The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1886-04-22
Where Are The Cattle.

The cattle-growers who Craze their
herds on the northern ranges have kept
the fact of their being engaged in that
business so constantly before the public
that they have created the impression
that the larger portion of the cattle IN
the country Craze on the arid plains or
in the Rocky Mountain valleys and
parks. This is mistake
Given a country where corn thrives,
there will be found cattle and hogs in
large numbers. All intelligent agricult-
urists know that the Mississippi Valley is
divided into great belts of land, each dis
tinguished by some marked peculiarly
of soil and climate that determines the
use to which it is devoted. The upper
Mississippi is wheat land; the lower up
per, corn land the upper lower, cotton
land; and the lower, so-called sugar
land. 1t is true that corn can be raised
in the wheat and in the cotton belt, and
even in the sugar belt; but it is not corn
as the western corn-growers use the
word. The corn belt proper includes
Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and eastern
Kansas and Nebraska. Portions of Ohio,
Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee prop
erly belong in this belt. But | use the
| first division for convenience of illustra-
| ton. Where corn grows to perfection
| there is always plenty of feed for cattle.
Millet will grow and yield bountiful
! crops throughout the region. The same
is true of oats, and wheat, though not q
sure crop in the corn belt, is extensively
sown.
In 1870 there were 22,501, ,337 domes-
| tic horned cattle in the United States.
| In 1880 the census shows that there were
| 81, 931 go cattle in the country-an in
crease of II, ,430, 1888 during the decade
| Of this increase 5,022, ,96S were in the
five corn States of Illinois, Iowa, Mis-
souri,, Kansas, and Nebraska. When
the last census was taken more than
one-fourth of the cattle in the country
were in those States. In 1880 our pro-
| duction of corn was 1,754, ,591, ,676 bush
| els. The five corn States produced ,071,
| 344 bushels-more than half the crop.
! 1t is plainly seen that where the land
| yields large crops of corn, there the cat
tie naturally gravitate.
In 1880 there were. in all that exten-
sive area composed of Montana, Wyom-
| ing, Colorado, New Mexico. Arizona,
Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and
Washington, 1,7S6, ,262 cattle, or 594, 4,714
| less than there were in Illinois, and but
| 351, ,974 more than there were in the
young State of Kansas. New York,
which is never spoken of as a cattle
growing State, contained in 1880, 2,300,-
| 0SS cattle-613,S ,S26 more than grazed
on the whole of the arid belt, the much
vaunted grazing grounds of the West.
| In my opinion the census of 1890 will
| show that there will be more cattle in
the three corn-growing States of Illinois,
| Iowa, and Missouri than in the entire
plain region, excepting Texas, of course.
And there will not be as much acute suf-
| fering, nor as many miserable deaths
from starvation and cold, in the three
| States as there will be among the cattle
| existing through the winter IL single
county in the so-called cattle country.
In 1880 there were 1894. 102 cattle in
| Texas. The Texas cattle men so thor
| oughly understand their business, and
| the State is so well adapted to raising
| cattle, that nothing need be said of
them or their lands. All Texas cattle
| growers realize that they must not over
| stock their range, now fully stocked.
Those at all familiar with Texas know
| that as long as grass grows and water
runs that State can be relied upon to
supply from 10000 to 1,00C,0 900 cattle
annually; COWS can raise calves on the
| Texas ranges and live, and the same is
! true of New Mexico and Arizona and
portions of the Indian Territory
Frank WflbeSon, IN Harper's Magazine
! for ApriE.