Technological Transfer Through Pure-Bred Herds in British Columbia Author(S): William A

Technological Transfer through Pure-Bred Herds in British Columbia Author(s): William A. Kerr Source: Agricultural History, Vol. 65, No. 1 (Winter, 1991), pp. 72-99 Published by: Agricultural History Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3743682 Accessed: 01-04-2015 13:38 UTC

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This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Technological TransferThrough Pure-BredHerds in BritishColumbia

WILLIAMA. KERR

Breeding to select for economically important production characteristics in livestock represents one of the major technological improvements available to the beef industry. For the individual cattle producer, realizing such improvements is a slow process. Further, individual beef-cattle producers seldom have the expertise or resources required to undertake the development of superior genetic stock. As a result, the beef-cattle industry has typically become segmented into operations which specialize in genetic improvement and those who produce cattle for the commercial market. The former are known as pure-bred breeders. The segmentation of the industry, however, brings up the ques- tion of the efficiency with which the transfer of genetically superior stock takes place between pure-bred breeders and commercial producers. Withoutthe successful establishment of pure-bredherds it is impossible for a livestock industry to make the transition to a modern commercial agriculturalsector. At the end of World War I,the beef cattle industry in the interior of British Columbia, Canada was poised to make that transition. This paper examines those factors which influenced the establishment of pure-bredherds andtheirsuccess intransferringthetechnologyto commercial producers. The beef cattle industry in the British Columbia interior provides an excellent case to study the process of technological transfer. The area was relatively isolated and the number of firms sufficiently small so that they could be individually investigated. At the beginning of the 1920s there were two major breeds, Shorthorn and Hereford, which had been introduced into the area. By the beginning of the great depression in the 1930s, however, only Shorthorn breeders had been successful in estab-

WILLIAMA. KERR is Professor of Agricultural Economics, Department of Economics, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. agricultural history volume 65 * number 1 * 1991. t agricultural history society

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 73 Pure-BredHerds lishing a successful pure-bred industry. Hence, this allows for a comparison between a successful and an unsuccessful industry. This comparison is only possible through the use of a unique set of agricultural records the herdbooks of the two pure-bred organizations. The registration procedures for pure-bred stock allow the transfer of animals between ranchers to be identified and, hence, a monitoring of the process of technological diffusion. As a result, considerable insights into the process of farm-to-farmtechnological transfer are gained. Although there are a considerable number of studies which have examined the geographic and economic aspects of the diffusion of agricultural innovations, they have had to rely heavily upon geographically diverse observations of farm use as it evolves over time.' The usual methodology then has been either to attempt to explain the process of diffusion by correlating independent economic variables to the pattern of use or to examine the process in the context of dynamic models which are similar to those applied in demographic studies. This can be done informally or more rigorously through to use of regression or more sophisticated statis- tical techniques.2 Such studies have provided considerable insights into the process of the introduction and spread of innovations in the agricultural sector. By their very nature, however, such studies are limited in the insights which they can provide into the process by which new technology actually passes between the suppliers of new technology and those who utilize the technology. The reason for this limitation is the nature of the data itself. The diffusion of technology is, at the most basic level, the result of market transactions between firms.3 Records of cash transactions are seldom made and the invoices of larger purchases from agribusiness firms are often confidential or not accessible. Certainlysuch data limita- tions are reduced when the innovation constitutes a patented product of an industrial manufacturerwho directly distributes the innovation or sells through franchised outlets or dealers.

1. See for example, Z. Griliches, "HybridCorn: An Explorationinto the Economics of Tech- nological Change," Econometrica 25 (1957): 501-22; J. Cordrey, "An Economic Study of an AgriculturalInnovation: Artificial Insemination," (Ph.D. dissertation, North CarolinaState Uni- versity, 1968); W.A. Kerr,"The Supply of New Germ Plasm to the CanadianBeef Cattle Indus- try," TechnologicalForecasting and Social Change 21 (1982): 103-32; J.R. Walton, "A Study in the Diffusionof AgriculturalMachinery in the Nineteenth Century,"University of OxfordSchool of Geography Research Paper 5 (1973); or A. Match, "The Mechanizationof the Harvest in South-West Lancashire, 1850-1914, " AgriculturalHistory Review 29 (1981 ): 125-32. 2. D.C. Quan and W.A. Kerr,Ongoing Technological Change in the CanadianBeef Cattle Industry-An Example of Estimation with TruncatedSamples (Discussion Paper No. 82-01, Departmentof AgriculturalEconomics, Universityof BritishColumbia, 1982). 3. This assumes that the innovation is such that it cannot be produced on the farm itself. Clearlythere are innovations which can be acquired through observation and subsequent on farm productionand, hence, require no firm to firm markettransaction.

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Many agricultural innovations, however, do not have such characteristics local seed potato growers provide seedstock to farmers, local (and often a subsidiary farm enterprise) feed mills provide pre-mixed rations, artificial insemination services are often provided by local firms or other farmers on a part-time basis and pure-bredstock is provided by local stock breeders. Thus, much of the transfer of technology takes place between firms in a market environment where few records are kept and, hence, available for the study of the process of technology transfer. Better understanding of such market mechanisms is important because it is this inter- face which constitutes a major avenue for the flow of informationbetween those who utilize new technology and those who provide it. In other words, through such markets pass the information regarding which characteristics of the product need to be improved as a new innovation evolves into one which more closely approximates the requirements of the user.4 It would appear that much technological change is a result of improvements to existing characteristics rather than the development of entirely new production processes or even the addition of new characteristicsto existing technology.5 Hence, information on the actors involved on either side of such transactions is fundamental to the understanding of the process of technological diffusion and change. Even if records of transactions exist, for example in the form of invoices, direct examination of the complex records of one firm is likely to be extremely expensive in terms of research resources. This is particularly true when, as is the case for most firms) the relevant technology is only one of a large number of products handled. Such records are unlikelyto be conveniently organized so that the researcher can identify the relevant sales. A great deal of sorting and identificationis required.6When this task is spread over a large number of firms and over the period required to examine the process of technological diffusionf the problem becomes well nigh intractable. What is required,then, is a set of records which have been compiled in a manner that reduces research costs. Hopefully such records will cover a number of supplying firms and indicate the purchaser. Fortunately,a good

4. For evidence of the importance of this marketfor the process of technological improvement the reader is referred to W.A. Kerr, "Selective Breeding, HeritableCharacteristics and Genetic Based Technological Change in the CanadianBeef CattleIndusty," Western Journal of AgriculturalEconomics 9 (1984): 14- 28. 5. This division of technological change into three separate processes is most fully developed in C. Archibaldand G. Rosenbluth,Production Theoryin Termsof Characteristics:Some PreliminaryConsiderations (Discussion Paper No. 78-19, Departmentof Economics, University of BritishColumbia, 1978). 6. Hopefully,the advent of computerized accounting records with their automatic sorting capabilitieswill make the work of future scholars much easier.

