Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1886-02-18
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Cattle a. consumers.
4 REMARKABLE HAIIEL BETWEEN
STOCK AMI t.rt LATION.

REMARKABLE EAllEL BET"EEN
STOCK AMI 'rtLATIoN.
commissioner C2i'ien $ fer,lneht
80 &c f1a = 80 ~ ~. ''A,' 1 1rau o.
Rapches-rhe Far.aars. Place in Our
Foreign Comme.ce-
Commissioner C,,nau. in 4 recent
address before the .rI national con
yeution Of stockme.. 8s,i al Chicago.
H.. gave very ftsj-c presentation
Of the great development of the cattle
industry of this -,., country. and
made some >taItlHu >timaies as to
the meat supply ua1,. viii he needed
in the near tdtut ic shows very
clearly tia, atAaI1 the number Of
cattle IN the cut.t.a has increased
enormously within ia. past thirty OF
forty wears. Vet on 5s; ulation has in
creased with c4u. 1pidity Thus.
an $50 we had a :,.45I.a;ion Of %
!4l.S16. ami l7.7 head of cat
tc ot 7f6 cattle t. t- thousand in
Aahltants IN 1850 -. lad Nl4 cattle
to the Thousand pop tttion; in 1870.
owing to the effect ne late war. we
had hut 6ls cattle trH-.. thousand and
if ,ge estimate our po.. ton in 1855
Il, 81 100000. ami uss. a,tle at a.
U01u0a. we would ou.. axe 112 to
the thousand at this ,4
He then proceeds L. ~a,". that, as
the population Of the country since the
declaration Of independence has about
doubled every twenty-five wears, to
keep up the same relative beef supply
we must increase our stock OF cattle TO
100000 within twenty years and
to l3u, 900 900 within forty-fye wears.
These figures show not only that the
cattle industry i in no present danger
OF being avrrdone. but they raise the
important question Of how we are to
accomplish the result desired. In ne
great west the cattle ranches are al
ready crowdng each other. I..y
cover almost every available spot from
the Mexican border to the British line,
and many portions Of thi, territory
are stocked to the extreme limit Of
cattle support. Il is evident. there
Sore, that ia order greatly to increase
aur supply of cattle some means must
be- devised to increase the production
OF grass But this cannot be done
without some kind of cultivation of the
land aud that means modification or
change Of the ranch system and the
introduction Of agriculture. There
are two WAYS in which this change
may he affected: first. by bringing
more land for grazing and me4sow
purpose, under the influence of irriga-
ton, and. second, by introducing on
the arid lands new species of grass of
more vigorous growth and greater pro-
duction than those now prevailing
There are yet extensive areas of land
where irrigation may be applied, and
the multiplication of irrigating ditch
e.. ar.esian wells, and the engineer
ing appliances. in the form of noun
tain reservoirs. NAV vet be brought
into operation to greatly multiply our
resources. Every acre Of bottom land
on the plain. and in the mountain val
leys is capable Of producing. if prop
cry irrigated. ten IONS OF afalfa. one
of the very best fodder plants known.
or an equal yield of some of the vigor-
ouslY growing grasses. as the social
ed Johnson grass Sorghum hall
peuse.
II is probable also that even the
arid lands under proper system of
cultivation are capable of producing
from two TO four times the native Weld
if the proper kinds of grasses be in
troduced The present ability of the
ranches in the arid region TO support
stock varies according to circumstan-
ces of soil. location, &c. being estj-
mated at from twenty-five to fifty
head Of cattle to the square mile. 4
stranger in passing over the plains in
many places. as in the vicinity of
Pueblo or Santa Fe. would be likely
to say that he could see no grass of
any consequence, and would wonder
what the cattle found to eat. Often
the larger portion of the ground is COW
cred with weeds which are entirely use-
less for food, and the really nutritious
grasses are overshadowed. and only
here and there visible. This condi-
ton is probably due in part to over
grazing in the vicinity Of towns. and
at a distance there is an Improvement
but under the most favorable circum-
stances the product ia ANAL W.