under the desert act that make land ownings very expensive. Water holes and running streams are scarce and widely separated, and in consequence but a small proportion of the plains and mountains will ever be secured by virtue of occupancy or improvement under any of the present laws. The hardships and expense incident to securing title to these watered lands are far in excess of their real value, and no one would think of making the effort but for the fact that their ownership carries a sort of squatter-sovereignty title, or a right of occupancy to the waste lands lying back of the water. Without access to the water the plains and hillsides in the rear are entirely valueless; they will produce no crop but grass, and this is only valuable by reason of the herds thereon being able to go down to the water at will to slake their thirst. There would seem to be but one standard by which to measure the range rights of ranch men as between themselves, and that is their individual water rights. There is vastly more arid than watered land, and if each ranch man was held to that number of cattle for which he owned a necessary supply of water, there would be enough grazing territory tributary to maintain his herd with safety and profit. But even should this become recognized as the basis of settlement for this vexed question, its execution could only be properly entrusted to the local associations. There is such a wide difference in localities very near together as to the quantity of both water and grass, that the stockmen of one section would not be competent to sit in judgment on the claims of another. It is a subject beyond the reach of State or Territorial legislation, and can only be reached by arbitration, compromise, and general consent. This would be reasonable, fair, and honest between man and man. Of course there are no statute laws under which the provisions of such an agreement could be enforced;.but individual and business honor between the parties would be a reasonable guaranty of its fulfillment if once generally entered into. Beside, under the widespread regulations of the stock associations of the range, the plan could be very generally made a success by reason of the rules of working that all are required to live up to under the penalty of forfeiture of membership and associated benefits. This rule has been adopted in a few districts, and the results. have, so far, proven satisfactory. In some cases where, for instance, the public lands have not been surveyed, and there is absolutely no way in which titles to land can be secured, this rule might work a hardship. Actual possession in such cases would have to be recognized as ownership until the conditions were changed. This is really a matter of grave and growing importance, and should receive the serious thought of all range stockmen until this or some other plan is hit upon to govern the question of "how many cattle shall be placed on a given range area?" Its proper solution bears directly on the main proposition, safety to our herds, and the one of all others that most concerns the future and the permanency of the industry. SANITARY SUGGESTIONS. Like the balance of the United States, the range country is more or less nervous over the existence of contagious pleuro-pneumonia in some of the States east of the Mississippi River. Western men realize the grave danger to the plains cattle should the germ of any contagion once be brought in, and while they have faith in the honesty and good intentions of the Bureau of Animal Industry and its agents, they know that until the law is so amended as to give them authority to slaughter all diseased and infected animals there is danger of its being carried to the herds of the unfenced ranges of the plains. There are but two agents of the Bureau to cover the range country from Texas to Montana. This is so wide an area that nothing like a proper surveillance can be made by the employés personally. But by co-operation with the cattle-growers' associations and the livestock sanitary authorities a very complete system of inspection may be secured. Every State and Territory in the range country has a State or Territorial stock association, and the officers of these organizations are in the fullest sympathy with the designs and efforts of the Bureau. Most of these range States and Territories have sanitary boards, or veterinarians with full power to act in emergencies, and most of the States immediately east of the range have created by law sanitary boards. Thus a network of co-operation may, by proper effort, be secured to guard the frontier and watch the range. Texas and Dakota are without adequate live-stock sanitary laws looking to protection. Governor Ross, of Texas, has made an earnest appeal to the legislature to pass suitable laws on this subject, and with the strong support of all the cattle men of the State it is believed the necessary laws will be passed this winter. Dakota is also making an effort in this direction. The stock associations are made up of the best men in the West, and their influence is potent in shaping legislation. By cultivating the closest relations of co-operation with these associations their united labors may be secured to mould or aid in shaping uniform legislation under the reserved police powers of the States and Territories, of such stringency as to be a real protection. In this way it is hoped a much greater degree of safety may be secured. The railroads are another adjunct of strength that may be secured with little trouble. Every railroad leading to the range has a direct interest in the cattle of the plains, amounting to from 20 to 30 per cent. of the entire cattle investment. Interviews with the managers of several of these roads justify me in saying that they will fully co-operate with the Bureau agents and the sanitary boards in all legiti mate efforts to keep diseased or exposed cattle from moving west. By