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 75 Pure-Bred Herds proxy for information on such inter-firmtransactions exists in the 'therd- books" of pure-bred animal breeding organizations. These records allow the owners of both the progeny and the progenitors of breeding animals to be identified. Hencerthe farm to farm transfer of animals can be identified. For localized areas and specific breeds such information can then be aug- mented by the records of pure-bred auctions which often report the con- signee, the consignor and the transacted price. Although such records have some shortcomings (discussed later), they do permit the development of a fairly accurate picture of the structure of a market and its evolution. Although such records provide a means for examining a wide range of such markets, an example of a p3rticularlytractable market is explored in detail here. In a research sense, besides its relative isolation, this market is made tractable due to the predominance of a single pure-bred sale over the period of study. The market to be examined is that for pure-bred beef breeding stock in the southern interior plateau of British Columbia, Can- ada (see Map 1) over the period roughly corresponding with the end of the World War I to the beginning of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The cattle-ranching industry in British Columbia, and especially that of the southern interior plateau, is probably that sector of the agricultural industry which is most readily identified with the historical development of the province. The large cattle empires of the Caribooand Chilcotinareas are often perceived as Canadian examples of the range and ranching cul- ture of the American West and Southwest. As a result, there has been considerable popular literature but few academic studies of the industry. These studies have tended to deal almost exclusively with what is termed the 'sfrontier"era of the industry.8This era covers the period from the gold rush in 1858 to 1896, by which time the railroadand the establishment of large ranching companies had changed the nature of the industry so that "the era of open range, captive markets and minimum government inter- ference experienced by the first established interior ranches was for all intents and purposes a thing of the past."9 Thomas divides the period into three distinct phases: 1858 to 1870, 1871 to 1884, 1885 to 1896. The "colonial period," 1858 to 1870 encom- passes the initial impetus to cattle production provided by the Cariboo gold rush and its aftermath when the first preemptions were taken up along the few transportation routes such as the Cariboo Road. The initial

8. A fairly comprehensive examination is provided in E.G.Thomas, "The BritishColumbia RanchingFrontier, 1858-1896," (M.A.thesis, Universityof BritishColumbia, 1976.) Earlierdis- cussions can be found in F.W.Liang, "Some Pioneers of the Cattle Industry,"British Columbia HistoricalQuarterly 6 (1942): 257-75 and C.W.Vrooman, "A Historyof Ranchingin B.C.,"The EconomicAnnalist 11 (1 941) : 20- 23. 9. Thomas, "The BritishColumbia RanchingFrontier, 1858-1896," 180.

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 76 agricultural history herds were established at that time relying on importationof animals from the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The second period describes the extension on to the prime grassland areas (away from the ribbon developments along the transport routes) and the initialattempts at estab- lishing marketoutlets for ranchers' products in the absence of local popula- tion and modern transportation. The third phase covers the changes both positive (ease of market access) and negative (competition from Alberta) resulting from the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway. This was also the period which saw the creation of large cattle companies and the reaction of existing independent ranchers to their perceived monopolistic tendencies. Itwould appear that by the end of the century the cattle industry had transcended its frontier period in terms of settlement and social development, but that was not the case in terms of the ranching economy. The economic development of the region was to retain "frontiercharacter- istics" for another two decades. After 1896 the ranching community came under new pressures. In the first decade of the new century there was a large influx of settlers from Britainand to a lesser extent Europe. These small holders diversified the agriculturalbase of the interiorof BritishColumbia through the cultivation of grain, fruit and vegetable crops and the establishment of dairies.10In the long-settled areas ranching operations entered a transitional phase as a result of increased settlement and government activity. Open range was becoming a thing of the past. After 1906 the railway belt was fenced off and other areas were fenced off to prevent overgrazing. It was hoped that the bunch-grass would carry more cattle. The government began formal taxation with fixed charges for land. With security of tenure and the right to deny access to the range, considerable capital was invested in improvements. Parts of the original large holding were progressively sold off to smaller operations.1l In the Chilcotin and the Cariboo, the bulk of settlement took place during the period between the turn of the century and World War 1.12 Although it is true that the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1886 greatly improved the marketing situation for many ranchers by eliminating the long and arduous cattle drives from the interior to the coast, it was not until further railroad development was completed that a comprehensive network for the movement of animals existed. The Cana-

10. Ibid. 11. Vrooman, "A Historyof Ranchingin B.C.,"23. 12. Big Creek, 1903- 1910; Alexis Creek, 1892- 1908; Redstone, 1880- 1910; Chezaucut, 1898-1912; Kleena Kleene, 1911-1920; Horsefly, 1893-1914; Meocene, 1908-1920; Timothy Lake, 1904-1917; Buffalo Lake, 1910-1920; Canim Lake, 1910-1919; North Bonaport, 1907- 1914 according to T.R. Weir, Ranching in the Southern InteriorPlateau of British Columbia. IGeographicalBranch Memoir 4, Departmentof Mines and Technical Surveys, Ottawa, 1955.)

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This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 78 agricultural history dian Pacific constructed two important branch lines at the end of the century, to Kelowna in 1892 and the Kettle Valley route to Merrittin 1898. The upper Cariboo and Chilcotin had to wait until the Canadian North- ern's main line through the Thompson Valley was completed in 1915 and the Pacific Great Eastern (P.G.E.) began operation further west in 1917. With the exception of the West Chilcotin, the ranching areas of the Inte- rior Plateau were all within a reasonable distance to railroads by the end of World War 1.13 The years of the Great War could hardly be considered normal. The demand for beef to feed the armies was insatiable and cattle production reportedly increased from 100,000 head at the beginning of the war to 190,000 in 1917.14It was not until the decade of the 1920s that the cattle economy of the area passed from its "frontier" character to a system which approached the structure of a mature rangeland industry. Gone were the days when entry to the cattle industry was accomplished by riding out and locating a favorable stand of bunch-grass which could then be taken out as a preemption. As with other agriculturalsystems which expanded onto new lands, market purchase became the method of entry once settlement was an accomplished fact. Few new preemptions were available after World War 1.15The system of land tenure, leasing procedures and water rights were formalized and ranch improvements could be made on the basis of assured tenacy. The success or failure of an operation was no longer solely dependent on the cattle handling talents of the individual. A man's ability to ensure survival of cattle in the rugged terrain and harsh climate and to physically move the cattle to market could no longer ensure success. Shortened drives or trucking cattle to the railhead removed much of the risk associated with moving animals to market. Prices in the market became an importantfactor in the success or failure of the business. Forthe first time the industry went through a recognizable cattle cycle which is probably one of the most important indications that an animal industry is reaching maturity.After World War I prices fell and herds were reduced. The short- age of cattle eventually caused prices to rise and by 1925 herds were definitely expanding. The market peaked in 1928. In 1929 cattle stocks reached a maximum at 290,000 but prices had begun to fall even before the "great crash."'6 The full effect of the economic downturn was not felt until cattle reached the market in the fall of 1930. The industry was, however, already headed for the trough period of a cycle.

