The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-07-05
M:he Eatm+
Cattle Raising in Texas.

ern Texas is from the NueceS to the
Rio Grande, Gone hundred and fifty
miles;) on the Colorado, fifty miles
Eastward, cattle change their range
with the change Of the weather, north
ers driving them to the timber belts for
shelter, while sunshine allures them in
immense masses to the open prairies.
A correspondent of this department
saw 100000 head gathered within a
space of 10000 acres of lowlands near
the mouth of the Nueces River. These
migratory tendencies of cattle render
the task of collecting and identifying
them one of great labor and difficulty,
requiring the services of large numbers
of men and horses The employees of
the cattle-raisers of district organize
hunting parties each spring and fall,
in order to brand the calves. Each
stock-owner is required by law to have
a regular brand and ear-mark recorded
in the Office of-the county clerk. In
the semi-annual hunts each calf is
branded with brand of the cow it fol-
lows or sucks A calf not found &C
companying any cow is liable to be
appropriated by the party who can
first brand it. Parties attempting to
brand or otherwise appropriate cattle,
without first making the proper record
with the county clerk, are liable to a
fine of $25 for each offense. Without
such a public record no stock-raiser
could protect himself from depreciation
by legal prosecution. Of late years
parties have driven large numbers of
sucking calves from their dams. The
increasing demand for beef has created
stronger temptation for this illicit pur-
suit, necessitating greater efforts to
repress it.
For the gathering of the animals for
sale the same methods are used to some
extent, but of late the cattle-raisers
have been employing permanent agents
in different parts of the country, pay
ing them so cents for every calf brand
ed and 81 for every steer herded for
sale. A bill of sale is given to the
purchaser describing the animals by
brands, ear-marks, &c, which must be
shown to the cattle inspector, who, in
return, issues certificate to the effect
that the cattle correspond to the bill of
sale. He keeps a permanent record OF
official transactions, which is always
open to inspection.
Among the noticeable changes made
in the cattle business, since the close of
the late civil war, is its concentration
in fewer hands The smaller owners
found their stocks decreasing, and hence
their profits did not meet their expenses.
They have generally sold out, either to
larger proprietors or to the tallow and
hide dealers. But few men now in the
business have less than 1000 branding
about $50 calves. The herds range as
high as $4,000; the number of calves
branded being from 20 to 25 per cent
of that number On these larger
ranches are maintained from 1000 to
5000 horses, in order to supply the
army of vAQUERos with remounts.
Large numbers of the cattle are killed
for their hides and tallow. Some of
these dealers sell to purchasers on the
spot, while others ship direct to New
Orleans or drive to Kansas Several
leading stock raisers are mentioned as
wintering from 1000 to 5000 each on
the line of the Kansas Pacific Railroad.
The term stock cattle, in Texas, in
cludes cows, calves, yearlings, and two
year olds. A party selling 1000 stock
cattle would furnish $50 of each of the
above classes, and charge a uniform
price for the whole The present price
is S. per head in specie. Three-year-
old steers, or four-year-olds generally
bring from $40 to $l2 per head. This
class furnishes the staple of the Kansas
trade. Four year Odds, in good condi-
. ton for shipment to New Orleans, bring
SIS per head The term beeves is APP
piled only to animals four years old and
upward In good condition, they will
net 500 pounds of beef per head.
The drought of last season caused
failure of the grass-crop in almost every
portion of the State. 1t enhanced q
growing difficulty in the grazing interest
the gradual failure of the abundant
native grasses, which have hitherto con-
stituted the great source of profits of
the business. AS the grasses are eaten
down, or trampeled down, weeds multi
ply and scatter their seed by the million
The mesquite brush is thckening upon
the old haunts of the cattle The con-
viction is forcing itself upon the minds
of many of the more intelligent cattle
men that the range must be superseded
by the stock farm, and that the business
must assume a systematic character.
The pasture-lands must be enclosed in
order that the grass may gather head
way.
The enclosure system has already
been inaugurated in Southwestern Tex
as. Mr. Kennedy, of the Laurels
ranch, has run fence nearly fifty miles
across the neck of peninsula jutting
out into the Gulf, thus inclosing, with
fence and water, 10000 acres. With
in this inclosure are kept $4,000 cattle,
the management of which demands
$500 saddle-horses Another enter
prise of this character is reported from
Fulton, Refugio County The Rock
port and Fulton Pasture Company pro-
poses to inclose tract of 1000
acres with pine-plank fence on one side,
the other sides bordering upon Nueces,
Corpus Christi, Copano, and Puerto
Bays and Chittepin Greek Tue bodies
of water are here so situated that thir-
teen miles of fencing isolates 200 900
acres. Upon the exterior portion of
this area, called Live-Oak Peninsula,
are the towns Of Rockport and Fulton,
whence are shipped all the cattle and
beef west Of the Guadalupe. The land
inclosed for pasture is thickly set with
the running, or hog-wallaw, mesquite
grass, the best native fattening grass
1t is to subdivide the area into fields,
SO as to allow grass to grow by keeping
supply Of fresh grass. The present
object of the enterprise is to purchase
lean cattle and fatten them for market
1t is proposed to pay full market prices
for range cattle and to rely for profits
upon the increased value gained by