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CONDITION OF THE CATTLE-RANGE INDUSTRY.

Hon. NORMAN J. COLMAN,

Commissioner of Agriculture:

SIR: At this time, when every citizen of the United States is disposed to study the question of the meat supply of the land, there seems no more appropriate way of introducing my annual report than by a summary of the cattle interests of the plains.

CONDITION OF THE RANGE.

A general depression of the cattle interests of the whole country set in with the year 1885, and it has continued up to the present time, growing worse from month to month, until almost a total stagnation in ranch trading has resulted. A glance at the prices paid for beef cattle in the great market centers of the East shows an almost continuous decline in value for two years, and a present price so low as to leave literally no margin between the cost of production and the market quotations. All grades of cattle have been affected, but in this as in all other articles of commerce the inferior quality sustains the greater depreciation. For reasons that will be made plain hereafter in this report, the range beef of the West has been, as a general rule, thin in flesh, and consequently sold at the lowest figures. The average decline in values, covering the period named, is fully $15 a head on all of the beef crop of the plains. This, as a natural result, has caused a shrinkage of the fortunes of the range men, and at the same time kept new men from entering into the business, thus causing the stagnation of trade in ranch properties above referred to.

Happily for all concerned, the climax of depression seems to have been reached, and a general feeling of hope in the future is beginning to spring in the breasts of the range men. This hope is very largely based on the fact that beef production is decreasing while the demand is steadily increasing. Population is rapidly increasing in all parts of the world, noticeably so in the United States, and with that increase is developed a proportional increase in beef consump tion per capita. On the contrary, the range area of the United States is annually growing less. In Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Dakota this is notably the case, caused by the westward movement of the farmers and the enactment of laws prohibiting the running of cattle on the open plains.

This same condition exists in Oregon, Washington Territory, and California, where thousands of settlers are crowding into the edges of the range.

In time this border country, along the line between the permanently arid or range region and the agricultural, will produce as many and

perhaps more cattle than when it was used exclusively as a range, but the transition period will be one of non-production. Generally speaking, the persons who settle on this questionable area are poor men who have no cattle, and whose utmost exertions will be required for years to simply produce food and raiment for their families. Again, the land taken from the range, if capable of grain production, will be wholly devoted to that use for a number of years, because new land makes a crop every year. By the time the cream has been taken off and the conditions changed, so as to make this belt a stock country, the population will have increased to such an extent as to more than balance the gain in cattle thus produced, so that we are justified in figuring this detachment from the grazing area as permanently gone.

Another reason for the hope that the tide has been out to the full length of the ebb is the fact that in all branches of trade and manufactures in the East there is a very perceptible revival setting in. Periods of activity and depression follow each other in all branches. of trade or productive occupations as regularly as ebbs and flows the tide, and that a return to prosperous conditions for the beef-producing industry will follow the present unsatisfactory relations of that industry is as certain as that sunshine follows cloud.

The actual condition of the range coun ry to-day is far better than is generally believed to be the case, even among rangemen themselves. The country bordering on the hundredth meridian, and extending from Dakota to Texas, suffered a very material loss in its herds during the winter of 1885-'86; and the spring and early summer of 1886 proved so dry as to cause starvation to thousands of cattle in western Texas and on the border of New Mexico. Outside of these the losses for last year were comparatively light.

The 1st of December, 1886, ushered in a winter range well cured and reasonably abundant, from the Gulf of Mexico on the south to the British Possessions on the north, and covering the entire arid belt from east to west. The only exceptions to this rule are to be found in a small area reaching from northern Wyoming up into Montana for a short distance, and lying east of the base of the Rocky Mountains. Besides this belt there is a part of central and western Nevada that is short of winter range, caused by the lack of snow-fall on the mountains last winter and the consequent forcing of the herds into the winter range in search of water during the late summer and early fall. No serious losses will be sustained in either of these districts unless the winter proves to be more severe than the present prospects indicate.

There will be losses, of course, all over the range. There must, of necessity, always be. But they are not likely to be of any such proportions as to overcome the percentage of profit. There are many old cows on the range, having been kept to too great an age because of the high price of young stock a few years ago. Among these there will be the heaviest losses, but many ranch men are prepared to feed them, and thus carry them through. Upon the whole, the outlook at the beginning of 1887 is decidedly hopeful so far as range conditions are concerned.