13. Ibid., 58. 14. Vrooman, "A History of Ranching in B.C., 23. 15. Weir, Ranching in the Southern Interior Plateau of British Columbia, 61. 16. Vrooman, "A History of Ranching,' 23.

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As with the whole economy, the great depression could hardly be considered a normal period for the cattle industry. Cattle stocks were liqui- dated by over 50 percent in one year. Along with most other sectors of the economy, the industry did no more than "survive"the depression:

In the fall of 1934 we were offered 150 good range cows at one and a half cents a pound. After inspecting them we offered the owner one cent a pound for the best 100 and half a cent for the remaining 50. Our offer was accepted and after weighing they figured out at $9.50 and $4 a head. This was market price at the time and caused one old rancherto remarksarcastically, '}Whenyou go to figuring what an old cow brings these days, she don't hardly make a mark on the paper.''17

In an economy approaching equilibrium, technological change provides one of the few means by which a ranchercan become more competitive. Technological improvement lowers costs. Hence, by successfully using better breeding animals, additional productivity could be attained from the fixed grazing land resource base. This was the incentive to use pure-bred breeding animals. The decade of the 1920s has been largely ignored by historians. Their studies have concentrated on the earlier periods when changes in the area were dramatic and the development of the cattle industry determined by a few key personalities. This earlier period is primarilyone of events rather than of a functioning system and it does not easily lend itself to formal economic analysis. The 1920s, on the other hand, seem to possess characteristics which allow a formal investigation of the economic system. Clearlydefined markets and regular transport existed. As the industrywas following what appears to be the traditional twelve-year cycle,18 it may have been as close to a period of equilibrium as a rangeland industry can attain. The period of the 1920s may have been one of relative calm for the rangeland industry of the Southern InteriorPlateau but it certainlywas not a static era. Itwas a period of consolidation and improvements with ranchers investing capital in the form of buildings, storage facilities, and haying equipment. The rangeland cattle economy, however, is not one which lends itself easily to technological change. The nature of the industry is pastoral, with cattle feeding on what nature provides. Certainly,management practices can be improved so that the range can sustain more ani-

17. T.A. Bullman, Kamloops Cattlemen, One Hundred Years of Trail Dust (Sydney: Gray's Publishing, 1972), 139. 18. Of course since the 1930s the cycle has been shortened to approximatelyeight years through modern breeding and feeding methods.

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 80 agricultural history mals on a continuous basis and some inefficient practices can be eliminated, but few genuine technological improvements can be identified. One major avenue of technological improvement available to the rancher is the upgrading of the quality of his cattle by improved breeding. To some extent this can be accomplished through the careful selection of "scrub" animals, but if any significant progress is to be made, there must be the introduction of pure-bred stock. The balance of this paper will examine the process of this technological transfer in the ranching industry of the Southern InteriorPlateau of BritishColumbia. Probably the first prerequisite for a technological transfer is an awareness, on the part of those who are not utilizing the available technology, that the new technology exists and that it will provide some benefit. Such an awareness is necessary before there can be any possible decision as to whether the costs of the new technology will outweigh the expected benefits. In part, such knowledge will arise through contact between stockmen. No doubt this is still the most important method of information transmis- sion for the industry. In addition, there appears to have been three channels by which information on the benefits of pure-bred stock was spread. The first of these was the extension branch of the provincial Department of Agriculture.The majority of the work done by this branch in the past, as it is today, is by word of mouth. There is a great deal of evidence that the topic of improving stock was a prime concern of those agents responsible for advising the beef industry during the period. From 1916 to 1925, the provincial Depart- ment of Agriculture produced a publication, funded by a grant from the federal government under the auspices of the Agricultural Instructions Act, titled The AgricultlJralJournal. During its ten-year life, the journal provided extension information on all phases of agriculture in the province. Of the thirty-five articles dealing exclusively with range cattle published during the journal's history, twenty-one made reference to the need to upgrade the beef herd through pure-bred breeding. Almost every ap- proach was taken to cajole ranchers into improving their stock. When relevant data from controlled experiments was available, it was presented as direct evidence.

The value of the pure-bred sire was recently clearly exemplified in definite tests on a Utah forest range. Two bunches of cattle approximately the same number were grazed in adjoining winter, spring, summer and fall ranges, similar in character, under practicallythe same conditions. They had the same care and attention on the range. One man was using scrub bulls and the other, pure-bred Herefords. In the fall the steers from both bunches were cut out, shipped on the same day by the same

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train to the same commission house at Omaha, and sold the same day under identically the same market conditions. The pure-breds brought $2 per hundredweight more than the scrubby lot, averaged 200 Ibs. more in weight, and netted their owner $40 per head more than the scrubs brought to their owner. The test will apply anywheret as every progressive grower knows.19

Other articles presented information with a schoolmaster's sarcasm, attempting to ridicule the unprogressive operator.

The great error and neglect in pedigree breeding is the failure to effec- tively "can" the pedigree "scrub"whenever or wherever he crops up. A few breeders are foolish enough to misrepresent such an animal and sell him on the strength of a pedigree, trusting to a supposed childlike simplicity on the part of the buyer. They forget that a pedigree "scrub" will transmit his objectionable qualities surer than will an ordinary grade.20

In other cases the prospects for improved markets were put forth to stimu- late the rancher's imagination.

The change to better qualities of cattle will not involve increasing numbers on the farm nor of introducing new lines. It is simply a matter of displacing poor quality with improved type to secure higher returns . . . The shipments from the West this year have been remarkablefor the number of big "horsey" steers that are useless for feeders, because they would be too heavy when finished and are useless for slaughter now because they are just skeletons with a hide drawn over them. A small percentage of our beef is as good as the best British.Some experimental shipments of high-quality beef made to England in 1921 show that it can be landed in good condition and there is hope that a profitable trade could be built up, were a steady supply of high quality procurable . . . The main obstacle to working up this tradet apart from the present high freight rates, is the remarkablysmall proportion of our cattle that would be suitable for trade.2'

Finally, it appears that when all else failed there were blatant appeals to patriotism.

19. T. MacKenzie,"The Scrub Bull in BritishColumbia," The AgriculturalJournal 4 (1919): 137. 20. S.H. Hopkins, "Buy a Good Pedigreed Sire in Preferenceto a Grade," The Agricultural Journal 1 (1916): 149. 21. "TheCanadian Beef Problem," The AgriculturalJournal7 (1923): 282.

