Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1878-04-11
for the AvANT COURIER.
OUR STOCK INTERESTS.
Cattle Raising and Sheep Raising
Compared. = The Latter the
Most Profitable Pur.
suit.

f Most Profitable Pur-
4 suit.
r do not like the manner in which Mr.
. Ancenev handled the sheep in his letters in
recent issues of the COURIER. l do not
, think he gave them $ fair shake'' at all
f and being in the sheep business in a small
way myself cannot refrain from coming
and saving a few words in their defence.
, also wish to make few remarks on the
subject of ranges and the improvement OF
stock.
Like Mr. Anceney. l don't see how any
one can afford to raise stock and not make
every possible effort to improve it; and
wish every one in Montana was equally
anxious as he is TO see only the best kind
of animals eating bunch grass on our hills.
| consider the distressing pictures of de-
pasturage drawn by MIR. Anceney as UNI
warranted by the real condition Of our
ranges. l think the facts of the case are
that we expect too much of the range. and
consequently are disappointed in our en-
deavors to improve our stock. My obser-
NdIlOIlS COUtIllCC IIlp lIlttS lilC WI
ditions to which the cattle of this Terri
tory have been subjected accounts for their
deterioration. and deteriOrated they GER
talnly are from the original stock which
was brought here from the states in the
years of lS64-'G5 and 'GG, particularly,
specimens of which may yet be seen in our
herds. The experience Of the past ten
ears ought to prove to us that the nearer
we follow the mode of keeping stock in
Texas. the nearer we shall come to raising
Texas stock. All authorities agree that it
is 1.-The tendency Of all improved breeds OF
domestic animals to relaps to their original
status when they are neglected or abused,
and all Improvements in stock can be fully
maintained only by a reasonable share OF
the same care and judgment by which the
improvement was originally effected; that
irregular feeding, an occasional scant sup
ply, undue exposure to cold, or tempera-
ture uncomfortably high, is disastrous to
any high degree Of improvement" The
tenth Duchess of Adair never attained her
points of perfection picking stray bits of
grass on ledge OF rocks, ard standing for
days and nights together bumped up and
nearly frozen to death under a cedar bush.
Neither was she the proceeds of wholesale
system Of breeding of every little scrawny
Leifer on the range at eight or nir.e months
of age. no matter what kind of a bull you >
might use, and until we accept the condi- T.:
ions. and follow out the details that have
made the shOrt-horn what it is. we have no !
'eason to expect any success in maintain !
ng it in its state of perfection. and when {
he day comes, and it will surely come, c
when Montana will conduct her stock-rais- c
NC on such principles, she will carry hun t
lreds Of cattle where she now carries one, il
nd will be crowded with a prosperous and Y
Wealthy people. n
That "cattle are worth more to the cOun- t;
~ than any other kind of stock" is only G.
n assertion, and | suppose a denial would L
ave equal right and balance it, but l wish s.
} show, by actual working tests, that if Il
on estimate the worth Of the article by a,
he amount of money it will return to you a!
5 clear net profit on the investment, in nj
cattle with sheep, the former W
orld not stand Il ghost ola show. We will
Ike Mr.. Anceney's statement as a work. il,
g basis; that is. buying yeariing steer &C
ten dollars and keeping him until he is "
lr years old; that he will grow in value
the rate Of four dollars a year; you l.
I'VE twenty-five dollars, provided he don't an
e just before YOU get ready to sell him. "
hc docs. you don't have ,AauelA of any 9,
ing. In the chances of death, the sheep vi
IS every advantage, for lin no other do m
este animal is the hazard of loss by SO
ath SO small If decently managed, a ST.
'od sheep can never die in debt to a man;
it dies at birth. it has consumed nothing; !"
it dies the first winter, its wool will pay
+ its consumption up to that period; if 40
lives to be she red once, it brings its ~
1ner in debt to it, and if the ordinary and '''
tulal course of wool production and ~ ,'
eeding goes on, that Indebtedness will vi
,rease uniformly and with accelerating ~,
Ddity, until the day of its death. If the ~. ~
,.,1, -, 49, .4 u. tar
lrs of age, or the cow before breeding, ~
, loss is almost a total one" Your ten w
liars invested in four common ewes. 'o'
uld in the same time give you thirty "a. ~.
Int head Of sheep and thirty-fonr dollars vi.
money. If any one doubts it, he can se'
I'VE it in ii small pasture on almost any I'D,
m in Gallatin county in three years. L ''u'
| also refer to the statement of S. F. -"
ristian in the agricultural report for ~
8. page $50, showing clear net profit 81
eighteen thousand five hundred and six w ~,
lars in five years from twelves hundred VIZ
cs. G. EDWARDS. ,iie
bee