<--PREV Doc #9  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #11 Document #10; January 28, 1957 To Arthur Seymour Nevins Series: EM, AWF, Gettysburg Series The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVIII - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part I: A New Beginning, Old Problems; January 1957 to May 1957 Chapter 1: The Mideast and the Eisenhower Doctrine   Dear Art: George and I spent some time with Mr. Hartley on Friday and Saturday.1 A number of interesting things came up, among which there was one that I wanted to tell you about. Mr. Hartley said certain of the heifer calves that we are now raising are not of the quality that we should keep on our farm. He said that most of them were "above average" but not up to the standard of our cow herd. Instantly I told him that so far as my own heifers were concerned, he could get rid of them at once at any age that he thought the most economical and beneficial from the standpoint of labor, feed and income.2 However, since we had our talk I have been thinking over something else. Our combined herd is gradually growing. We are not yet certain as to the total number of brood cows we can profitably maintain on the combined farms, including George's.3 I am assuming, however, that our number is still well below the maximum that we can take care of without buying feed. So long as this condition prevails, why do we not take the heifers who do not meet our strict standards and segregate them from the others. We could use them as sort of a beef herd-- using with them a bull that we are not trying to reserve for our very best stock. For example, we could use the young Sunbeam or Rodgate bull, or even the Essar, as long as he is there.4 Such a herd should require very little care and would live entirely on grass until just before any particular animal would be marketed. At, say, 60 to 90 days in advance of marketing, the animal could be penned up and fed grain and so on. An advantage of this system is that the farm operator would derive some income from the raising of beef for sale to the market, and the ground of all the farms would get the benefit of having a capacity number of cattle living on it. Under this system we could continue to use George's farm largely for quarantine and for production of winter hay. Since such a herd would be carefully segregated from the certified animals, they could be treated almost as range cattle, thus minimizing the cost. I doubt that they would even have to be given the ordinary tests and vaccinations, except as we chose to do so to protect ourselves from any contagion getting started. In any event this is a point that occurred to me. If you think well enough of it, please talk it over with Mr. Hartley and then use your own judgement.5 I am sorry we didn't get to see you, but I know that you had an interesting time at the Ankony sale.6 I heard that their total revenue was $212,000 for the day. Incidentally, I have just been offered a heifer that the donor thinks is a very unusual one.7 However, one of her progenitors is Prince Sunbeam 29th, concerning which animal we heard tales, I think from the Ewings.8 Will you ask Hartley what he thinks of her, based upon the attached pedigree?9 I tried to get Dr. Purdy on the phone today, but he is in Texas. I may get to talk to him later.10 Give my love to Ann and, of course, warmest regard to yourself.11 As ever 1 In late 1950 Eisenhower had hired Brigadier General Nevins to manage both his and George E. Allen's Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, farms (see Eisenhower Papers, vols. X - XVII). Robert S. Hartley was the herdsman on the Eisenhower-Allen farms (for background on Hartley see Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, no. 1929; on the partnership with Allen see ibid., no. 892). See also Arthur S. Nevins, Gettysburg's Five-Star Farmer (New York, 1977). 2 For background on removing undesirable cattle from the farm see Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, no. 1460. 3 Allen and another partner owned sizeable farms in Gettysburg (see Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, no. 1155; and Nevins, Five-Star Farmer, p. 126). 4 Bulls from these families were largely responsible for the dwarfism that was beginning to appear in many Angus herds (see Bratcher to Stuart, Oct. 29, 1956, AWF/Gettysburg; and Nevins, Five-Star Farmer, p. 126). 5 On February 2 Eisenhower would approve Nevins's plans to dispose of the inferior heifer calves along with the bull calves (AWF/D). 6 See no. 15. 7 Ibid. 8 William Francis Cochran Ewing and his wife, the former Emily Fordyce Dodge, owned the Duncraggan Ranch in Sonoma, California (for background see Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, no. 1244). 9 The pedigree is further discussed in no. 15. 10 Herman R. Purdy, a professor at Pennsylvania State University, was a specialist in beef cattle. He had been advising Eisenhower since November 1954 (see Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, no. 1168). The President would speak to Purdy the following day (see Telephone conversations, Jan. 29, 1957, AWF/D). For developments see no. 55. 11 Ann Louise Stacy Nevins was Nevins's wife. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Arthur Seymour Nevins, 28 January 1957. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 10. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/second-term/documents/10.cfm <--PREV Doc #9  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #11

Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission 1629 K Street, NW Suite 801 Washington DC 20006 Phone: 202.296.0004    Fax: 202.296.6464