The St. Johns herald., 1891-04-16
ttrested in the business.-National Stockman, Pittsburgh, Pa.

There is much in the situation of
 the cattle market just now to en- courage breeders and feeders and stimulate confidence in this impor- tant industry. Prices are not only much higher than a year ago, beef steers selling up S0@90c per cwt. and COWS 50c per cwt. on prime and 25c per cwt. on common. But this enhancement of values Is not the only encouraging feature. A gene ral and strong sentiment seems to be growing that cattle are too low, and of all properties now on the market they offer the best and safest investment for capital where they can be handled to advantage. The general feeling in the trade and prices are the same as in 1881, the year preceding the great excitement in the western cattle interest, which attracted such universal and wide spread attention in 1882 and 1883. In these days Western Texas twos sold at S25@$26, and threes $32@ $35, and the Prairie CattleCompany sold a big lot of fat beeves at $4@ $4.10 per cwt. and 1t was in 1883 that Col. J. L. Driskill sold to Sen ator Dorsey of New Mexico, lot of yearIing heifers at $24 and paid his father-in-law Doc Day, $20 for q lot of calves. Now Western Tex as twos are held at $15 and threes at $20.-Kansas City Journal,
 The increase in the receipts of cattle that it was supposed would result from the advance in prices has not materialized. The receipts for the last six days were $500 head less than for the previous six, amounting to 5S,123 head. The number was swallowed up with even a keener relish than was the 61 600 head offered during the previous week, and at not a less pronounced advance. At last the boom-which hitherto has been mainly confined to the common and medium sorts - has extended tothe upper grades. Within the last week from twenty five to fifty cents per 100 pounds has been added to the market value of extra beeves. The $5 mark has been reached and passed, and the market is now surging along to- ward $7, which point there appears to be a fair probability that it will reach before the end of April. Fol lowing the announcement of the purchase by members of the Big Four of the bulk of the cattle now being fed in Texas comes the report that a syndicate of New York and Chicago cattle exporters have pur- chased all but an inconsiderable part of the cattle in Canadian dis tilleries, the transactions involving the sum of nearly one million dol lars. Is it not somewhat significant, the fact that prices for prime beeves did not advance until these schemes for getting control of large part of the fat cattle that must go on the market during the next three months have been carried through to a successful termination-Breed- ers' Gazette.
 There can be but one result to the changes now taking place and soon to follow in the cattle business and that is a genuine boom. The change from low, depressed mar ket to one of activity and top prices will be too sudden to admit of slow reaction, but must cause a boom that will only be equaled in it's activity by the rapidity with which it is brought about. Cattle men have tor years been anxiously watching and waiting for change for the better, and many of them will continue to wait and watch un-