The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1891-07-18
'ON TIE CATTLE RANGES.
WESTERN RANGES BEING DAMAGED
BY lNJuDlClOUS GRAZING.
A Problem ~ Vast Importance How
BufIhocS aud Nud CHttlo Preserved
the Plains, aud How Cupidlty Forces
Their neStruction--An Example.

the ilalS, And How tuptdity Forces
Their nestruction--An Example.
"l have Soen several statements in the
newspapers, aud have heard it mentioned
with great apprehension hy many people in
the eaSt, that, owing TO the overstockiug of
the cattle ranges in the west, the plSturago
has been destroyed to such an extent that Il
is only a question ot short time when stool,
raising must he greatly curtailed and meat
famine enSuo," said John H. sullivan, gen.
uino rauchman, aud man of great intoli.
gcuce and keen observation As Bronco
John, his uano ON the plains, heis well known
throughout the country rs u lecturer aud
writer on matters affecting the interests OF
stock raiSerS and their employees,
THAT the natural paSturago OF tho great
cattle ranges has been greatly injured aud
reduced Ia AREA there can he no doubt con-
tinued Mr. sullivan, "hut 1t is not due to
oycrStocklng but to an iujudicious and
ignorant system Of feeding Why, can ~.
member when the plains east OF the Rocky
mountains extending north through New
Mexico, Colorado Wyoming and Montana,
swarmcd with buffalo, elk, deer and ante
lope, and enormous droveS of wild horses and
herds OF wild cattle covered the great coun.
try south of the Republican river. They
have all been driven away, and their feeding
places given TO the ranchman and his stock,
but the latter do not approach in numbers
the original occupants OF this country, who
found food supply IN great abundance for all
their tremendous needs, More than that,
one buffalo would eat and required, more
/ than twice rs much grass tnr its support as
does common steer or COW. A buiTalos
daily ration is ON the average $50 pounds OF
grass; a steers or cows, 100 pounds. The
elk and the antelope were also large con.
sumers of grass, but the deer was more
delicate feeder When these uumbcrloss
buifaloeS, elk, antelope, deer, wild horses
and cattle roamed over the bluffs aud plains
there was not only always a surplus Of the
choicest wild grass for their Susteuance, hut
it grew in Succuleut luXuriance, reaching a
height Of from three TO six feet. This won
derful buffalo grass covered immense areas,
aud its nutriliye bunchvS-whlch give it the
other name of bunch graSs-reached height
of eigSl inches,
NATURES WISE PROVISIONS.
"What was the cause Of this marvellous
prevalence Of luxuriaut pasturage, although
there were thousands upon thousands more
mouths, and much more rayenous ones, to
feed than there are now, while the same
ranges now show scant, scattered and Stunted
growths of grassi The cause was nature.
Natures laws ruled and were obeyed through
the wonderful instinct, reason or whatever il
might have been of the Wild cNatures that
depended on natures bounty for their susie.
nance. Buffalo grass and wild prairie grass
are like wheat and corn. They will not
grow from their roots like cultivated grasses,
but must rise from the seed Nature planted
knowledge of this fact somewhere within
the wild animals that once fed on the ranges,
aud, if feeding ON buffalo grass, which grows
in lunches like onion tops, they ate only
every other bunch as they grazed, and left
ample patches of the prairie grass standing
as they ate their way along over the plains
This was for the seeding OF the ranges for the
succeeding CROP and nature never failed to
reward this blind obedience to her laws
THE successors to these aboriginal grazers
would il left TO themselves, render the same
obedience, but the ignorance or short sight
edness of the cattle raisers has put their own
behest above the law of natural selection,
and the cattle are forced to feed on a range
until every bunch aIt spear of grass are
gone. There is no seed left to replenish the
wasted area and the herds are moved on to
despoll other territory Then the cry goes
out from the ranges that the rush to raise
cattle is overstoeking the country and de
stroying the pasturagel The fact is there
are not half as many cattle on the ranges as
the capacity of the grazing country can stls-
tain. There is territory enough and area
for grass enough to sustain millions more
cattle than are being raised today. This cry
of overstocking comes from the syndicate of
great cattle kings. The policy of these mill
ionaire stock raisers and grabbers of untold
thousands of acres Of the country's area is
to discourage the small growers and keep
them out of the region, or acquire possession
of their ranches,
THE REASON WHY