THE CALL OF A DISTANT PAST 279 



selling value of an animal if one of the "crosses" 

 in the pedigree read "Duke of Airdrie 2743" or 

 "Duke of Airdrie (12730)." The one was taboo, 

 the other a name to be paraded with pride. Each 

 and every name and number in the body of the 

 pedigrees as well as in all the footnotes had to be 

 carefully verified by reference to the English or 

 American Herd Books before we put the "forms" 

 to press. The whole Shorthorn world had gone 

 stark mad on the subject of pedigrees and fash- 

 ion. No one who had any special pride in his 

 herd thought his equipment complete until he had 

 an elaborately worked -out catalogue compiled and 

 printed at the "National Live Stock Journal" office. 

 GEORGE RUST was their biographer and historian. 

 At first I could not, of course, be trusted to pre- 

 pare any "copy" for these important publications. 

 I could read proofs and "check" numbers, though, 

 until I was blue in the face. And so after many 

 weary months I perforce acquired a familiarity with 

 the pedigree records and the breeding of the differ- 

 ent herds that was subsequently to be turned to 

 some account. This work was only for the vaca- 

 tion months, however. During the winter I went to 

 school: first in Chicago, then for one year only 

 at Cornell University, and later taking a LL.B. 