the union of action thus outlined, and the promulgation of uniform rules and regulations covering the entire range frontier, it would be rendered comparatively easy for the railroad employés to effectively co-operate with the sanitary boards by giving notice of all stock distined for the west, when not accompanied by the proper bills of health. The entire Western country may and should learn a lesson from the course pursued by the officials of Wyoming Territory. The law of that Territory makes the veterinarian a sort of autocrat, with full authority to quarantine everything at the border not showing unquestioned evidence of freedom from disease or exposure thereto. A clearly understood set of rules have been adopted, and their non-fulfillment is cause for quarantine. A simple examination of stock by an expert and his certificate of health is no evidence that there has been no exposure. If any difference, there is more danger than from diseased ones. Diseased cattle are at once slaughtered or quarantined, and healthy ones kept from them. Exposed cattle may be allowed to mix with the herds, and by the time of the development of the disease hundreds of others may have taken on the contagion. Safety to the West means absolute quarantine against all eastern cattle unless they can give proof positive as to both their freedom from disease and exposure thereto. Any system adopted that falls short of this will be a serious mistake, and one liable to cost the range country the total destruction of its herds. It is hoped, of course, that Congress will pass some effective law to strengthen the hands of the Bureau, so as to enable it to rid the country of disease and the suspicion of disease. But in that event the West will be called upon to exercise greater care than ever. It may be taken for granted that the Government will not pay over three-fourths the value of sound cattle, where they are killed by reason of exposure to disease, and not to exceed $160 for pure-bred animals, even should the most stringent laws yet discussed be passed. This leaves the margin between the real value and the appraised value under the law so great that unprincipled men will be tempted to buy and sell animals known to have been exposed, and ship them west for a higher price. Hence the avenues of commerce are liable to be more or less filled with this class of cattle, and renewed vigilance must be the watchword all along the line in the West. Another good reason may be assigned for seeking the co-operation of the railroads. I will again cite Wyoming Territory. While her sanitary law is the strongest to be found in any section of the range country, and while little danger is to be feared from the entrance of cattle by rail, it would be found difficult to guard the entire eastern boundary against the crossing of grazing cattle. Dakota is now without any effective sanitary laws. Should none be enacted, that portion of Wyoming bordering on Dakota is open to the inroads of cattle from that Territory. At present there is no adequate Territorial law to prevent the shipment of diseased cattle into Dakota, and once in, there is nothing to prevent their roaming at will over the range. But with active co-operation with the railroads exact knowledge of every shipment of cattle may be secured and such details of information as will enable sanitary boards to learn of each shipment open to suspicion, thus giving the means of keeping watch over them, although in another Territory, and keeping them from the boundary line. The leading idea in the minds of the people who labored most to organize the International Range Association was protection against the approach of bovine diseases, and the present officers of that organization are alive to the importance of the work. They will be found willing and active supporters of the Bureau of Animal Industry in all of its efforts in the way of keeping diseases from the plains. The West has the means in its own hands to erect an effective bar to the entrance of contagious disease, but in order to do so it must be diligent and leave no weak places. Union of all the forces is the only safe plan. FOREIGN IMPORTATIONS. About December 25, 1886, R. G. Head, president of the International Range Association, addressed the following letter to the Secretary of the Treasury: SIR: In behalf of the International Range Association I have the honor to request you, under section 2494, Revised Statutes, to prohibit the impor ation of all cattle into the United States from all foreign countries where contagious cattle diseases The cattle raisers of the West are a unit in favor of such action, which is in harmony with the position taken by the Farmer's Congress at its annual meeting held in Minneapolis last summer, and the Consolidated Cattle Growers' Association at their recent meeting held in Chicago. It is very generally conceded that the quarantine regulations relating to the importation of cattle into the United States do not afford sufficient protection against the introduction of diseased cattle into this country, and when the history of the outbreaks of contagious bovine diseases in other countries is considered, and the fact borne in mind that the admission to the open range of the West of a single infected animal would in all probability result in ruin to our great industry, on which the nation depends in a great measure for its food supply, it becomes apparent that immediate action should be taken in the premises. I would respectfully call your attention to the fact that the Canadian and Australian authorities have prohibited the importation of cattle from Great Britain on account of the fear of the introduction of disease, which action suggests to us the necessity of placing similar safeguards around the health of the cattle of our own country. I would suggest, further, that in view of the fact that large sums of money will most likely be appropriated