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“LESSON IN STOCK RAISING”
Features of the Big Exhibition at Madison Square Gardens
If one wants an object lesson in stock raising it can be obtained at the expense of a visit to Madison Square Gardens any time this week. The exhibit now on view is one that possesses sufficient variety to satisfy even the most capricious taste. In fact it is the combination of many shows, including as it does numerous breeds of cattle, sheep and swine, besides poultry enough to make a very respectable display of itself, along with hunters and hounds, ponies of all sizes and that useful representative of the canine race the sheepdog.
All these were paraded yesterday and the bright weather helped the attendance considerably. There was nothing like the crush of a fortnight ago, when the horses were there and the fashionable set favoured the multitude with the sight of what the dressmaker and milliner can do, but the crowd increased steadily during the day, and at the night patronage got up into the thousands.
The programme, was like the show itself, was a varied one. Those who were partial to mutton were treated to a fine display of toothsome Southdowns and the Shropshires that have been produced by the judicial outcrosses with the former and the common everyday “ba-ba” of good old nursery rhyme. There fine points to the discerned in sheep from the angularity of their Roman noses to the quality of their fleece that covers their bodies.
After the prizes were awarded certain epicurean members of the Union Club became so fascinated with the array of tempting chops and saddles of mutton that the steward of that ancient and exclusive coterie forthwith contracted with W.H. Beattie, the Canadian breeder who carried off first prize with his Southdowns, that these should be delivered for slaughter next Monday, to be eaten on Christmas Day. No ordinary plebeian mutton is this, as these four solid wethers have won the highest honours at many shows including those across the Canadian border at Toronto, London and Guelph, while at Chicago they equally successful.
This excerpt taken from the November 28th, 1895 edition of the New York Times, while we may find it remarkable for its prose, at shows even then, before the turn of the 20th century, the quality of Canadian and in particular stock from Middlesex County were second to none for you see W.H. Beattie of Wilton Grove lived on what is now Southdale Road in the Pond Mills area of London.
Also exhibiting at that show was another prominent sheep-breeder from near Glanworth, T. Hardy Shore, a well-known breeder of show-winning Cotswolds. His son William Hardy “WH” Shore and his wife Grace Edlestein had four children: Dorothy, Hardy, Gwen and “WD” Don. Hardy was born in 1903 on the family farm just west of the village of Glanworth. He attended S.S. #18 Westminster for his formal education. The farm, at the turn of the century, would have been what we consider to be a mixed farm with sheep, horses and cattle. Over time this would change with the increasing emphasis on the dairy herd. Hardy, his father and younger brother Don all worked together to improve the size and quality of their herd.
In 1931 Hardy married Veda Jenkens and they had four children: Robert Hardy, Catherine Veda, Murton Charles and James William. Hardy in time took over the home farm while his brother Don moved three miles south to set up his own dairy operation.
The original herd with Hardy’s guidance developed into a well-known herd that included several home-bred All-Canadian Holstein award winners and as a result Hardy Shore was recognized with two Master Breeders’ Shields. In 1949 Hardy along with Don started a dairy-cattle auction service under the name Shore Holsteins Ltd. The first few sales were held in a barn on the Gilbert Bradish farm just west of the home farm. Within five years a new sales barn and arena was established on a farm three miles south. Hardy was active as a Holstein judge, judging in Australia, the United States and Canada including the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. He successfully exhibited cattle at many shows throughout Canada and the United States. A director of Holstein Canada for fifteen years, he served as its president in 1967. He also served as a director of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair and was a director of the Western Fair Association and its president in 1971-1972. As a member of his community, he was a Township council member, Church Warden and member of the Historical Society. In 1974 in recognition of his outstanding service to agriculture he was awarded the OAC Centennial Medal and in 1989 he was inducted into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame. Hardy Shore passed away in September 1989.
R.H. “Bob” Shore was born October 7, 1932 in Flint Michigan where his father, Hardy was working at that time. It is supposed that due to the depression, work there soon disappeared and the family moved back to Glanworth. Bob’s early education was at S.S. #18 Westminster followed by taking the L.&P.S Railway from Glanworth to London where he attended Central Collegiate. He was active in 4-H and Junior Farmers. In 1952 he was a member of the Middlesex County Judging team which placed 2nd out of 35 teams at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Upon his graduation from the Guelph OAC Associate Diploma program and auctioneering school in Indiana, he joined Shore Holsteins in 1953. After assuming ownership of the company and moving it south along Wellington Road to its present location, Bob, over time, changed the focus of the business from a regional auction enterprise specializing only in dairy cattle, to an international export firm merchandising several species and many breeds from all over Canada to over sixty countries.
Not content to merely sell cattle at dispersal auctions, Bob used his skills to start the first Shore Classic Sale and later the Shore Continental Sale to merchandise Holstein genetics. These were some of the first invitational consignment sales. They led to record setting prices of individual animals as well as world record-setting sale averages. The concept of syndicate ownership of dairy cattle evolved from these sales.
Bob was a founding member and twice president of the Canadian Livestock Exporters Association and excelled in opening world markets for various species and breeds. A few of the marketing activities he initiated included: supplying UK farmers with Canadian Holsteins to replace their cattle lost to foot and mouth disease; selecting dairy heifers to establish a breeding herd in India; assembling the first shipment of Simmental beef cattle to Brazil; and coordinating the first shipment of frozen embryos imported into Japan.
A member of Holstein Canada, Bob judged at major dairy cattle shows on five continents including the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. For fifty-eight years, Bob was an auctioneer of choice in the pure bred livestock industry. During that time he worked at sales in most states of the United States and Provinces of Canada. He was a member of the American Quarter Horse Association and the Standard Bred Association of Canada. In 1996 he was accorded the honour of being inducted into the Canadian Agricultural hall of Fame.
Recognized by his peers as an internationally respected livestock auctioneer and sales manager, a global exporter of Canadian livestock genetics, a superb judge of dairy cattle, a prominent breeder of Quarter horses, an excellent horseman and a gentleman, Bob Shore passed away on July 23, 2007. Bob and Shirley “Lee” Black had four children: Valerie, Hardy, William “Bill” and the late John.
Together Hardy and Bob spent much of their lives breeding, improving and marketing Canadian livestock. We recognize their contributions to the livestock industry at this time by inducting them into the Middlesex County Agricultural Hall of Fame.
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