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Business is a skin-game, of course, and everybody, except ourselves, plays it to the best of his ability. The buyer has his eye on the main chance and isn't working for his health. At the same time, he is not skinning the producer when he will not pay the top price for a caricature of a real steer or cow. He'd do the country a real service if he wasn't so tendered-hearted and refused to look at anything that wasn't a real animal. The dear public does not want to eat sole-leather with the frame thrown in at 25 to 45 cents per pound. Itonly eats it because it insists on having meat and there is little prime meat to buy. Now just give your herd the once-over and to the block with all the unfit. Make room for the good ones, the live ones that know their business, and letthat good pure-bred bull improve your herd. Get rid of the "Bullsheviks"and prove to the rest of the continent our contention that the ranches and ranges of British Columbia must be rankedfirst in the production of prime range beef.22

The second visible means by which information on better breeds was transmitted was the annual bull sale at Kamloops. The first of these was organized in 1919 and it soon became both the economic and social event of the ranching community's year. It was usually held in conjunction with the annual convention of the various breeders' organizations. Along with the actual bull auction, there were competitions, judgings and prizes offered for both bulls and "fat stock." The event was always accompanied by an impressive banquet with keynote speakers from government and industry,who most often praised the merits of pure-bredstock. The results of the auction, the judgings and competition, plus the addresses of the speakers were given heavy coverage in the local press for the information of any ranchers who did not attend. Although, initially, the bull sale was not restricted to pure-bred sires, dissatisfaction with "grade" sires was soon expressed and in 1921 they were eliminated from participation:

The admission of non-registered animals to the sale was a disturbing factor. . . The general opinion of all concerned was that in future the sale should be open to only registered animals.23

The final method of information transfer is what is commonly termed the demonstration effect. Pure-bredstock was very obviously used by the successful. The large cattle empires consistently purchased pure-bred stock for their herds. Year after year the large cattle corporations like the Douglas LakeCattle Company, The Western Canadian RanchingCompany

22. T. MacKenzie, "Scrub Cows on the Range," The Agricu/tural Journal 5 (1921 ): 344. 23. "Second Annual Kamloops Bull-Sale," TheAgriculturalJournal 5 (1920): 55.

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(commonly known as the Gang Ranch) and Nicola Stock Farms along with the large independent operations such as the Guichon Ranch and D.W. Strachan from Tranquille, paid top prices at the Kamloops bull sale. Their personnel were officers of the various provincial pure-bred organizations. In the ranching economy, smaller operations often follow with a lag the methods adopted by their large and more successful competitors. Given that there was a demand for such stock, it is now necessary to discover what mechanism was available for transferring, physically, the technology embodied in the animal units to the broader ranching community. At present the transfer of a breed's characteristic is a simple matter through the relatively inexpensive method of artificialinsemination. In the 1920s, however, beforethistechnological innovation, breed characteristics had to be transferred in the animal units themselves, usually in bulls, but dames were also used. The spread of technology depends both on a supply of pure-bred animals from registered herds24and the existence of some market mechanism for the transfer of animals from the breeders to the commercial stock operations.25 Fortunately,excellent data is available on the former and relatively complete information is available on the latter. The supply of pure-bred stock will be discussed first. The decade of the 1920s seems to have been the heyday of the Shorthorn breed. This breed held the predominant position in the North American cattle business after it replaced the legendary Texan Longhorn of the early cattle empires. Today, the white faced Herefords hold sway, but in that region in the 1930s they were the younger brother to the Shorthorn.26 Pure-bred cattle associations, to protect their pedigrees, demand that all pure-breds be registered with a central organization. In Canada, such information is collected by the Office of the Canadian National Livestock Records in Ottawa. The various pure-bred organizations then publish an annual herdbook which lists all the pure-bred cattle registered during the year. Itpresents information on the animals' lineage, including the registration numbers of their immediate ancestors and the names of the breeders and first owners along with their location. A list of the members of the breeders' association and their location is also presented. The animals are all assigned consecutive numbers by date of registration. The Canadian Shorthorn Breeders Association published their first Dominion herdbook in 1886, while the Hereford owners got underway in 1899. In 1919, 21,890

24. A more complete discussion of this process can be found in D.C.Quan and W.A. Kerr, "TruncatedEstimates for Incomplete Technological Change in the CanadianCattle Industry," AmericanJournal of AgriculturalEconomics 65 (1983): 581-86. 25. For this aspect of the process see Kerr,"Selective Breeding, HeritibleCharacteristics and Genetic-BasedTechnological Change in the CanadianBeef CattleIndustry." 26. The other important breed, Aberdeen Angus, although present on the B.C. scene, remained a poor third to the two dominant breeds in this period.

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Shorthorns were registered in Canada and Herefordregistrations reached 4,897. By 1930 at the end of the decade yearly Shorthorn registrations stood at 17,398 and Herefords at 9,538. It is obvious that the pure-bred industry was well developed in the nation. In British Columbia this was not the case. In 1919, the industry was an embryo at best and for all intents and purposes nonexistent. The 1919 Shorthorn herdbook lists only 29 registered breeders in B.C. Hereford breeders numbered only four. During the period 1920-1930 while the number of breeders registered with the national organizations increased significantly, no unified provincial system had developed. Instead, pure-bred herds developed in pockets and these pockets had little or no communication with each other. These small clusters of owners seemed to serve their particulararea. Clusters were found on the lower plateau near Penticton and Osoyoos, in the lower Fraser Valley, on Vancouver Island, in the Kootenays, around Salmon Arm, near Kamloops, and surprisingly enough in the far north in Bulkley Valley. The isolation among these pockets will become evident later when the development of the Kamloops area is examined in detail. The divisions seem very distinct, even surprising, in the case of the Salmon Arm cluster, which, while extremely close to the Kamloops area, did not interactwith it. The area serviced by what shall be termed the Kamloops cluster of breeders is quite well defined. It is bounded on the south by a line approximately 50° of latitude between Merritton the west and Vernon on the east. From here this extended northward in a large arc bounded by Shuswap Lake, Quesnel Lake and the town of Quesnel in the north. The western boundary of the arc was the barrierof the Coast Mountain range. This will be referredto as the Kamloops region. Interactionbetween breeders in the Kamloops region and those outside was minimal while there was considerable contact among the breeders within the area. Extra regional contact tended to be with firms in the rest of Canada rather than with those in other regions of the province. Table 1 provides informationon the number of animals registered in the Kamloops region each year with parental origin outside the province and outside the region. These figures are compiled from the records listed in the Dominion Shorthorn Herdbooks and the Dominion Hereford Herdbooks, 1910- 1930 inclusive. These books provide an alphabetical index of breeders and owners registering animals within the specified time period, followed by their closest community and province. By combing these indexes, all breeders and owners located in the province and more specifically within the Kamloops region can be identified. This index also provides a listing of each animal associated with a particularowner by its registration number. These numbers can then be used to identify the particularanimal in the

