men (a cave-like house, half under ground, the earth from the excavation forming the roof and sides), and other appliances on a similarly crude scale. These owners of the larger herds endeavor to acquire the title to as much of the land on their range containing water as they possibly can, not only for the purpose of preventing the location upon their range of other herds, which would shorten the supply of feed for their own stock, but also because the ownership of water, according to range customs, gives a better right than could otherwise be claimed to maintain cattle upon the adjacent grazing lands.

It is not considered just the thing in any locality already stocked with cattle, to turn out an additional number without owning some water in the vicinity. But there are people engaged in the business who do not own any land whatever, and occasionally there are those who do not even have a ranch or headquarters, and who give the business no further attention than to attend the "round-ups. Of course such persons must make arrangements to work with some one else. In localities where water is very abundant its ownership is not considered as carrying with it the same grazing privileges as where it is more scarce. And the ranges are in some of these localities already so fully occupied, at least in the estimation of those already there, that strenuous objection is made to the turning out of more cattle, even though the owner may acquire land with water.

THE BOUNDARIES OF RANGES NOT DEFINED.

The ranges of different people are not separated from those of other persons by any definite boundaries, but on the contrary overlap each other in every conceivable manner, and the ranges of the larger owners contain within their boundaries those claimed by many small owners. If the country bordering on the west shore of Lake Michigan, for instance, were a grazing country, and divided into ranges according to the manner in which the arid region is occupied, it might be imagined that some large owner would have cattle grazing all the way from Chicago to Milwaukee, and back perhaps 50 miles west of the lake, and would call this his range. Another man would have his cattle between Chicago and Waukegan, and he would call this his range. Another man, as his range, would name the country between Chicago and Racine. Another man, the country between Waukegan and Milwaukee. Still another might name a narrow belt extending westerly from the lake between Racine and Waukegan. And so the country would be occupied as ranges to its maintaining capacity, each person defining the boundaries of his own range to suit himself and extended enough to sustain his stock, without any reference to what others may regard as their ranges. When a person speaks of his "range," he does not mean to be understood as naming any particular scope of country in which he has or claims exclusive rights, but simply as indicating the boundaries within which most of his cattle will be found under ordinary conditions of weather and feed.

As a rule, the owners of few cattle and the owners of large herds prefer that their cattle shall be kept somewhat distinct, or at any rate not too much intermixed. Accordingly most persons owning but few cattle prefer a location in a broken or hilly country, or in some park or elevated plain encompassed by mountains. Here cattle have more natural protection in case of storms; there is danger of their drifting far, and they are more immediately under very little

the owner's eye. And, if the number is not too large, an effort is made to see them all at frequent intervals, and it is the common practice to search the contiguous ranges as often as possible, and drive to their own proper range such cattle as may have wandered. In such broken or hilly country, abounding in ravines and gulches, there is generally water sufficient for stock purposes at convenient distances, and several owners of small herds will settle in as closely to each other as they think desirable. The limited area over which their small herds range, the personal attention they are able to give them, and the knowledge of where this or that "bunch" was last seen, as well as their thorough acquaintance with the country and of the grassy slopes or protected "draws" where cattle are most likely to be found, enable these men to keep a very close track of their business, and to find and care for their animals with more facility than where herds are larger and more widely dispersed. It would be difficult to make a satisfactory "round-up" in such localities where there are so many obstacles to the vision, and so many inequalities and depressions to screen cattle from observation. And the habit these smaller owners have of continually passing among the cattle is not agreeable to the views of the owners of large herds, who do not like to have their cattle moved or disturbed. It is inconvenient, too, in other ways, to have their herds too much intermixed. And so, while the owners of small herds prefer the broken and hilly country, the owners of larger herds seek the more open plains.

CATTLE DRIFTING OR DRIVEN BY STORMS.

