alfalfa or other supposed drought-resisting grasses, to bring into shipping condition at least a portion of the range cattle which are now rushed to market in thin order.

To complement the round-up system there is also a system of inspection in vogue in the arid region by which, as far as possible, all cattle are overlooked when about to be marketed. But for the inspection system, cattle straying far away from home would be almost certain to fall into the hands of dishonest persons and be shipped to market. Or they might be driven surreptitiously from their own ranges by rustlers, as the range thieves are called, to distant shipping points, where they could be safely put aboard the cars. But while a dishonest person may steal cattle with greater ease in the range country than elsewhere, and perhaps get with his plunder farther away from the scene of his crime, it is more difficult here than elsewhere to dispose of animals acquired in this way. The inspection system not only protects the rightful owners of cattle from the operations of dishonest persons, but also from the mistakes which are made in the shipment of large lots of cattle, whereby some wrong brands are often unintentionally included. In Colorado the inspection system is provided for by law, and the governor annually appoints an inspection committee of nine members, selected from the different portions of the State, and who are required to be stockmen actively engaged in business on the range. They serve without pay, and do not even receive back such expenses as they may incur. The committee employ all the inspectors and as many as they may regard necessary, not exceeding ten at any one time. They are limited in their expenditures on account of inspection to $5,000 per year. During the active shipping season inspectors are kept at all the stations along the different railroads where cattle are unloaded for feed and water, and during the remainder of the year at Omaha, Pacific Junction, and Kansas City, and at such other points as, from time to time, may seem necessary.

Each inspector has a brand book, in which all the known brands or those which ordinarily enter into the commercial movement are. described. The person in charge of cattle in course of shipment is provided with a list of the brands borne by the cattle under his charge. The inspector examines each lot, sees that the cattle of each brand correspond in number with the description on the lists, and makes a report to the State committee, showing the brands and number of the different lots of cattle inspected by him, the names of the shippers, the dates of shipment, and the name of consignors. So, if any one suspects some of his cattle have been shipped out by others, here is a record which will enable him to trace the matter. If the inspector finds brands not upon the list, or which are not registered as the brand of the shipper, he requires a receipt to be given for the particular animals, which is returned with his report, and the owner of the brand is notified through the committee. If the owner of the brand has sold these cattle to the shipper, the matter will, of course, end there, but if not, he will know where to look for their proceeds. The shipper can not well deny the receipt, and the law makes him the agent of the owner in disposing of the animal, so he can not well retain the proceeds. If the shipper is not known

to the inspector to be responsible, or if he refuses to give a receipt, the inspector may make such entry upon the shipping bills as will require the sale of the animal for account of the brand, the proceeds to be held officially until ownership is legally determined. Or he may take the animal itself, sell it on the spot, or forward it with some other shipper. And for this purpose he is authorized to replevy animals if they can be obtained in no other way. It is very seldom that an honest shipper will refuse to comply with the inspection requirements, and there have only been two or three instances in years where the committee have been compelled to pay damages on account of inspectors taking possession of wrong animals. Usually shippers, when they find they have other brands along than their own, prefer that such entries be made upon the shipping bills as will cause the animals described to be sold separately, and the proceeds remitted direct to the owner, or, if his correct address is unknown, to the State Cattle Growers' Association, where he can obtain them. This course saves the necessity of the shipper giving any further attention to it. So, every little while, stockmen are receiving checks from the Cattle Association, or from commission merchants, for cattle which had strayed off to some distant range and found their way to market along with some other person's cattle. The Colorado Cattle Growers' Association has now in its hands, awaiting claimants, the proceeds arising from the sale of 25 or 30 head of cattle, of which the owners of the brands are unknown. Sometimes one range man makes an arrangement with another to market any of his beeves which drift upon the other's range, and the inspection system discloses to him just how many of such were shipped. Perhaps the first intimation he may get that any have gone forward is the receipt of a check from a commission merchant in Chicago or Kansas City, for the proceeds of 2 or 3 head which have been sold for his account.