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TABLE 1. Origin of Livestock Registered in the Kamloops Region

Shorthorns Within the Kamloops Region Outside the Province Extra Regional B.C. Sire& Oneof Sire& Oneof Sire& Oneof Year Dame Sire or Dame Dame Sire or Dame Dame Sire or Dame

1920 0 6 19 6 0 0 192 1 1 28 43 26 1 6 1922 2 21 64 21 1 0 1923 4 27 66 27 1 0 1924 6 45 70 45 12 0 1925 17 22 42 19 1 6 1927 15 53 36 53 0 2 1929 20 59 22 66 0 9 1930 18 122 39 116 1 15 Herefords 1920 0 0 0 0 0 0 1921 0 0 19 0 0 0 1922 1 15 7 15 0 0 1923 0 0 7 5 0 5 1924 0 4 2 4 0 0 1925 0 0 0 0 0 0 1926 0 4 13 4 0 0 1930 0 0 0 0 2 0

Sources: Canadian National Livestock Records, The Canadian Hereford Herd Book, (Ottawa: The CanadianHereford Breeders Association, 5-19, 1909-1932). Canadian National Livestock Records, The Dominion Shorthorn Herd Book (Ottawa: The Dominion Shorthorn Breeders Association, 27-45, 1910-1930). herdbook's main listings. In these main listings each animal is identified by name and information is provided on its immediate antecedents in the form of their registration numbers. If the animal has had a number of owners prior to the time of registration, these are also listed. By back checking the reported owners in the owners' and breeders' index, their location can be identified. In this way the movement of animals between pure-bred herds and between localities can be partiallytraced. Foranimals which are transferred after registration, no direct information on their movement can be obtained. On the other hand, using the numbers provided on the antecedents of the animals registered during the period and then by identifying both the sire and dame back to the herdbook in which their number is registered, it is possible to identify their breeders. These breeders can then be located by checking the owners' and breeders' index for the appropriate time period. In this way the place of origin of the

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 86 agricultural history

TABLE 2. Numbers of Pure-Bred Stock Registered by Year 1919-1930, British Columbia Shorthorns and Herefords

Shorthorns /ierefords Year Total Bulls Cows Total Bulls Cows

1919 30 16 14 6 0 6 1920 26 22 4 0 0 0 1921 76 26 50 19 6 13 1922 91 42 49 23 15 8 1923 104 48 56 12 6 6 1924 110 44 66 6 3 3 1925 85 46 39 0 0 0 1926 * * * 17 8 9 1927 88 38 50 * * - * 1928 * 1929 108 51 57 * * * 1930 162 70 92 2* 2* 0*

*Note: Although in most cases herdbooks correspond to years-they are done by consecutive number and in some years there is not specific volume. There are no missing animals here- all animals 1919 through 1930 are recorded. For Shorthorns 1926 and 1927 and 1928 and 1929 are in one volume, as are 1927-1930 for Herefords. Source: Dominion Shorthorn and Canadian Hereford Yearbookss 1919-1930. antecedents of all animals registered in B.C. during a year can be identified. This information can then be used to trace the development of the industry.27 The evolution of the two pure-bred industries in the Kamloops region during the period 1919 to 1930 are markedly different. Both started the period with little more than a handful of animals. No recognizable breeding herds existed. Registered stock were breeding animals on commercial ranches. By 1930, the Shorthorn industry was well on its way to becoming self-sustaining while the Hereford industry remained virtually unchanged in size, if indeed its position had not deteriorated. In 1919 eight enterprises registered Shorthorns while only two registered Herefords. In the two years, 1929-1930, 37 enterprises registered Shorthorns while only a single firm registered Herefords. Over the whole period 73 enterprises would register Shorthorns while there would be only 8 firms in the Hereford herdbook. Table 2 presents the figures on animal registrationfor each year for each breed. As can be seen, Shorthorn herds enjoyed a general increase throughout the period. Only 2 Herefords were registered between 1927 to 1930.

27. A comprehensive summary of the data collected from the Herdbooks is available from the author.

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The evolution of the Shorthorn industry toward self-sufficiency can be easily seen. At the beginning of the period, virtually all enterprises were dependent upon outside stock for herd size increases. As time progressed and herds were built up, less and less dependence on the outside was manifest. This is illustrated in Figure 1 which presents the percentage of animals whose sires and dames originated within the Kamloops region. Although Kamloops region bulls never accounted for 30 percent of the area's progeny, this figure is relatively significant considering the time span of a bull's usefulness as a breeding animal and the fact that few bulls are needed for a herd. Therefore, the proven bulls which were imported at the beginning of the period were often still the predominant sires in a herd. Further,it would be expected that bulls would continue to be moved into the region as improved breeding stock is, of course, the method by which the pure-bred breeder (as opposed to a commercial cattle producer) improves his herd. Given the small and, hence, potentially inbred stock of animals within the region, and the large, long standing herds in the rest of Canada, in the United States and in Great Britain,self-sufficiency in breeding animals was probably undesirable in any case. Far more impressive are the figures on local dames. There is a steady trend toward self-sufficiency. The percentages are probably understate- ments as to the extent that the industry was approaching self sufficiency. In some cases, the dames were bred for periods of over ten years so that in 1930 many of the original dames, brought into the region for initial herd building, were still active breeders. Therefore, the number of new cows, added from herds within the region, would be even higher during the second half of the period. A further indication that the Shorthorn industry was moving toward self sufficiency is that of the sixteen new enterprises to register animals for the years 1929 to 1930, eleven received their initial stock from other enterprises within the region. The Shorthorn industry progressed through stages. The initial breeders of pure stock were development syndicates-British Columbia General Development Syndicate; Land and AgriculturalCompany of Canada; B.C. FruitlandsLimited; The Salmon River LandCompany Limited.These companies, which held land for speculative purposes, utilized the land in the interim for cattle operations. As these companies operated more as commercial units than strictly ranching ventures and had more capital than small ranchers, investment in pure-bred stock was a natural undertaking. The two largest cattle empires, the Douglas Lake Cattle Company and the Western Canadian Ranching Company registered cattle only sporadi- cally during the period as their pure-bred operations were obviously mere appendages to their commercial beef business. By the end of the period, all the syndicates except the Salmon River Land Company Ltd. had disap-

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions FIGURE 1 PUREBRED SHORTHORNS OF LOCAL ORIGIN

PERCENTAGEOF YEARLY ul REGISTRATIONSSIRED BY BULLSORIGINATING IN z THEKAMLOOPS REGION

cr 40 a

+ . . .

