The Somerset reporter., 1886-03-24
Cattle Raising on the Plains.

During the winter OF 1871 anu
1872 | engaged in the handling OF
Texas cattle in the semi arid belt OF
Kansas. | had provided no food
for nv stock. ! knew that cattle
could and did winter on the plains
far moth and west of where | was
but did not know that there was
difference in the nutritious quail
tiles of the different prairie grasses.
| did not understand the peculiar
tiles of the climate Of the semi-arld
belt, nor the effects of rain falling
on dead grass. Stupid of me, OF
course, but had plenty OF com
pany. Ny neighbors were bright
Germans, intelligent EngIishmen,
and keen Americans from almost
every State in the Union. We were
hopeful band, young, strong, and
eager. When we gathered into our
wretched novels onights, and the
pipes were glowing, our talk was Of
cattle, cattle, cattle. The sales of
steers off the range at six cents per
pound, live weight, made the prev
ious spring, were strongly dwelt up
on. was repeatedly assured that
the Kansas winters were so mild
that | would not need "A coat. The
height the new prairie grass would
surely be on the 1st of March was
measured on table legs by out
stretched and dirty index fingers
for my instruction and encourage
ment. There was not one OF all the
band of eager men who rode the
Kansas plains in those days who
did not firmly believe that our for
tunes were made The country
was full of cattle. November came
in with blizzard, and, with slight
Interruptions, kindly allowed by
Nature for the purpose of affording
us opportunities to skin dead cattle,
the blizzard lasted until March, and
the cold, stormy weather for two
months longer. There was no new
grass until the middle of May. In
all the Texas herds held in Kansas
the losses were heavy. Hardly "a
herd lost less than 80 per cent, and
60, 10 and 80 per cent, losses were
common. BY spring we learned
that great heards of heavy beef cat
tie, held on the Smoky. Cottonwood,
and Arkansas rivers, had been frOz.
en- on the range, and that the Texas
hadsaddled their horses and gone
home. The creeks were damned
with the decaying carcasses of cat
tie. The air was heavy with the
stencil of decaying animals. The
cruelties of the business of starving
cattle to death were yividly impress
ed on me. Every wagon sent from
the railroad towns was loaded with
hides. The next summer, bank
ruptcy stalked over the Kansas
plains and strnck men down. Our
trouble was that none of us knew
that the tall blue joint grass was
worthless for winter feed unless it
were made into hay, none of us
knew that the fall rains had wash,
ed the nutriment out of it, and none
of us knew that about once i'll ten
years there is a hard winter in the
far West, during which the mercury
retires into the bulb of the
thermometer, and blizzard over the
plains in quick succession. Some
Of us learned the lesson at once
others, who claimed that the cattle
needed protection, not food, erected
sheds, which proved to be death
traps, the cattle stacking" under
-hem during cold weather, and tried
t again, and went into bankruptcy
promptly after the second venture.
As it was i'll Kansas, so it is, i'll IA
ess degree, in the so-called "cattle ,
A wet autumn, followed :
" hard winter, kills the cattle
leld on Northern ranges 10y the !,
housand.-Frdnk Wilson, IN Hdr.
,er'S MagdSine for april.