The Colorado inspectors save to the owners the proceeds of from 300 to 400 head of cattle per year. This is the direct benefit. Indirectly the benefits are much greater, for, but for this check upon the indiscriminate marketing of cattle, dishonest persons would be encouraged to pick up and ship as many of other people's cattle as possible. Under this system, the last thing a cattle thief would think of doing would be the shipment of cattle out of the country. To drive them some distance and keep them, altering the brands, which can sometimes be successfully done, or selling them to a local butcher, perhaps as equally dishonest as himself, or killing them himself and peddling the meat, is about the only way of disposing of stolen stock. The Wyoming inspectors, during the year 1885, inspected 320,597 head of cattle on the railroads and at the Indian agencies, recovering 2,828 head of cattle shipped by others than their rightful owners. Of this number, 1,222 head were found at Council Bluffs, and 931 head at Minnesota Transfer, near Saint Paul. The greater proportion of these were likely shipped by arrangement between the owner and the shipper, but in the absence of an inspection system, they could have been successfully shipped by anybody without any arrangement, and detection would have been practically impossible. The figures given as the work of the Wyoming inspectors probably include re-inspections, not only of Wyoming cattle, but of all range cattle, for the same lot may be looked over by more than one inspector. These are, therefore, gross figures, while those given in connection with the Colorado inspection exhibit the net result, after

deductions have been made for re-inspection, the cattle of other localities examined, and also all cases when remittances are made by commission merchants direct to owners.

The Colorado committee, in addition to the inspectors outside the State, maintain inspectors at Denver, Pueblo, and Leadville, and other inspectors, who travel under orders from one part of the State to another. Shippers, if possible, have their cattle inspected before shipment, because then there is less explanation necessary while en route. Where a number of cattle are sold from one point on the range to another point, buyers generally insist that they shall be inspected on delivery; in fact, inspection makes the interests of both parties more secure. Butchers, by law, are required to preserve the hides for one month after slaughter, and inspectors regularly visit all the principal towns, examine these hides, and report the brands. And while perhaps but few cases of stolen cattle are detected, the means of detection are so numerous and perfect that the stealing of cattle is rendered highly dangerous, and dishonest men are deterred from engaging in it. In Colorado a tax of 1.15 mills on all the cattle of the State is annually levied for the support of the inspection system. Besides, the cattlemen themselves, through their State association, maintain an efficient detective system, and have able attorneys in their employ to assist the regular officers in the prosecution of all cases of cattle stealing. The inspection system of other sections may vary in detail from that in Colorado, which has been so minutely described, but everywhere these systems are designed to provide the same safe-guards, and in one way or another are generally effective, but necessarily vary somewhat in methods to suit the cattle movement peculiar to each section.

WINTER CARE—NUMBER OF MEN AND HORSES REQUIRED.

The winter care of cattle on the range is mainly confined to an effort to keep the water holes open. The cattle in cold weather suffer more, as a rule, from the want of water than from any other cause. There is more or less riding up and down the streams during severe weather, chopping holes in the ice at convenient distances, through which the cattle may drink. There should be more of this done than there is, for snow makes a poor substitute, and during most of the season the range is entirely bare of it. With open water at frequent intervals, the cattle cover a larger area in grazing than when the watering places are widely distant, and of course get more feed and do better. Sometimes weak cattle are brought into the ranches where there is hay at hand, and are helped along with feed, and range men, as has already been observed, are growing more and more appreciative of the value of home ranches which are capable of yielding good supplies of hay. At some ranches, too, more or less bulls are kept up and fed, and the horses kept out of the herd also require attention. But, in the aggregate, the winter's work is light, and a much less number of men are maintained than in summer.

In early spring there are slough holes and miry places in which weak cattle are in danger of being lost if assistance is not at hand to help them out, and such places are often visited.

The help and personal attention, and consequently the expense of managing cattle, varies with the intelligence of the management and the character of the range, and decreases in proportion as a large number is maintained under one management. Thus, upon

the open plains, two to three men in summer and one in winter, with say twenty horses, would be required to handle 1,000 head. For a herd of this size it is not necessary to maintain a camp the year around, and two or more parties often join in this expense. The saving, however, is not great, as neither the quarters nor the fare on the range are extravagant. For 5,000 head, six or seven men in summer and two in winter, with six times as many horses, would be required. For 20,000 head the management would probably require twenty men in summer and six in winter, six horses to the

man.

Respectfully submitted.

BOULDER, COLO., January 4, 1887.

GEORGE W. RUST.