The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1890-06-20
WYOMING LIVE {
Horses far Superior to Those raised n,
Lower Attitudes.

Horses far Superior to Those raised IN
Lower Attitudes.
The following article, written for
Tie Cheyenne Sun by A. A.. Holcomb,
Wycmiiig's veterinarian, is well worth
a careful perusal by the agricultural
lists Of Fall River County.
"The raising of live stock is the
principal industry Of Wyoming, not
because she has no other resources, but
simply that they have remained prac.
tically undevlopcd to the present time,
for the want Of interest, capital and
transportation facilities. Before an
other decade has passed, however, u
immense deposits of coal, iron, copper,
oil, soda, marble, etc, will undoubted-
ly have attracted the attention Of the
world and stock raising will no longer
remain the chief industry Of our peo.
pie.
But no matter what changes may
take place in these other industries,
stock raising must ever remain one of
the principal resources of wealth to
our territory. This is inevitable for
the reason that the greater portion of
our vast domain is, strictly speaking.
a grazing country: for of the more
than a hundred thousand square miles
of territory embraced within the Inn
its of Wyoming, t%wo-thirds at least
are covered with the most nutritious
grasses and watered by TIE purest
mountain streams.
10 a ma ority Of American people ii
seems incomprehensib!e that a noun
famous country like Wyoming should
excel in the production of live stock.
The skepticism as to our ability to
raise the finest stock i'll the world is
due largely to the ignorance of the
climatic conditions which obtain,
coupled with a lack of knowledge as to
ne influence which climate and alti.
tude have upon the physical develop
ment of animal life.
Long observation has shown beyond
any question of doubt that different
types of animals are produced hy The
continued operation Of climatic infu-
cnccs. II is we'll known. for instance,
that in low lying countries where the
soil is wet, the atmosphere heavy with
moisture and the growth of vegetation
is rapid, coarse and rank, animals are
produced of large frame, with loose,
soft, fabby muclos, poor, fiat feet and
of week lung power. On the other.
hand opposite climatic conditions COM
bine to produce a type of animal en-
actly the opposite of that described.
i. c. n of compact build, with fine,
clean bones, mucles of iron, great lung
power and constitutions which with
stand the greatest strain of every day
wear and tear.
Now a word as TO the topography of
the country and our climate. 1t is
true that Wyoming is a mountainous
country bu, with the exception of the
Bi. Horn range in the north and Lar
annie Peak in the southeast, there are
no extreme attitudes in the territory.
The greater portion Of the territory is
made upof small undulating plains and
beautiful valleys running back into the
hills or breaks, which form the best Of
natural shelter in case of wind or
storm and afford feeding spots for the
stock when the plains and valleys are
temporarily covered with o
Sparse as the grasses Of these hills
may seem to the uninnitiatcd, and in
sufficient as they might appear to the
eastern farmer who is accustomed to
ample quantities of cured fodder for
winter use. the fact remains that these
grasses, naturally cured upon the hill.
sides where they grow, are the most
nutritious of all known fodder plants.
No doubt the statement will he consid-
cred untrue by many, yet it is a fact
that horses in particular will run at
large upon our ranges during the en-
tire winter season, unseen and uncared
for by their owners, and come out in
the spring ready for work in better
flesh and condition than the stable-fed
horses Of the east. The reasons for
this remarkable wintering of our live
stock are to be found in the fact that
we have mere clear sunsliny DAYS.
with fewer storms and less snow fall
than is to be encountered in the coun-
try east Of us. Again our mountain
streams remain open the entire VIM
ter, eycn the wild fowl inhabitins
them all the twelve months Of the
year. so that stock is not deprived of
drink, which is even more essential
to health than food. Add to these
things a clear, pure, bracing atmos-
ptere which makes breathing a pleas
ure and which makes every drop of
Flood in the body to tingle with the ex.