Breeding, the art of improving races or breeds of domestic animals, or modifying them in certain directions, by continuous attention to their pairing, in conjunction with a similar attention to their feeding and general treatment. No sooner had the Revolutionary War closed than importations of improved stock began. This was kept up until the War of 1812 temporarily checked it. Mr. Rommel says that the year 1817 will always be memorable in American cattle history. In that year, following the short-horn importations of 1812, came the beginning of the Devon and Hereford importations, together with still another arrival of short-horns. Growth was slow up to 1827, when there came renewed activity, especially in short-horns. Companies were formed and the improvement of cattle was marked. In point of numbers the shorthorn breed rapidly assumed the foremost position, and till about the year 1880 was the only beef of prominence. The expansion of the cattle business was rapid. Up to the opening of the Union Pacific railroad it was mainly carried on in the part of the country E. of the Missouri River. Then came the discovery of the great opportunities offered by the far Western plains for grazing. The growth in the cattle raising industry was then abnormal. "In the early eighties," says Mr. Rommel, "pure-bred cattle by the thousands were brought from England to supplement the breeding herds for the range, and the nearest that the Hereford and Angus breeds ever came to having a boom in this country was at this time." After the collapse, which was bound to follow, the cattle business is now on what is thought to be a substantial and healthy foundation.
Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia, 1912.