Soil Repair in Willamette Valley 63
the Northwest. In 1871 W. S. Ladd and S. G. Reed im- ported Shorthorn, Ayershire and Jersey infusions for their stock farm in Washington County. In 1870 Benjamin Stewart brought Devons to Yamhill County. The breeders that have contributed to the improvement of Willamette Valley herds since that time have been numerous and a large volume could be written of their achievements. Suffice it here to say, the cattle industry in the Willamette Valley has been built slowly and on a lasting basis. In the dairying branch much has been done and much is promised for the future. It may be in place to note that an important fodder product for this work is kale^ which was introduced at Milwaiikie in 1876 by Richard Scott. Another highly valuable food is vetch, which was introduced here in 1870 by William Chalmers, and which grows very luxuriantly in Willamette Valley. This pea plant has a first cousin in the wild pea which thrives here abund- antly in brush places, thus indicating the favorable natural conditions. The total value of cattle in Oregon was given in the 1910 census as $17,570,685.
VI.
Sheep breeding began in Old Oregon with the early pio- neers, both British and American. In 1910 the value of sheep in the three states, as summarized in the Federal census was : Oregon, $12,213,942; Idaho, $15,897,192; Washington. $1,- 931,170. In Oregon, sheep were third after horses and cattle as the chief livestock assets. In Idaho, sheep were second after horses.
The early sheep in Oregon were merinos. The first appear to have been imported by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1833, by sea. In 1842 Joseph Gale (American) drove a flock of sheep overland to Oregon from California. These were Spanish merinos. The first sheep driven across the plains — ^in 1844 — ^were those of Joshua Shaw and son, Alva C. R. Shaw, of Polk County. Pure-bred merinos first came in 1851, brought from Ohio by Hiram Smith. In 1853 R. R. Thomp-
