192 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



of this department of the University, for through him as chair- 

 man of the Farm Committee of the Board of Regents, the 

 equipment for this work was materially uplifted with corresponding 

 encouragement. Mr. George McKerrow liberally assisted the writer 

 in his work and much advancement is due to him and others, 

 including Messrs. George Harding and Son, the late Mr. M. W. Dun- 

 ham, Ex-Governor Hoard, H. C. Taylor, John Gosling and M. J. 

 Hoven, all of whom in more than one way gave material impetus 

 to the movement. 



It was at this time that the writer came under the inspiring 

 influence of the late Mr. William Watson. It was a source of intense 

 pleasure to see this experienced fitter and judge subject any of his 

 loving friends, chiefly cattle and sheep, to his considerate inspec- 

 tion. Equally fair minded, another friend, William Lysaght, had 

 this rare faculty of candid criticism even of his own, and to both 

 of these men the writer owes more than he is able to acknowledge. 

 After coming to Iowa, enlarged opportunities were entered upon 

 for the pursuit of these studies. Prof. C. F. Curtiss and Hon. 

 James Wilson, present Secretary of Agriculture, had prepared the way 

 with an equipment in live stock and other facilities of exceptional 

 merit for the teaching of this subject. Continued association with 

 the former has vastly deepened and widened the writer's interest 

 and knowledge of this subject ; for such must be the outcome of 

 contact with a broad and fair minded judge of wide experience in 

 American live stock show rings. One of the most effective sources 

 of encouragement to the development of this line of teaching has 

 been the support given the movement by the commission firm of 

 Messrs, Clay, Robinson & Company, of the Union Stock yards, 

 Chicago. By liberally donating prizes for the study of this subject 

 in our colleges, this firm brought the attention of the practical man 

 to it, as the latter realized that when a large firm stopped in its 

 work to do this there must be something of genuine merit in the 

 movement. With such interest from outside sources and such direct 

 associations is it any wonder that the subject should grow until it 

 became a necessity to publish a book about it ? 



Other influences have been drawn on in studying this subject 

 further. In earlier davs the writer happened on one of the first 



