Clyde Girod, of Fairview township, is not only the leading Holstein breeder of pure bloods in Butler county, but stands in the front rank of that industry in the United States. Clyde Girod is a native son of Butler county. He was born in Fairview township, June 26, 1886, and is a son of Irenu and Martha (Shrader) Girod. The father is a prominent farmer and stockman of Fairview township, and a pioneer of that locality. He homesteaded in Fairview township, in 1870. Irenu Girod is a native of Leige, Belgium, and a son of a Protestant French minister. Martha Shrader, the mother of Clyde Girod, is a native of Illinois, and a daughter of Jacob and Martha Elizabeth (Ford) Shrader, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter, of Kentucky. The Shrader family were very early settler in Kansas, coming to this State from Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1859. They first settled in Jefferson county, and remained there until 1874, when they came to Butler county, and the father homesteaded in Fairview township. He died in 1900, and his wife departed this life in 1909.

Clyde Girod is one of a family of nine children, born to his parents, as follows: Jacob, farmer, Butler county; Paul, farmer, Haskell county; Philemon, Bellingham, Wash.; Irenus, Cowley county, Kansas; Clyde, the subject of this sketch; Estella, married Dare Wait, Towanda township; Mae, married Irvin Sciklebower; Harvey, resides at home, and Ernest, deceased.

Clyde Girod grew to manhood on the home farm in Fairview township, and obtained a good education in the public schools, and in 1903, entered the State Agricultural College at Manhattan, Kans., attending that institution for three years, and was graduated. While a student at the agricultural college, he was convinced, after an exhaustive series of experiments, that the pure bred Holstein cattle possess many points of superiority over other breeds, and, in particular, in the production of butter fat. After graduating from college, Mr. Girod returned home, and took charge of his father's dairy business, in Fairview township. He bought a pure bred Holstein bull from C. F. Strow of Peabody, Kans., to head the herd of shorthorn grades, and the result was that

his calves, at two years old, were better producers than the grade cattle at maturity. He then went to Omaha, Neb., and bought a carload of pure bred heifers at an average of $150 per head. That was the beginning of his pure bred herd of Holsteins, and he has met with unusual success. He is the pioneer of this industry in Butler county, and has developed a mammoth business. Soon after purchasing the herd at Omaha, he went to Wisconsin, and bought a carload of grade Holsteins, and sold them to his neighbors. In May, 1916, he bought the pick of the best pure bred Holsteins of the leading herds of Wisconsin, Ohio, and New York, investing $10,000 in these purchases.

The amount of Mr. Girod's sales of these cattle is enormous, and he is known throughout the country as a leading breeder of pure bred Holsteins. He frequently sells too head per week, and his average sales during the year is fifty head per week. His investment in this breed of cattle, alone, is about $50,000, and his reputation as a breeder is so generally known that orders which he received through the mail for calves alone amount to about $2,500 per year. He sells a great many pure bloods to different agricultural colleges of the various States. His herd bull is a $2,000 animal, and his other stock is of corresponding value.

While Mr. Girod is the leading Holstein breeder in this section of the country, his activity in the breeding world is not alone confined to cattle. He is a breeder of pure bred Percheron horses, and while he does not make an effort to specialize in this line, he is a recognized success. He is also a breeder of the original spotted Poland China hogs. One of the best proofs that Mr. Girod's customers are satisfied, and that his methods meet with public approval, and that his stock is up to the standard, is the fact that many of his sales are to old customers.

Mr. Girod owns 480 acres of land and leases 320 acres, which gives him 800 acres of a stock farm, which is pretty fairly utilized by his extensive business. His cream production alone averages $8 per day, and he employs three men the year around to assist in his work. Besides his interests in Butler county, he owns a half interest with his brother in a Cowley county ranch, which is devoted to breeding pure bred Shorthorns.

Mr. Girod was married on February 27, 1907, to Miss Blanche B. Hanes, a native of Butler county, and a daughter of Elmer and Louise (Reeves) Hanes. To Mr. and Mrs. Girod has been born one child, William Kermit. Mr. Girod is a member of the Anti Horse Thief Association, and is one of Butler county's most progressive men.

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