534 A HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



The results of the trade both at public and private 

 sale in England and America during the year 1885 

 indicated clearly that "the bloom was off the rye," 

 so far as fancy prices for anything except the very 

 best cattle were concerned. The fact is, that the 

 pace had been too fast, the business was being over- 

 done. While quite a number of importers and deal- 

 ers were financially crippled during the slump in 

 values that materialized about this date, there was 

 no doubt but that in the long run the period of liq- 

 uidation which now set in was beneficial so far as 

 the ultimate best interest of the Herefords in the 

 United States was concerned. Excellent cattle were 

 now being produced in the United States from past 

 importations, and it was no longer essential that 

 the herds of Herefordshire be heavily drawn upon 

 to supply home demands. 



The Famous Invasion of Kentucky. The year 

 1886 is memorable in the annals of American beef 

 cattle breeding for the vigorous effort made by the 

 Illinois and Indiana champions of the Herefords to 

 storm the one great citadel of Shorthorn power 

 the blue grass region of Kentucky. For the span of 

 two generations Kentucky had been wedded to the 

 "red, white and roan." Throughout all the years 

 that the "white faces" had been steadily gaming 

 ground north of the Ohio River they had received 

 no encouraging word from "the Blue Grass." The 

 Alexanders, Eenicks, Vanmeters, Cunninghams, 

 Bedfords, Goffs, Clays, Warfields, Hamiltons, and 

 their contemporaries had for years reigned supreme 



