Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1886-04-29
THE CATTLE COUNTRY.
The Peculiar Adaptability of the Semi
Arid Belt to Cattle-Raising.

Where is the best cattle countrye
Where can cattle be handled or raised
with small loss and sure profit and no
crueltyP Unhesitatihgly l answer in
the semi-arid belt. Here are the re-
quirements of perfect cattle coun-
try. Grass to usually start early in the
spring, say by the middle of April.
The summers should be warm. The
winters dry, SO that the cattle will not
tramp their feed into the ground,
where'the hogs that follow them can
not find it. Corn should grow to per-
fection. The land should be CON-
paratiyely free from hog and cattle
diseases. Such land is the semi-arid
belt, lying between the ninety-seventh
and ninety-ninth meridians, and ex-
tending from Dakota to Texas. Within
that area hog cholera is almost un-
known. The cattle are free from dis
ease. There is plenty Of cheap corn.
Large crops of millet can be grown
on all the land Wheat is almost a
sure crop. The corn-stalks. wheat,
straw and millet supply the cattle
with an abundance of roughness dur
ing the winter. All points of the belt
are convenient to market. The creeks
seldom freeze over solidly, and the
cattle have free access to water. The
ground seldom becomes miry, and the
cattle's feet are always sound. The
business of raising cattle, or of feed
ing them, in the semi-arid belt is
profitable. There are plenty of we'll
bred and intelligent people in the
country. The country is healthful.
There are good schools in every town.
Land may be purchased on reasonable
terms, but only the bottom land in the
western portion of the semi-arid belt
| is corn land. The best of corn land,
say twenty miles from a thriving
town, can be bought for from twenty
to thirty dollars per acre. Near the
towns good bottom land can be
bought for from fifty to seventy-tivt
dollars per acre. The upland of the
western portion of the belt is dear a
any price.
The increase in the number of cattle
in the semi-arid belt during the five
years last past has been most remark
able. AS long as wheat sold at re
munerative prices the farmers did no
pay much attention to cattle growing
But when the price of wheat began tt
fall, and the value of cattle to increase
rapidly, they realized that it was NJ
longer wise to burn their straw, or de
vote corn land to wheat culture. II
show how closely intelligent men witt
are engaged in the same business EN-
ploy the same methods of thought ant
arrive at the same conclusions, in
stance the farmers of Kansas. Up t.
the autumn of 1881 calves were freel,
sold by these men. After the crop O
calves of 1882 was born, it was rare t.
see veal hanging in butchers shop
| Almost all the calves born in the semi
arid belt of Kansas since 1882 hav
been raised. Last spring, when tray
cling in Kansas, in a region where bu
few cattle were held three years ago,
saw small herds of cattle in ever
barn-yard. The statistics of Kansa
for 1888 show that there were 1901
348 in the State in the spring of tha
year. There are about 2,500,00 in tn
State now. There has been simila
increase In Nebraska; and there hs
been an astonishing increase since 1875
in the number of cattle in the five cor
States-amounting now to 13,O00,0O'
-Frank Wlkeson, IN Harper's Mag
ztsE