St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1883-06-08

slider the risks. From careful investi-
CATION, it may be stated that the natu-
raj annual increase in a herd, making
allowances for losses and accidents, is
about eighty per cent, and most stock
men estimate the profits on an invest
ment at from forty to sixty per cent.
Under favorable circumstances the lat
ter figure is unquestiOnably reached !;
bnt without experience and constant
watchfulness and care an equally large
loss can easily be scored. For INSTANCE,
reports recently received show that one
large herd in northern Montana has
been almost wiped out of existence dur
ing the recent severe winter. That this
has been due to bad Judgment, either
in the selection of the cattle or of the
ranch is almost certain, for reports
from nearly all the other herds in the
territory show that the losses from ex-
pOsure have been trivial. On good
range, and Montana abOunds with
them, the cattle take refuge on the lee
side of the buttes, or in the deep can
Ons in this mountainous region. They
are thus protected from the arctic
blasts which sweep over the prairieS,
carrying death and destruction in their
course. If snow covers the ground the
intelligent creatures "rustle" through
it and reach the succulent bunch grass
underneath or if this is impossible on
account of coating of ice they will
live for weeks on the sage brush which
raises its head above the surface i'll
great abundance. There is little doubt
that the so-called "beef bonanza" is as
great in its possibilities as the mines of
California or Nevada. Large fortunes
have already been made in it in the
southwest, and under the more favor
able conditions pre- ling i'll the North
west there is no reason why great for
tunes should not he made for years to
come. But, like all good things the
cattle business may be ovcrdOne and
then disaster will Overtake all who are
Interested in it. The free, open air,
healthful life of the ranch is most at
tractive; game is plentiful and of ev-
cry kind one can literally live in the
saddle if he is so disposed and the
promise of acquiring II fortune i'll IL
very few years are inducements which
have lured many IL city youth from
frivolous pleasures and dissipation to
life of usefulness and il competence, if
not Il fortune. Men who started Il few
years ago with small capital and II
small herd are now wealthy ; but great
capitalists have discovered the posi-
bilities of the business, and have en-
gagged in it with millions of money IL d
gigantic herds. Land and cattle com
panies have been formed, and invest
ors have been told that in cattle is the
greatest bonanza of the age. The
Young man with small means is thus
placed in competition with bouudless
wealth. and stands about as much
chance of making Il good thing as he
would among the bulls and bears of
Wall street. TIE smal! fry have no
business to interfere with these great
and good men who are raising beef
with the philanthrOpic pLrpose of sell
ing it at eXOrbitant prices to the work
ingmen of the eastern states and Eu
rope. If the small ranchmcn should
refuse to sell out ut the buyers own
price, or should he protest against en-
cIoachments on his range, he is lost.
The bonanza cattle firms do not parley
with him. Ten thousand head of cat
tie are driven upon his range and
among his cattle and he never again
sees his beggarly herd of Il few hun
dred head. Competition of this lawless
sort is the chief hindrance to conduct
ing this business on Il small scale.
| have before me the first annual re
port of il company whose chief business
is to raise cattle. Its capital amounts
to ( ,000, 900, and its stock is held both
in England and America. Well-knOwn
American capitalists are its managers,
and its profits for the period between
March and December, 1882, We're, in
gross and calculating the increase i'll
the herd as well as the sales, S265, 600,
out of which cash dividend of $685.
600 was paid, leaving the herd more
valuable than it was ut the beginning,
and the company with reserve fund
of over Sl37 900 for the purchase OF
lands. This is sample of the profits
in the southwest. In the northwest,
now that the railroad has been built,
there are climates and physical advan-
tages which render it vastly superior,
in the opinion of cattle men, to the
open ranges of Texas and Colorado.