One of the most serious conditions of the range country to-day is the

DANGER FROM OVERSTOCKING.

Every acre of the arid belt is full of stock. From the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains east to the grain fields of the Missouri and

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Mississippi valleys, and reaching from the extremes of the north and south, there is absolutely no spot where an unoccupied range can be secured for anything like a large herd of cattle. During what may very properly be termed the cattle boom, from 1880 to 1885, every breeding animal from Texas to Montana was saved, and the increase has spread out over the whole land. When the ranges were new, and grass was more abundant than cattle, fat animals were the rule everywhere, both in winter and summer. But the rapid increase has caused the winter range to be more or less eaten out in the summer, and the summer range is kept down so that in the autumn, when the fat is laid on by eating the cured grass, there is not enough to satisfy all the vast herds without going such long distances to water as to prevent the rapid taking on of fat. The result is that we are turning off feeders instead of beeves from most of our ranges in the fall, and the stock cattle go into winter in good condition, rather than fat, as formerly. Here lies the danger. If an animal goes into winter with a great roll of tallow inside to act as a steam heater for keeping up the animal heat it can endure an untold amount of cold and exposure without material damage. But if it goes into winter plump and round, yet without the full supply of tallow, the animal heat must be kept up by the daily food supply, which is not always obtainable. Hence the greater liability to loss.

The corn belts to the east are so near that our steers may be ripened on grain with a profit; but if we permit our herds to so increase that the cows and young stock all go into winter thin, we have no means of preventing heavy losses when a severe winter comes, as is liable at any time to happen. Safety lies in the direction of reducing rather than increasing our holdings.

But with breeding herds there is a continuously strong temptation to save the cows and heifers, hoping for a good winter, until calamity comes. This must be avoided by selling cows and spaying heifers until there is no surplus of stock on the range over what is absolutely safe against the storms of any winter.

The hard winters are what we must provide against. The good ones need no provision. A given area will carry through the year double the number of cattle when the summer is favorable for the growth of grass and followed by a dry autumn and mild winter that it will carry when the summer is dry, the grass short, and washed out by fall rains, to be followed by a winter of more than common severity. Yet this last-named condition is the one to be provided against, for there is the danger. Range men are beginning to realize that this is the vital question, and the next few years will witness a great change in this direction. The herds will be reduced. Until that time the danger-line will not have been passed. The only means whereby the range product may be increased is

ARTIFICIAL WATER SUPPLIES.

There are many high table-lands and ridges dividing the watersheds of the streams that flow from the mountains, where the grass is abundant, but the absence of water after the early spring renders it unavailable for stock. The sinking of wells on these ridges and plains, and the erection of windmills and tanks, would convert millions of acres of good grass into beef where now it is lost. But this would require a very considerable outlay of money which, under our land system, stockmen are slow to risk. There is scarcely a doubt,

however, but the time is near at hand when this will be done, for the reason that the increased thrift of the herds will more than repay the expense. Well-boring has been tried, and in many instances has proven satisfactory, and each year will, undoubtedly, witness more and more of it, until all of the waste places are made productive. Let the good work go on, for it adds immensely to the comfort of the great herds that wander over the grassy plains, and will lead them up to winter's gate in much better condition to stand the stormy blasts.

While the above conditions are almost universal in the range country, it is particularly true of the great Southwest. A very large per cent. of New Mexico and Arizona consists of far-reaching mesas, or high plains, where there is a prolific growth of the celebrated black gramma grass, but no water save in the short seasons of rain. There are millions of acres of this kind of land now wholly unproductive that could be utilized for range purposes if an artificial water supply could be obtained at a reasonable cost, thus adding thousands of head of choice beef animals to the yearly output of the plains country. In a few instances stockmen have gone on to these high plains and sunk wells, putting up windmills, and arranging a system of troughs for watering their stock. One good well, properly provided with tanks so as to store the water and fill the troughs therefrom as needed, can be safely counted upon to furnish water for one thousand cattle. But to provide against accidents it is necessary to have the well supplied with an extra pump and a horse-power that can be used when the wind fails or the machinery gets out of order.