PERCENTAGEOF YEARLY 20 REGISTRATIONSHAVING A DAMORIGINATING IN THEKAMLOOPS REGION

1 930

YEAR

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 89 Pure-BredHerds peared. The B.C.Central Development Syndicate herd was the property of the Stepney Ranch in 1925. Other herds, like that of B.C. Fruitlands,were sold outside the Kamloops region. These companies had provided a base herd for much of the region and had done a great deal to insure the success of the Kamloops bull sale. In 1922, they provided 17 of the 28 locally produced Shorthorns at the sale. In the middle years of the decade, a core of breeders developed which were to give the industry its push toward self sufficiency. P.E. French, F. Reid, and A.T. Howe from near Vernon; G. Hay, Gowan and Penrose, and George Frolekfrom Kamloops; A. & W. Watt of Knutsford,J. Moffatfrom Bestwick and a number of others became the mainstays of the Kamloops bull sale. Their herds were comparatively small typically with less than twenty cows and one or two bulls. In most years they registered from 5 to 20 animals which reflected the size of their cow herds. Itwas also during this period that one saw the arrivaland establishment of large pure-bred herds by a gentried class in the Vernon area. Three such herds were established; by Sir James Buchanan in 1922, Lord Woolav- ington in 1923, and Mrs. McDonald-Buchananin 1925. These herds appear to have had little commercial intent. Not once did animals from these enterprises appear at the Kamloops sale nor did their progeny turn up on other herds. These operations, however, did provide a marketfor the local animals as much of their initial dame stock was drawn from the local herds. It also seems that in the case of the McDonald-Buchananoperation contacts were maintained with other herds. The pedigree records indicate that a bull from this operation serviced dames on a number of pure-bred enterprises in the area. This is the only evidence of such stud services during the period. Finally,it appears that in 1929 and 1930 a number of second generation breeders were about to enter the market. Although they registered only a few animals each, their appearance was similar to that of the established breeders when they entered in the early years of the decade and began to build their herds. As stated before, these new entries relied heavily on local herds for their stock. The physical distribution of breeders remained clustered around the Kamloops area throughout the period. No breeders were evident in the area between the C.N.R.'s line to Jasper and the Pacific Great Eastern's line from Clinton to Quesnel, while to the west of the P.G.E. only three breeders were listed during the entire period. It is interesting to note that, although the Gang Ranch dealt with the Kamloops bull sale, when the Yorston Brothers near Australian started their herd, they relied on Dewd- ney Brothers on the lower coast for their initial stocks. This is not surprising in the absence of a direct rail linkto Kamloops. Enterprisesto the west

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 90 agricultural history of the P.G.E. shipped exclusively on it to the railhead at Squamish and from there by barge to the stockyards in Vancouver.This two-stage marketing trip was always of concern to ranchers as the transshipment and sea voyage were detrimental to cattle.28With road travel still in the rudimen- tary stages, the problems of moving one's stock to the annual sale may have been one of the prime reasons why this area did not develop breeding herds. The absence of an organized market on the coast and the difficulty of arranging the two-stage northward movement of animals on the P.G.E. probably prevented more extensive contacts with within-region breeders. In the core cluster area, the area around Kamloops, stock could be easily taken to the annual marketand from Kamloops buyers could ship their animals to their enterprises near rail lines or move them by truck on the more fully develop road network. A superficial examination of the non-herdbook evidence does not provide sufficient detail to discern why the Herefordindustry did not develop in a parallel fashion. The Hereford industry elsewhere, although it was certainly the junior of the two within the Dominion herdbook area, was experi- encing rapid growth. Nationally, annual registrations doubled throughout the period. Withinthe Kamloops region, Herefordbulls appearto have been a competitive product. At the annual Kamloops bull sale, Herefords, on average, retained a slight price advantage over Shorthorns. Figure2 presents the average prices paid for each breed throughout the period. On average, the price of Herefords was higher than for Shorthorns but not so high as to be prohibitive to entry. In fact, in absolute terms, there were as many high-priced Shorthorns as Herefords each year except 1925. Further, a case cannot be made that the market was saturated with Shorthorns. British Columbia and especially the Kamloops region remained a deficit area throughout the period. The ratio of pure-bred cattle to cattle popula- tion remained by far the lowest in the country. Further,given that today the entire area is populated with the "white faces" of the Herefords, there appears to be no problem with the Hereford'sbiological adaptabilitywhich could have made it a higher risk animal. An examination of the industry in the detail, which the use of the herdbooks allows, suggests that there were three major and possibly cru- cial differences between the Shorthorn and Hereford industries. First,the large land development syndicates were much less active in the Hereford industry. Only B.C. Fruitlandshad a Hereford herd. As a result there were far fewer local animals for prospective breeders to acquire in the very important initial phase of the establishment of an industry. Although animals from outside the region could have been relied upon they would

28. H. Marriot,Cariboo Cowboy (Sydney: Grey's Publishing, 1972).

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions FlGURE 2 AVERAGE PRICES KAMLOOPS BULL SALE SHORTHORNS AND HEREFORDS

350

309

296 300- Z

239 / 250- 233 /

\ /A SHOR>ORNS 200- 214 \\ / / 2B0 \

\ / <63 162

\94

100- \ \

/ HEREFORDS

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 92 agricultural history have had elements of both greater risk and greater costs. Extra-regional herds would have been less well known as both their management and the performance of their pedigrees could not be directly observed. In- creased costs would have been manifest in the increased difficulty of obtaining restitution in cases of nonperformance or infertilityof breeding stock once purchased. The acceptance of "proof" of nonperformance by sellers would have been more difficult over longer distances and a lack of familiarityof the seller with the 'reputation't of the buyer. Also, the ability of the buyer to use a subtle form of moral suasion to obtain compensation through diminishing the "reputation" of the seller would have been reduced for extraregional sellers. The existence of local stocks of Shorthorns for the establishment of foundation herds would have reduced such problems for prospective entrants. The second missing aspect was the absence of herds owned by the gentry. As suggested above, these herds provided a important marketfor local Shorthorn breeders. This market was absent for Herefords. The reason why Shorthorns were chosen by these operations was historic connec- tions with those breeds in Britain. Given the prestige of the gentry in British Columbia, the demonstration effect upon prospective breeders of the gentryts choice of Shorthorns over Herefords cannot be discounted. Finally, although the large commercial cattle companies such as the Douglas Lake Cattle Company, the Gang Ranch, and Nicola Stock Farms had both Herefords and Shorthorns breeding animals in their herdsSthey did not maintain pure-bred herds of Herefords. This suggests that Here- fords were still viewed as experimental by such operations. Given that such large and successful operations were perceived as industry leaders, it is not surprising that less well-established stockmen were reticent to commit resources to the establishment of Herefordherds. Therefore, it would appear that for the Kamloops area during the period, the supply situation for the two predominant pure-breds used for upgrading commercial herds had evolved differently. Herefords remained dependent on supplies from outside the Kamloops region. The Shorthorn industry, on the other hand, had developed sufficiently to supply much of the local demand. In 1929 breeders in the Kamloops area supplied 24 of the 38 animals auctioned and in 1930, 18 out of 28. Although dames and breed heifers were seldom sold at the Kamloops sale and the movement of bulls which did not go through the mechanism of the annual sale cannot be traced, the Kamloops bull sale presents a fair indication of the process of diffusion of pure-bred stock. Most pure-bred heifers still remained within the herd where they were born. Those that were transferred usually went to other breeding herds at the time of their registration and were recorded in the herdbooks with listings of both their