Here the cattle drift far and wide. Many miles intervene, oftentimes, between watering places, and in natural grazing, even in the absence of storms to drive them, cattle often wander considerable distances. If feed happens to be short in one locality, as from local drought or overstocking it sometimes is, many cattle are apt to travel as far and long as there is any new country in sight, until a region of better food is encountered. And in winter, when severe storms occur, they turn their heads in an opposite direction and travel before it until some natural shelter is found or the storms subside. It is not unusual for them to cover 100 miles or more before they come to a halt; and as no attempt is made to bring them back before spring, a succession of storms carries them farther and farther away from home, until finally their progress is arrested by some natural obstacle, like a river with a course across that of the prevailing winds. Here they drift up stream or down, sometimes afternately, depending upon which course will bring them most relief from the chilling blast. A northwest wind will send them down stream, for instance, and a northeast force them in the contrary direction. Under unusual stress they will undertake a crossing. The owners have very little definite conception of where they will find them, and as they do not know precisely how many animals they own, or possess any accurate knowledge or description of each animal, they never know how many have been sacrificed to the fury of the elements, or when the whole of the remainder have been recovered. And, in point of fact, would get few of them back but for the comity prevailing among stockmen and the unique system of working the ranges which has been devised to overcome just such obstacles as these to the successful conduct of the grazing business.

But under any system it will readily be seen that a very considerable number of cattle must be lost. The cattle may be driven on to territory where the grass has been destroyed by fire and starve to death after the storm has passed; their movement during a storm may be interrupted by a lined wire fence and many perish; weaker animals may not possess sufficient vitality to endure the exposure; and all may suffer from the lack of water; and thus the danger of heavy losses is an element in the business (even if the losses do not always occur) against which the range man must insure himself, and which must be considered in any estimate of its advantages and profit. One who has his capital exposed to such perils should not be expected to content himself with the moderate returns which, by common consent, are regarded as ample for those who view the world and its belongings from the safe stand-point of an investment in Government bonds,

THE LOSSES ON RANGE CATTLE.

The losses on range cattle are estimated by those in interest anywhere from 3 to 5 or 6 per cent. The estimate seems a low one, but it is only an estimate, and in point of fact there are no means for arriving at any accurate knowledge of what the real losses are. For very obvious reasons, there would be a disposition upon the part of ranch men to underestimate the losses. Even if no one desired to sell, it is human nature to put the best foot forward, and men are everywhere reluctant to admit to themselves that serious losses or mistakes have been made. There is one thing, however, which tends to increase the death-rate much below what would be expected from a comparison with the losses sustained on farm stock. That is, the absence of aged animals on the range. On the farms cows are kept along from year to year on account of some peculiar value as breeders or of special excellence in the dairy. have long since found that old animals will not endure the vicissiBut range men tudes of the range, and all such are carefully selected out at the "round-ups" and sent to market. So, the animals exposed to the inclemencies of the unfavorable season are those of such they should have their vital powers most vigorous and active and be best able to endure exposure. occur at a season when there are not many very young calves, and if The storms which cause the losses such do die they do not enter into the estimates, because owners do not yet know of their existence. Then the estimated losses, even if approximately correct, are the average losses.

ages

that

Those which fall upon individuals are frequently very heavy, even in seasons which are favorable generally, and they are more severe in the case of cattle which have been newly brought upon the range, coming late in the season in comparatively low condition, and in the case of cattle (and especially young cattle) the first season from the Eastern States. So, while the losses in the case of cattle which have been for some time upon the range may be small, those that are "through cattle," i. e., cattle which have come through from the extreme Southeastern States that season, may, and oftentimes do, count up to 15, 20, or even 25 per cent., depending upon the season, the character of the range upon which they have been turned, and the opportunities the cattle may have had to recuperate from the effects of their journey before winter sets in.

FIRES UPON THE RANGE.

When fires occur upon the range, as they sometimes do, especially in seasons of unusual rain-fall and more than usual luxuriant grass, great stretches of country, perhaps 100 miles from one extreme to the other, are burned over. Cattle driven by the storm into such a burned territory would certainly starve, unless the storm should prove of sufficient duration to urge them across it. For when the storm subsides the cattle come to a halt, and if in a region affording no feed would wander aimlessly around within a few miles of where they happened to be, and soon perish. Accordingly, precautions are taken to prevent cattle drifting upon extensive burned tracts, and when this can not be prevented, they are generally followed on the first let up of the weather and driven out upon the opposite side.

INCLOSED PASTURES-WINTER FEEDING.

