212 THE PORTRAIT GALLERY 



it was in the Shorthorn that Mr. Alexander displayed his clear- 

 est genius as a constructive shaper of bovine -destiny. In the 

 winter of 1852-53, the two Alexanders visited Great Britain 

 with the determination to lay foundations for a great Shorthorn 

 herd. Sixty-eight cows and heifers and fifteen bulls, evidenced 

 the thoroughness and the permanence of their intentions. From 

 two of these animals Mr. Alexander produced Duchess of Air- 

 drie, the first of the great line that played such a noteworthy 

 role in American Shorthorn industry. Further importations 

 only strengthened the foundation stock, and Woodburn became 

 the nursery for much that was historic in the adolescent days 

 of American breeding. Few pedigree matings were planned to 

 concentrate the bloods of the individual strains, but the spec- 

 ulations which became rife in Air-drie bloodlines found their 

 sources in other herds. Throughout the Civil War the herd 

 prospered in the custody of J. M. Woodruff in Indiana, and 

 the period of expansion of post-bellum days found Woodburn 

 in a position to dominate the bloodlines of the new herds of 

 Illinois, Iowa and the Central West. In the 60's, Mr. Alex- 

 ander's herd had become so firmly established that more than 

 one return importation was made to England, particularly of 

 the Dukes of Airdrie. R. A. Alexander died December 1, 1867, 

 but his brother continued the operations at Woodburn until well 

 toward the close of the century. While no such constructive 

 achievements were attained in all breeds as in the Shorthorn, 

 it is noteworthy that the Woodburn contributions to Jersey 

 breeding were large factors in the extension of this breed 

 throughout the South, and that their importation and distribu- 

 tion of Cotswolds did much to further long wool interests at a 

 time when strong moral and financial backing was needed. As 

 a nursery of improved livestock, Woodburn stands supreme in 

 American agricultural history, and its peer has not yet been 

 developed. 



