marietta settlers Cattle Development in Ohio brought with them from New England some excellent stock. This furnished the bulk of the cattle until 1807, when Mr. D. Wilder introduced into Warren county some of the Patton strain of Longhorn and Shorthorn cattle, which crossed with the natives gave a cross noted for their remarkable endurance. Among the early pioneers in the Scioto valley were some Virginians who brought with them some cattle for feeding purposes.1 These people introduced into Ohio the method of securing corn and stover together by cutting the stalks near the ground and shocking it in the field, as is the method in the present day. By this means the people were able to feed a large number of cattle. The only market was the East, and it was thought impossible to fatten cattle and drive all the way to the Eastern markets, on account of the distance and mountains. But in 1805 the trial was made, when George Renick of Chillicothe fed and drove a lot of cattle to Baltimore, the first that ever crossed the Alleghany mountains. 1 Ohio Agricultural Report, 1869, page 434. Ohio Cultivator, vol. V, page 133. The cattle arrived in good condition, and Cattle from that day the cattle industry increased, ment in Developbut did not, however, reach any great Ohio marked success until after improved blood had been given through the effects of the various importing companies; for to these companies the improvements to the cattle. stock were in a great degree attributable, for not only had the cross of the cattle then imported with the former stock produced a breed far superior to the latter, in all essential qualities, such as size, form, neatness, early maturity, and aptitude to fatten, but made the raising and feeding more profitable and created a spirit of improvement among the people that soon made itself felt throughout the country. The first four improved breeds of cattle introduced into the state were the Shorthorns, the Herefords, Devons, and Ayrshires. It should be kept in mind that almost contemporaneously with the admission into the Union, Ohio was known as a cattle raising state, but it should be remembered that during the first quarter of a century of the state's existence, very little else than "natives" were reared or grazed. |