If the cattle should be confined in inclosed pastures the business would be deprived of its greatest element of uncertainty, relieved from much of the expense with which it is now burdened, and in every way be placed upon a more satisfactory basis. If-but it is a big if in this instance, not a mere stumbling-block, but a veritable mountain in the way, which it seems impossible to avoid until the future brings some of the changed conditions to which reference has been made, and which may or may not follow remotely in her train. In the first place, no one will or ought to be permitted to erect fences and make extensive inclosures on the public domain. In the second place, the carrying capacity of the land is so limited and so much would have to be inclosed to maintain a herd of only fair proportions, even in the most favorable of seasons, that it is doubtful if the expense of making and keeping up the fences would not more than overcome all the advantages which, under the most favorable circumstances, could be realized from their employment. It will be understood that, aside from the mountain districts, the country furnishes nothing in the way of fencing materials, that everything has to be brought in by rail, and transported considerable distances by wagons after reaching the range country. So nowhere else does fencing cost as much as here. And, finally, fences introduce some new difficulties peculiarly their own, and are, besides, an element of danger to the cattle of the owners as well as to those of other stock

men.

If a drifting herd encounters a fence in a storm its progress is arrested, and, unable to move forward and unwilling to move backward in the face of the storm, the cattle stand still or move but little along the line of the barrier, and a large percentage freeze to death. The fences, therefore, would often serve to hold cattle to be starved if some effort were not made to relieve them. Fires sweeping over a few miles are not of rare occurrence; and while these small affairs make no perceptible difference in the available feed of an open range, they would serve to destroy, for that season, the feed in an inclosed pasture which happened to be within their limits, and compel the removal of the cattle.

The amount of feed upon the range, and consequently the carrying capacity, depends upon the rains which fall during the growing seaAnd these are by no means equally distributed, as the storms by which they are accompanied sweep across the country in belts,

son.

not always favoring the same strip of territory in successive seasons, giving the normal amount of moisture in one locality and depositing very little in another. So, after having provided an inclosed pasture, the owner would find that some seasons, owing to local droughts, it would be comparatively worthless, and he would rest under the disadvantage of never knowing in advance, so as to calculate upon them, when these unfavorable seasons would occur.

The same peculiarity marks the course of the winter storms, and belts of snow 10 to 20 miles wide extend for some distance across the plains, while on either side is bare ground and good feed, which the cattle, unrestrained, will find. Confined within a pasture in the snow belts the cattle will be unable to find subsistence and must inevitably perish. If released to seek feed they are turned loose at the very season when the owner hoped to have them confined, and all the expense of "rounding up" and the dangers and losses of drifting must be met, the same as if no pasture had been provided. And having incurred the expense of fencing a pasture, which could not be depended upon to save a dollar in the expense of management or avert any of the losses usually attendant upon the business, the owner must maintain a sufficient force of men during the winter to "round up" the cattle whenever an unusual, snow occurs, and get them outside of his inclosure before they starve to death; and if fencing were general, the coveted feed would likely be within some other person's inclosure or beyond it where it could not be reached; so that inside the fence or outside the cattle might fare very poorly. Fencing, with present conditions, does not seem feasible, and the only practical course to pursue with cattle seems to be to let them roam at pleasure, following their own instincts.

At any rate, unless some provision can be made for winter feeding, the general experience of the range appears to be against the practice of placing cattle behind fences. If provision is to be made for winter feeding a less number of cattle under one management would be a necessity, and while from a large number of owners and better cattle the quantity of beef produced might be as great or greater than now, the industry of its production would cease to be a range industry. With what has been accomplished in the past in the way of rendering the whilom "American Desert" productive, no one will attempt to fix a limit to the developments of the future. But at the present time, regarding the matter from the standpoint of present experience and methods, no one can see just how or when it will be possible, as a general thing, to provide winter feed in inclosures for the cattle which are able to feed themselves in the arid region.

THE CLIMATE AND STORMS OF THE ARID REGION.

With reference to climate the grazing regions are much the same throughout, possessing a degree of uniformity in this respect much greater than would be supposed, considering their wide stretch from north to south, and the difference in the altitude of different sections. This is doubtless mainly due to the lack of humidity in the atmosphere. During the summer months the temperature, as measured by the thermometer, rises in the middle hours of the day fully as high as would in any other climate be consistent with tolerable comfort. But here the heat is seldom felt to be as oppressive as elsewhere, and is certainly less debilitating in its effects. There is an almost constant