for the examination of disease where it now exists in our borders, the work should be rendered effective by preventing its further introduction, R. G. HEAD, Pres't. International Range Association. To Hon. DANIEL MANNING, Secretary of the Treasury. In this letter Mr. Head correctly voiced the views of the cattle men of the range country. The honorable Secretary of the Treasury, in answer, stated that information from the Department of Agriculture was to the effect that no infected cattle had passed our quarantine stations, and therefore he did not feel justified in stopping importations. While it is true that our quarantine laws are efficiently administered at our ports of entry by the Department of Agriculture, it is also true that the ninety days in which cattle are held in quarantine is not long enough to establish the fact of freedom from disease. It is but fair to assume that our escape from contagion is due more to the care exercised by importers in making their purchases in foreign countries than to the effectiveness of our quarantine laws. As evidence of the fact that these regulations are not deemed sufficient by Western stockmen, the Colorado Veterinary Sanitary Board has refused admission to cattle that had passed through our quarantine stations until after being held an additional ninety days outside the limits of Colorado. It is better to err on the side of safety than to take chances which involve possible ruin to the plains cattle industry. RANGE REFRIGERATOR PLANTS. There is at this time a general discussion all over the West of the question of refrigerator plants. The difference between the retail price of meat in the populous portions of the United States and the prices received for live animals by the range beef producers has caused much more than the ordinary amount of thought on the question of markets. All sorts of ideas, practical and impracticable, have been brought out, and the prospects are that a good deal of experimentation will be indulged in during the coming year. No man knows of course what the future may demonstrate, but in studying this question we can only reason of the future by the experience of the past. A careful study of the history of the refrigerating business shows very clearly to my mind that before the range country can hope to kill all its beef at home the surrounding conditions must be changed. H. Mis. 156-8 Most of the efforts of the kind so far made have been failures. The trouble lies first in the difficulty to secure a market for the dressed beef, and second in the loss of the offal. In order to secure a steady market it is necessary to supply a regular output. This can not now be done, for the reason that the range can supply fat cattle but for a few months each year. The amount of labor and the great expense incident to opening and building up a market would have to be undergone each year as the slaughtering season commenced. Hence the competition with Eastern establishments, that can kill their regular supply each day in the year, would be unequal and wholly insurmountable. The contest is unequal in the second place, because the offal that is worthless in the range country is of sufficient value in the great market centers to pay all of the expenses of slaughtering. Therefore the range can look for no present relief on anything like a large scale at least from Western refrigerator plants. When the irrigable valleys of the arid region are all put under ditch, and the production of hay and alfalfa becomes so general and abundant as to afford sufficient feed to enable ranchmen to hold their beeves through the winter and early spring, then we may hope for permanent slaughter-houses in the West. Then the operator can secure a regular supply of animals, and each day in the year keep his customers in supply. The range country will be at the disadvantage of losing most of the offal, for some time at least, for the reason that the products made from this are never in demand in new countries, and in order to find a market high rates of freight must be paid to the older States. But there will be a partial compensation in the overcoming of the shrinkage of the long haul alive. There is one thing, however, that can be successfully done at present. Small packing-houses may be erected at many points in the range country with sufficient capacity to kill as many beeves as the local trade will support, thus retaining some of the live animals at home and overcoming the present practice of shipping to Eastern markets alive and paying freight back on the dressed beef eaten at most points in the range. At first these establishments will have to make some shipments of live animals from the corn belts during the winter and early spring, but gradually the hay product will increase to such an extent as to give hay-fed cattle all winter. IMPROVED STOCK-CARS. There is perhaps no one thing which would more surely or more speedily benefit the stock grower, and at the same time promote the public health, than improved facilities for the transportation of live stock. That the old-time death-pens have not been consigned to obscurity long ago is one of the marvels of the age. Railroads doubtless oppose innovation on the old methods because of the large amount of money already invested in common stock-cars. To be required to at once discard their use would involve a heavy loss; but I believe the railroad companies would be glad to make progress in the direction of better facilities if some means could be devised that would enable them to employ the rolling-stock already in existence. Cars have been invented which meet all the requirements from the shippers' stand-point; but their general use would not only require an immense outlay of money but would render the tens of thousands of cars now owned by the railroads practically worthless. In addition to this, most of the cars which have been constructed with the sole |