XXVII 

 SOME PURELY AMERICAN ACHIEVEMENTS 



The portraits of WILLIAM S. VANNATTA and TOM 

 CLARK look lonely now in this collection because, up 

 to date, they are the sole representatives of one of 

 the greatest groups of cattle-breeders yet developed 

 by the live-stock industries of the United States. 

 The Hereford alone among all the valuable British 

 types of improved cjpmestic animals has been im- 

 proved over his English form by American minds and 

 methods. 



One exception should be made to this general 

 statement. The Berkshire swine have been decid- 

 edly bettered in this country, from an American 

 point of view, very largely through the genius of Hon. 

 N. H. GENTRY of Missouri. "NICK," as his friends 

 love to call him, is beyond question one of the great- 

 est constructive forces ever identified with American 

 stock-breeding activities. His work with the Berk- 

 shire is fairly comparable with the best efforts of 

 the most successful breeders on either side the 

 Atlantic, and if those who are interested in the 

 American hog as a prime factor in cornbelt pros- 

 perity do not see to it that his portrait is placed in 

 the SADDLE AND SIRLOIN rooms, they will be failing 

 in an obvious obligation. The story of Mr. GENTRY'S 



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