Dr. Thomas P. Lecky
Success is due mainly to the long devoted hours that I put into the work It is going the extra mile that makes the difference between the man who is remembered and the one who is forgotten".
The above words which were spoken by Dr. Thomas P
Lecky indicate the high value that he placed on hard work as a path to success.
It was because of his hard work that he is worth writing about, and indeed he
is greatly remembered and admired at home and abroad.
If you want the same level of success then the secret
is the same as it was for Lecky, that is hard work.
Dr. Thomas P Lecky was born December 21,1904 in the
parish of Portland. He grew up on a small farm where he developed a love for
animals. From an early age, Lecky knew that he would be working with animals.
For him, failure did not mean giving up his dream of
success. In fact, it was through Dr. Lecky's failure to break the West Indian
milk record that he was inspired to learn more. He wanted to hold the record
for being able to obtain the greatest volume of milk from a single cow within
one year. He, however failed when his cow died.
His drive for success took him to McGill University
and Toronto University in Canada where he studied animal husbandry - the
science of breeding and caring for farm animals. His study showed that the
method of breeding cattle in Jamaica was not the best.
He decided to develop his own tropical dairy breed.
There was much oppositions to Dr. Lecky's work from the colonial authorities of
his day. Nonetheless, Dr. Lecky was not deterred.
He went on to develop a new breed of cattle he called
the Jamaica Hope. For the first time ever, there was now a tropical breed of
cow that could give up to 20,000 pounds metric of milk in a single year
The demand for such breed has been great in many
countries.
He later developed other breeds of cattle that were
suited for Jamaica's tropical climate. These were the Jamaica Red Poll and the
Jamaica Brahman. They were stronger and yielded a better quality of meat.
Dr Lecky's life was a success because he saw the
importance of learning, hard work, and determination even when there was
opposition.
Dr. Lecky died in May 1994. The legacy of his work is
still being felt, especially among small cattle farmers who benefited from his
technology and advice. The dreamer is dead but not forgotten. Indeed his dream
is still very much remembered. Click
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A Fl WI HERITAGE … JIS 1996