The Woodson’s Rare Books Collection has been and remains a tremendous resource for this blog. When interesting examples of computers and machinery started to become scarce, Norie turned me onto rare books as an alternative, and I was surprised by just how viable they were. So, starting with today’s post, I’m going to be exploring one particular collection in depth, the Masterson Texana Collection. A collection on Texas history and culture may not seem like the most promising avenue, but I think you’ll be surprised.
Santa Gertrudis is a breed of beef cattle first raised in the United States on King Ranch in 1853. The Masterson collection includes three volumes of the Santa Gertrudis Breeders International Recorded Herds, 1953, 1959, and 1966. These books are relevant here because they include some fairly deep discussions of animal husbandry, including the breed’s classification, performance testing, and genes and phenotype.
http://alexandria.rice.edu/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=t9oTi7DGYS/FONDREN/86410117/9