This is Langwater King of the Meads, born in 1931 from stock of the famous Guernsey cattle breeder F.L. Ames's Langwater Farm in Easton, MA. King of the Meads was the foundation sire for Darwin Morse's prize herd of Guernsey's here at Green Meads Farm. The photo was taken in 1935 by the foremost photgrapher of cattle in the USA at the time...and maybe ever...Harry Strohmeyer.
My grandfather noticed that Harry only took one shot of each cow he photographed. When asked to take photos of Darwin's horses, Harry replied that they were much more difficult to photograph. With cows, he said, he just waited for the skeleton to settle into place but horses had too much muscle covering the skeleton and were much harder "to see".
This bull sired almost all of the Guernsey cattle produced here from the 1930's through the 1950's. They were sold all around the world and the experience provided the foundation for both my grandparent's expertise as animal breeders. My grandfather went on to success in breeding Morgan horses and, believe it or not, canaries! My grandmother raised, trained and bred over 26 breeds of dogs in her life time.
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