Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-03-24
the LONE STAR sTATE.
a New system of Cattle Raising Wool
Growing Worry Profitable.

fNow York sun
Eoglc Pass, March 1.-The typical
cowboy Is with US almost thing OF
the past. not simply because the mum
1 Der OF cattle has 80 decreased Of late,
| but because the manner of handling
| them has undergone a radical change.
! Time was when an owner of 800 on
! 1000 head Of cattle would find en-
/ ployment for lift cen or twenty vague
| ros; under the present system three
/ mon can now perform the function for
| which five times that number were re-
! quisite n few years ago. 1t was for
merly the custom upon our ranches TO
! lOoseherdp the cattle during the day,
and to round them up on the bed
ground or pen them In corrals for
the night. Vow we have immense
pastures, inclosed by many miles Of
barbed wire fencing, in which cattle
roam at will by day or night, The
pasture fences are examined and kept
In repair by men detailed upon the
ranches for thnt purpose. Ten years
ago the cattle were driven north from
this state without regard to sex, age or
cOnditi0f. The result was that Texas
was almost drained of breeding rs well
~ OF beef cattle. Now there Is some
discretion exercised, and 10 Is the eX-
ception, but not the rule, for cows and
calves TO be driven 'up the trail'' or 10
the shipping centcrs. Many of our
stoclSmen have introduced fine cattle
of the Durham and other breeds on
their ranches with n view to improv-
ing their stock. Full-blooded cattle,
however, aro not eaSjly acelimated
nor do they do well unless fed. The
half-brccd cattle seem To thrive, and
In time the long-horned native cattle
VIII be supplanted by n mixed breed
oi finer quality, Two species of tho
mUscd, known here MS the "hcel n.y.
and "screw ny,n are the bane of the
cattle men The former look very
like the honey bee, and deposit NIT
upon the leg of the animal, below the
knee, The nit in time develops into
worm, and eats its way into the
flesh. The "scrcw hyN Is much like
the blue-bottlc, and attacks the ami
NAL wherever the flesh il laid bare
either by branding or by marking the
ears; IL leaves u nit from which the
worm is Matched by animal heat.
some time since valuable calf rot
screw worms III one of It's ears. II was
doctorpd and was thought cured. II
y
skull II was iound that the screw
worms had eaten, their way To the
brain. The present system of brand
Ing and marking the ears not only
disligurcs the cattle and destroys the
hide but, MS may be seen from the
above statement, Is dangerous.
Wool growing Is n remunorativoI 'ur-
suit here. There are men within nifty
miles of Eagle Pass who count their
sheep 10y the thousands, and who came
from the north a few years since al
most pennilcss. Some Of them started
10y taking care of other peoples sheep
on shares; that Is taking charge of Il
herd and becoming responsible for IL
for onc-half of the wool and of the in
crease and ~ many of our herds breed
and ARE shearcd twice year, these
persons soon become large owners.
Others coming here with n small capt.
tai, have invested In Mexican ewes,
which can be bought mt from IS cents
To u per head then they put n few
hundred IN some good merino rams.
In few years time by this process
they have been enabled to dis
pose OF the original stock,
retaining surplus OF ni-
proved sheep, valued all the way from
81 Go IS per head. But there is con-
siderable labor connected with success
tul sheep raising,and II Is by no means
of the easiest or most desirable kind.
The lands upon which these sheen
feed are, rs II rule, either school lands.
rented of the state for small consid.
Grafton annually, or land rented of the
different railroad corporations. Only
the most successful wool-growers own
lands IN this county The estate of
MIR. Jones Griner who died some time
ago AT san Feline, about seventy miles
UP the Rio Gmndc from Eagle Pass,
comprised over 10000 head OF sheep,
with u considerable herd of cattle and
a number at horses. Mr.. Griner III
teen years ago started out In the world
with u capital not exceeding ~ 500.
Another gentiemat5 now q
resident of your city, made for
tune In this place 10y more
questionable means. He came T. Ia
gle Pass nj n time when Mexican sill
yer Was the only coin In vogue. There
We're few pieces of that money to I've
had there then of less denomination
IMAM the quatro real 100 cents.) Ii was
rather difficult To make change, and
THIS gentleman conceived the idea of
cutting quatro real In two, making
two pieces of the value of a5 cents
eaeh Then 10y halVing the halves he
/ made each quarter of the whole rcpre-
seht IN value I'M real cone shilling.)
rms rather novel method MAS accept
ed ny Tue ignorant MeNioans with In
unite satisfaction, until il was distov-
cred that IN cutting pieces the gentle.
man had thuughtfully extracted nom
the center of each coin a strip VARYING
IN width front sixteenth 10 am eighth
OF an inch. The gentleman forthwith
relieved us ot his presence. believe
the Mexican government instituted
proceedings against him or the Amer
lean government for mutilatiug It's
com, but am ignorant OF the result,
Y A