Experienced range men all admit that the lack of water, both in summer and in winter, is one of the greatest sources of loss to the cowman. It causes a double loss. First, the lack of a sufficient supply of water daily and within convenient reach causes a slow growth in the young animals and prevents the rapid ripening of the matured ones. Second, it sends many more into the winter thin in flesh, and the absence of tallow leaves them unable to endure the hardships of an exceptionally severe winter. Hence, this is a problem requiring careful thought by stockmen themselves and some consideration at the hands of the Government, whose duty it is to aid in every practicable way the increase of the food supply of the nation.

WINTER RANGES.

The arid region, as a range country, is absolutely safe under all ordinary circumstances if only stocked to its capacity; but a range that affords feed for one thousand cattle ought not to be expected to carry two thousand head. The grasses of this region generally spring early on account of the winter snow-fall and the spring rains, then cure as they stand, and make the best of fall and winter feed; but there must be enough of it to supply the herd. There is enough of the range country bare of snow, or with so slight a covering as not to cover the grass, always accessible to cattle for them to live upon and do well, if the grass has not been eaten down too short. The winter range should be reserved for the winter. If cattle are allowed to graze in summer over the winter feed they eat off the seed and tramp it down, so that the most nutritious portion is gone when most it is needed. Besides, if the grass remains standing it is not so apt to be covered up by the snow. There is always more or less wind on the plains and sweeping around the hill-sides. The tall stems of

grass that extend above the snow are caught by the wind, and in a few moments the motion creates an opening about it that permits a current of air to rush in, generating sufficient force to soon lay bare the ground and form a whirlwind that drifts and twirls until a large area is freed from its covering, and the cattle are enabled to get their fill. With the grass trampled down the wind passes over the smooth surface, and a much higher wind is necessary to lift the snow-fall than is required where the tall grass is caught as above mentioned. The rule to be adopted in the matter of stocking a given range should be its capacity under the most unfavorable circumstances. A dry summer and short grass are liable to be followed by a hard winter. The number of cattle that will live and do well under these circumstances should be looked upon as the maximum that the range will support in safety, and no more should be placed thereon. During favorable years a larger number could be kept, but no one can tell when the good or bad years are coming. So the only safe plan is to be content with this number, and get the benefit of the extra good years in the greatly increased growth of the cattle. In the early days of the cattle industry on the plains the losses were extremely light and the cattle were always fat. Winter and early spring beef could be gathered from every herd. Why? Because there was an abundance of grass for grazing all the year. The grass grows just as well now as it did then, but there are too many cattle to eat it, and the winter range is more or less disturbed during the summer months. Absolute safety means a considerable reduction of, the number of cattle now on the open ranges, if recourse is not to be had to hay-feeding, which in most cases is only partially practicable-that is, can only be done for a part of the herd. With the proper reduction of numbers the herds would be more profitable, the investment considered better than at present for the reason that losses from the inclemencies of the season would be unknown, and the growth of all the animals would be increased 20 per cent. at a low estimate. The temptation to overstock is very great, but range men must learn to withstand the temptation.

RANGE TENURE.

The question of range tenure is one that has caused considerable discussion of late, and is likely to become a matter of very great importance to the entire range country. This matter could be easily and speedily adjusted by the General Government if it would take hold of it and distribute the holdings under some uniform and reasonable basis of leasing. But opinion is greatly divided on this subject in the West, and in the East a general objection is raised. Many Eastern people believe that there is no arid region suited only for grazing, and assert that the whole of the great plains should be left open to the farmer who may desire to take up a 160-acre homestead. Under these circumstances the presumption is that the range country will remain as now, open to the herds of all who desire to occupy it. It remains, then, for the occupants themselves to adjust the question of range rights by some mutual agreement that will insure safety to their herds and protect them against the intrusion of others.

Experience thus far seems to point to "water rights" as the key to the solution. The great bulk of the range country is covered by the land laws of the United States, and title can be secured only to small areas of land, and this by actual settlement or improvement

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