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 93 Pure-BredHerds

breeder and second owner. Certainly,some animals would have moved to commercial herds as bred-heifers, but without the assurance of a bull calf this movement would probably not have been significant. There is no way of ascertaining the movements of these animals as there are no figures or even estimates of death loss or infertility.Bulls which did not go to other herds and which did not go through the mechanism of the local Kamloops bull sale also would not be included. Still, the animal at the Kamloops sale represented the finest of the pure-bred stock and if one is interested in the process of technology transfer, bulls escaping the Kamloops sale and the herdbooks would have been, in most cases, of such low quality that their effect would have been marginal at best. A poor pure-bred is a close substitute for a good grade sire. The best animals, therefore, went through the Kamloops sale. Hence, this event represents the mechanism by which improved technology, in the form of prime breeding stock, can be diffused to the commercial operations. The sale was centrally located at the rail hub, being on the main line of two transcontinental railways and the terminus for branch lines south to the Nicola and Okanagan Valleys. Animals could travel easily from Calgary and also the Coast. Although there were few breeders in the area when the sale was established in 1919, it soon became the hub of the breeding area. Kamloops was also the largest distribution centre for the area so that the sale was often combined with an outing for the ranch family. Further,the sale was usually held in early March before the busy summer season and at the and of the period when winter made easy movement impossible. Ranchers came long distances for the first outing of the season. Complete information on the Kamloops bull sales has not survived. The local newspapers did not report detailed information on the sale for the years 1919, 1920, 1923, and 1926. The years 1919 and 1920 were not too important, as not until 1921 was the sale restricted to registered breeds. No information for Herefords was provided for 1927. These papers did not identify sellers of 1921; instead information was provided on the animals name. For a number of these animals, it was possible to trace through the herdbook back to the breeders of these animals. Although the breeder and the seller may not have been the same, such tracing still provided information on the place of origin of the animals. Complete records of sellers, purchasers and prices are available for the rest of the period. The number of animals sold each year (averaging approximately thirty for both breeds) and the average yearly price for each year (Figure2) tell us little. Certainly, there seems to be a definite upward trend in prices from 1922 on, with a leveling off in 1929-30, which corresponds closely with the cattle cycle. A more detailed analysis of the market is necessary if the process of technical diffusion is to be examined. Dividingthe marketup accord-

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 94 agricultural history ing to the type of transaction taking place provides a reasonable picture of the structure of the market.Three basic types of transactions can be identified; from sellers outside the Kamloops region to Kamloops region breeders, from sellers outside the Kamloops region to the four largest ranchunits participatingin the sale, and sales to ranchers within the Kamloops region who were neither breeders nor one of the major ranches. This final category can be further broken down into two sub-transactionforms; from breeders within the Kamloops region to other operators within the Kamloops region, and from sellers outside the Kamloops area to ranchers within the Kamloops area who were not the four largest ranches. The four large commercial ranch operations in the area [The Douglas Lake Cattle Company, The Western Canadian Ranching Company (Gang Ranch), the Guichon Ranch, and Nicola Stock Farms] are classed as a separate market. These large operations were subject to fewer constraints than the small family ranch units. They were consistently able to deal directly with sellers outside of the province. They had sufficient capital to purchase top grade stock imported from outside the region, although they also provided a sizeable market for locally bred animals. Further,in two cases, Douglas Lake and Gang Ranch, they acted as sellers in the market and sold their animals as local breeders. Theirability to pay a premium for stock separated them from the remaining ranches in the area. When these operations sold their stock at the sale they have been included as local breeders for the sake of this analysis. The results of this market division are summarized in Table 3 by the number of sales and the average annual price for each type of transaction. Some interesting results are immediately discernible. For example, in the case of Shorthorns, there appears to be a distinct split in the market.Prices paid by local breeders and the four large ranches for stock from outside the Kamloops region seem highly correlated. Prices to other ranches in the region from both sources also appear highly correlated. This is further emphasized by 1925 which is conspicuous by the absence of sellers from outside the Kamloops region. In that year, average prices to the large ranchers and to other ranchers from local suppliers were $121 and $119, respectively. In other years there is a distinct gap between the prices paid by local breeders and the four large ranches and those paid by the rest of the ranching community. In the Hereford market, on the other hand, with its noticeable absence of local breeders, prices to the four large ranches and prices to the rest of the ranching community are much closer together and, in generalt considerably higher than prices in the small rancher market for Shorthorns. Prices in the Hereford market appear to be closer to those of the high- priced Shorthorn market of local breeders and large ranches. In the few

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions TABLE3. Number of Sales and Prices for DifferentiatedMarkets- Kamloops Bull Sales Shorthorns Sellers Outside Kamloops Re- Sellers Outside Kamloops Re- Sellers Outside Kamloops Re- gion to Local Breeders gion to Large Ranches Local Breeders to Local Buyers gion to Local Small Ranchers Year No. of Sales Average Price{$) No. of Sales Average Price{$) No. of Sales Average Price{$) No. of Sales Average Price($)

5 4 8 210 1921 428 200 6 137 4 1922 142 151 25 74 16 105 o 5 1925 o 121 30 1 1 9 o o 3 7 1927 216 246 16 124 3 106 2 4 1928 282 281 15 192 5 147 2 5 1929 202 178 16 137 7 172 o 6 1 16 1930 o 298 17 195 3 Herefords o o 1921 6 296 o 21 246 o o o o 7 1922 o 34 76 o o o o 75 1925 o o - o 1927 o o 2 95 1 2 352 1928 n 200 13 u o 18 273 1929 350 5 313 13 1 155 13 306 1930 321 SOURCES:Kamloops Sentinal, 1924-1930, Kamloops Standard, 1919-1924, Kamloops Telegram, 1919-1924.

