178 AT THE SIGN OF THE STOCK YARD INN 



Born and reared on the Iowa prairies, this was my 

 first introduction to the "old Kentucky home," 

 where early in the nineteenth century a grand- 

 mother of saintly memory had become the bride of 

 one of the pioneers that crossed the Blue Ridge 

 to begin life in the valley of Kentucky. 



One night we had been the guests of the late 

 Mr. A. L. HAMILTON, whose wife was a daughter of 

 one of the makers of Kentucky cattle history BEN 

 F. VANMETER. What memories are indeed recalled by 

 the mention of that name! Col. HARRIS, like practi- 

 cally all other western breeders of that period, had 

 stocked up with BATES-crossed cattle. Unlike many 

 of his contemporaries, however, I soon discovered 

 that he was not merely in quest of that which 

 might fairly be expected to prove immediately prof- 

 itable. Others were buying and selling very largely 

 at that time on the strength of the reputation of 

 the ancestors of the cattle they were handling, 

 rather than upon the real excellence of the animals 

 themselves for practical farm and feedlot purposes. 

 And this easy course seemed a royal road to suc- 

 cess. "Buy a Barrington for $3,500, because some 

 other fancier looking for the BATES blood will come 

 along and give you as much, perhaps more, for the 

 first calf." That was the recognized basis of values, 



