St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1889-05-04
live Stock in the Gulf States.

| St. James Budget. E.
Live Stock in the Gulf States.
New Orleans Times Democrat.
The Louisiana agent of the Agriculture
Department in his annual report recently
completed, states that the live stock inter
ests of Louisiana are in comparatively
prosperous condition. Owing to the milo
temperature prevailing on the ranges cat
tie, horses and sheep are in much better
condition than usual at this season OF the
year. There are here no serious diseases
among animals, and stock raisers generally
show disposition to afford a better shell
ter for their animals from bad weather,
and to give their rearing and breeding
better care. In the alluvial parishes, and
all over the State, in fact, more attention
is being paid to the further improvement
of strains of cattle, and the breeding of
horses and mules is being made a specially
by many farmers.
The total value of all the live stock in
Louisiana Gncluding hogs, on which this
State is particularly short, having only
half as many hogs as it contains human
beings, or about one to every negro in the
State), is $22, 139, 7S4, or about 40 per
cent. more than its annual sugar crop.
The number of horses and mules in the
State returned officially is 20S 374, of
horned cattle 450,s04, of hogs 631, 1903 and
of sheep 1924
Mississippi has 80, 800 horses and mules
recorded in the returns to the tax gath
erer, 1874 1927 horned cattle, 252, 1877 sheep,
and about as many head of hogs as it has
human souls, or 1, 312 557.
Wbi1o 4hoco copcidorad roo1
showings in live stock for two of the Gulf
States, some of the figures cannot be con-
sidered as satisfactory. Take sheep, for
only a little more than 100000 head,
when they should have more than 4, 000,-
600. 1t has been shown that the finest
wool produced in the South, except of the
fancy breeds, is the "lake" wool, sheared
from sheep in the COW counties, or tier of
sea coast counties of Mississippi, and the
Florida parishes of Louisiana. Those who
have tasted the mutton of the Southdown
breeds or half breeds grown on the hills
of Mississippi, or the pastures and prairies
of Louisiana consider it the finest in the
world, and certainly no finer is reared
either on the mountains of Virginia, or of
Vermont, or the downs of England.
Louisiana has shown what it is capable
of in the rearing of Lecompte and others
of the famous Wells stock of racers up on
Red river, in the parish of Rapides. There
the very perfection of horsefesh was pro-
duced in a strain of animals with the en-
durance of the desert steeds of Arabia,
the fieetness of the wind and all the gentle
docility of the noble thoroughbred. The
business of mule growing in Central and
North Log ..siana and Mississippi is now
being co1ducted with marked success and
profit by several pioneers in that line. 1t
has been claimed, for half century or
more, that the Gulf States could not grow
or raise their own working mules. Intel
ligent stock growers are now plainly prov
ing that they can. Louisiana alone sends
to Kentucky, Tennessee and Mis-
souri, for it's work stock 81, 900, 900, which
might be kept at home just as well by
more attention being paid to home made
mules.
The age of the long horned, lank cattle,
scrubby horses, razorback hogs able to
outrun a oottonfeld darby from the days
of their shoathood up, and of hairy and
almost woolless sheep is gone by 1t
has been shown that by judicious graft
ing on the native stock breeds not orr
ginally acclimated to this country can be
made as valuable as the purer stock, and
as, lealthy as the strains of Canadian stock
which have browsed over the Attakapas
and Teche prairies for hundred years.
There is much room for bet ering the
condition OF the live stock business in the
Gulf States When the systems in vogue
in the thickly popula'e ed valuable lands of
the live stock centres of the northern
States are followed here then cattle will
pay probably better than sugar in Louis.
lana and cotton in Alabama, Mississippi
and Texas. One part of these systems is
not to pasture the cattle on great areas of
grazing lands, but to keep them confined
to limited areas and cultivate forage crops
On the lands, which, in Louisiana, are left
as ranges for cattle to roam over at will,
trampling down under foot ten times the
quantity of heritage that they consume, or
ten times more than they need to fatten
hem.
The practice of devoting larger areas
% the cultivation of seeded grasses is
being rapidly adopted by large number
IF farmers and planters in all the Gulf
States. This business has been much en-
arged by the northwestern farmers who
have lately settled in the beautiful prairie
.egion of Southwestern Louisiana. That
class of people seems to think the posi-
oilities of these States for profitable stock.
'aising are beyond the conception of the
primitive herders, drovers and cowboys
who once monopolized the business in this |
lection.