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 96 agricultural history cases where locally bred Herefordswere offered, the selling price is significantly lower than that of the annual average. These figures provide some insight into the operation of the marketfor technology embodied in pure-bred breeding stock. For the Shorthorn breed where the growth of local breeding herds moved the industry near self-sufficiency, prices for animals at the Kamloops bull sale were considerably lower to commercial operations than were Herefords.It would appear that the availability of local stock was able to suppress the price of medium-quality Shorthorns coming in from outside the province. Both local breeders and the large ranches were willing to pay a higher price for superior stock. The lower Shorthorn price was to have a significant effect on the dissemi- nation of pure-bred stock to the local commerical operations. Shorthorns which were not bought outside by the large ranchers or local breeders numbered 167, while only 97 Herefords found their way into this market. These figures, however, do not provide an accurate representation of the diffusion process. The higher-priced Herefordswere restricted, in general, to a small number of larger operations and institutions. Hereford cattle, which did not go to the local breeders and the four large ranches, found their way to only 28 operations including such noncommercial enterprises as the Kamloops IndustrialSchool, the Tranquille Sanatorium Farm, and the Indian Agent at Kamloops. The Shorthorns, on the other hand, were sold to 73 separate operations, 48 of which were supplied in whole, or in part, by the pure-bred herds of the Kamloops region. Although there is no accurate estimate of the total number of ranches in the region in 1930, figures are available for 1948.29In that year 420 commercial units were listed for the entire region, 195 for the southern Kamloops-Nicola section and 225 for Caribou-Chilcotinin the north. Of this total, only one operator was running over 10,000 head; 12 were running 1,000-5,000; 23 were running 500-999 head; 145 were running 100-499 head and 239 were running 25-99 head. If we can assume that these numbers are at least 'jball park" compared to 1930, it would appear that pure-breds could be found on approximately 25 percent of the operations. First,assume that it would be the large operators who initially had the resources to purchase pure-bred animals. Second, subtract the four large ranches, twenty-eight Hereford operations and approximately 40 Short- horn breeders.30Thus, seventy-two of the one hundred and eighty-one

29. Weir, Ranchingin the Southern InteriorPlateau of BritishColumbia, 38, Table 2. 30. Note that many of the breeders were also commercial operators and would be counted into any list of ranches such as Weir's. Therefore, knowing that some breeders were no longer active by 1930 and that some were no doubt small operators, given that there were 73 registered breeders during the era, 40 does not seem an unrealistic number.

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 97 Pure-Bred Herds operations running over 100 cattle which were reported by Weir can be accounted for. This leaves 109 units unaccounted for. As documented above, Shorthorn pure-breds were spread to seventy operations. Hence, it would seem that by 1930, somewhere over fifty percent (if one allows for Shorthorns going to a few small herds and some double counting) of the remaining operations would have received Shorthorn breeding stock directly from the Kamloops sale. It can also be seen from the geographic distribution that the majority of the operations not having pure-bred animals would have been in the Chilcotin and Cariboo, due, in part, no doubt to the transportation problems outlined above. As the larger holdings were more likely to have survived the great depression, the 1948 figures on large ranches may not be too far off. Therefore, it would seem that a considerable segment of ranching operations in the region would have acquired some pure-bred stock by the end of the decade and the slow process of commercial herd improvement had been at least started. It must be admitted that what has been presented is only a rough estimate but it, if anything, underestimates the pace of technical diffusion and herd improvement. Neither private transactions taking place outside the Kamloops bull sale nor the movement to superior sires which would no doubt have resulted from the breeding of pure stock to scrub animals has been taken into account. The focal point of the process of technology transfer, it would appear, was the development of the local pure-bred Shorthorn herds. They seem to play a significant part as an intermediate mechanism for the transfer of technology. They acted much like a transformer, taking in a high priced stock from outside the region and releasing their animals to the market at significantly lower prices. This price difference is illustrated in Figure 3. The breeders also had a moderating effect on the prices of a portion of the animals imported, forcing them to remain competitive. No such local herds developed for the Hereford industry and the diffusion of that breed was considerably constrained by comparison. The range cattle industry of the Southern Interior Plateau of British Columbia during the 1920s appears to have been in a period of relative calm compared to the frontier era from which it evolved and the disaster of the great depression. However, it was actually going through a process of transition which was facilitated by the absence of exogenous shocks. The upgrading of cattle herds is a slow process. It is unlikelyto occur when it takes all the energies of a rancher just to keep a viable herd, nor is it likely that such investments will be made during times of stress and high risk.The calm of the 1920s brought a period of consolidation and with that consolidation came a movement toward herd improvement. As has been pointed out, the prerequisites for technological change

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions flGURE 3 PRICE DIFFERENTIALBETWEEN AVERAGE PRICE PAID BY BREEDERS AT THE KAMLOOPS BULL SALE AND AVERAGE PRICES RECEIVED BY BREEDERS - SHORTHORNS

500 -

PRICEPAID BY BREEDERSTO OTHERBREEDERS

400 -

PRICEPAID TO a BREEDERSBY : 300 w COMMERCIAL s OPERATORS -

200 ^

NOTE:FOR 1925 AND 1930 NOBULLS WERE PURCHASEDBY BREEDERS. INTHESE YEARS PRICES 100 PAIDBY THE FOUR LARGE RANCHESHAVE BEEN USED SEETABLE 3.

1 930

YEAR

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 99 Pure-BredHerds were all evidenced in the Kamloops region. Informationwas disseminated through the triple mechanism of the government extension service, the Kamloops bull sale cum festival, and a very observable demonstration effect by successful operations. Second, there was a well-functioning market in the form of the Kamloops bull sale which was centrally located to all major transportation routes (although the Chilcotin area was to continually suffer from the lack of a direct rail route.) The third prerequisite, a steady supply at a reasonable price, was only available in one of the pure- bred markets, namely, Shorthorns. Herefords were continually priced out of reach of the smaller ranchers, or, at least, a viable alternative was available in the form of local Shorthorns at a lower price. Herefordsupply was dependent upon the whims of outside suppliers, as is well illustrated in 1925 when Alberta suppliers did not participate in the Kamloops sale and only one Hereford was offered. The lack of the development of local Hereford breeders clearly constrained the diffusion of the breed. In general, however, the combination of the three prerequisites for technological transfer succeeded in provid- ing at least a movement toward upgrading herds through the acceptance of pure breds by a large segment of the ranching industry. The evidence presented here provides some additional insights into the development of the mechanism for transferring technology between those who develop and improve innovations and those who ultimately use them. The process of diffusion has not been extensively studied in the case where the transfer mechanism is between farmers rather than through industrial-commercial distribution systems. The study also provides an indication of the detailed market examinations which are feasible when using the information provided in the herdbooks published by the various breed organizations.

This content downloaded from 201.221.122.55 on Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:38:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions