Connecticut western news., 1883-08-01
VOL. XIII.


 dercrop on her left ear is seven or eight years old. There is some hunting done by these men, but the greater portion oi them do not hunt. They loaf, they sleep, they lie on blankets, they eat poor food wretehedly cooked. A bright, ner- vous, intellectual young man would abandon the business, as it is generally conducted, in less than 0 week.
 Across the plains waves of heat roll in the summer, causing the air to trebmle, and through which heat medium all ob- iects are distorted to the vision. In the winter arctic storms sweep out of the north. The snow flies horizontally through the air. The furious wind drives it into the ravines, there not being enough vegetation on the levels to hold the snow particles. In the cattle country there are no trees, no good water, unless in mountain valleys. The grass becomes brown and dry in late June or early July. Every drop of rain that falls after the grass has died for want of water, injures the feed by washing nutriment out of it. This early death of the grass is ex- plained to strangers in an airy manner. The cattle breeder indicates an extensive scope of arid country with out-stretched sweeping arm, and says: "No need for moving machines here. Nature makes the hay. No heavy work for men in providing feed for the cattle during the winter. The grass cures where it grew. The cattle help themselves. The truth is that on the plains enough grass could no be cut on 8 hundred acres to feed 8 a COW through the winter. In the valleys grass can be grown if the land is irri- gated, and better hay-that is, more nu. tritious-made than in any of the East ern States. But where cattle are bred in herds of ten, fifteen, or twenty thou sand. it is not possible:.to procure hay for them.
 At the present prices much money can be made in raising cattle. But will the future as it does now? The high price of beef is easily explained by the fact that there have been three successive short corn crops. A full corn crop re- duces the prices of meats. The bottom will fall out of the present excitement about cattle raising promptly after the husking of the first full crop of corn. Another function that will aid in reduc- ing the price of beef is the fact that no calves are killing in the corn country In many of the towns lying along the railroad in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri, 1t is impossible to buy veal. The butchers say that they eannot~pns~, chase calves from the farmers.
 The mortality among COWS is very large on all the ranges of high altitude. This is necessarily so under the present system of management. Two year-old heifers drop calves in the early spring. An animal two years old has not reached maturity. They shed their teeth at that age. The young creatures are called upon to feed strong calves running at their sides, to nourish others, and to complete their growth. The young ami mals apparently thrive until late in the summer. Then the calves are strong and demand more milk than their dams can supply when fed on dry grass that has had portion of it's strength washed out by rains. The heifer could be saved if their owners wonld wean the calves and allow them to recruit before the icy blasts of winter sift through them; but this is seldom done. The calves stick to their dams until the en- feebled system of the COWS can no longer supply milk. By this time the animals are mere bones encased in rough hide. They have lost all ambition, all desire tC live. In the case of mature COW the results are much the same. These ani malls are never in good condition, unless the grass has been of unusual goodness and the winter exceedingly mild. Thou sands of COWS die every winter because their owwers neglected to wean thel calves. On the plains, the breeding stock of herd rapidly disappear; bu they do not disappear from the hert books.
 It is not generally known, in fact I be | ieve that 1t has never been published that the movement of young cattle ha begun to tend westward. I hear sni1 of incredulous disbelief. The fact re mains the same. Many of the cattl breeders of Wyoming and Colorado hay agents in the real cattle country com posed of Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas. all the eastern portion of the Indian Terri tory, Kansas, and Nebraska. Thes agents buy young cattle, chiefly steers
 which they ship to the western range
 to replenish the herds. These easter
 cattle are branded on their arrival in tn
 west; but just how they appear on tn
 books. none, excepting their ownerI
 know. To those accustomed to plac
 confidence in magazine romances, tn
 movement of young cattle looks like ill
 porting organ grinders into Italy. Bl
 it is truth that should at once dissipat
 all glamour about the great, natur
 cattle breeding ground" The stockme
 have not been able to breed cattle to r.
 plenish their herds.
 Since the settlement of Colorado an
 Wyoming thousands and thousands Texan COWS have been driven thithe
 The larger portions of the herds drive
 from Texas to the new countries are tv
 and three-year-old heifers. They wel hopefully expected to live for eight { ten years, and to form the foundations herds from which hundreds of tho sands of cattle shonld snrinp Whe