Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1892-06-21
A CRUEL INDUSTRY.
cAILK.nAi,rSo ON Iur rL,lSs.


con.plcuou. industry--if industry Il can
be cslled--snd IL carried on In, think,
every county In the state. large cattle
herds are already things of the past In
the western end of the state, and u J.
evident that farming and settlement Will
soon drive them out of Gallatln and Cas-
cade counties. u IL cause for Jubilation
that thl. l. the case. II seems strange
tha, cruelty should distinguish this
branch of food raising wherever II IL
seen and In whatever branch one studlc.
IL. From the bloody fields of Texas,
where the ingeniou. hends In the cattle
bushes. snip OF the horns of the AMI
mails below the quick. to the stock yards
In Chicago, where men are found Who
will prod the beeyes Into pens, there to
crush their skulls With hammers, IL u
everywhere the ssme-e,erywhere the
cattle business hs. lts concomitants of
cruelty aud savagcry.
The reader would not suppose there
va. cruelty In the mere feeding of cattle
on the plains. but let him go Ia Montana,
and talk With the people there, aud he
will shuddcr AZ what he hears. The cat
tie owners, az cow-inen, are la Wall
street and the south of France, or Ia
Florida In IA. winter, but their cattle
are on the ~intry fields, where every
now and then, say once la four year.,
half ~ them, or eighty per cent, ar Que
In three (as II happcnsl .tsr,c 10 deiti,
because of their Inability Ia e., nj the
gfa. under the snow. 4 horse or a
mule can dig down % the gras.. Those
animal. have q Joint la their legs vhlch
th. horned cattle do not possess, sni
which en>bles those animals which po.-
-e.. u to 'paw." sheep are taken to 80
pccial winter grounds and watched over.
hut the ON men do business an Oh. prin-
clple that gains In good years more than
Offset the lo.se. In bad years, and 80
when the lad year. come. the poor beast.
die by The thou.anis-totter along until
they fall down, the living always trying
Ia rrsch the body ~ . dead one io fall
upon, AMI then they freeze Ia death, .
fate that never befslls . steer OF COW
when II can get food.
Already, an some 20 the ranges. the
''cow-men" (cattle owners) are growing
tired of relying on Providence To super
intend their business, aud they are send.
ING men to look after thu herds once =
month, aud Ia pick out the calves aud
weaker cattle aud drive them Ia where
hay l. stored. By spring-tlme one In
every fifteen or twenty In large herd.
will have been cared for In this way. In
FAR eastern Montana range feeding In
large herd. will long continue, but In at
least hye-.-yenth. of the state, irriga-
ton aud cultivation of the soil Will soon
end Il. The hills and upper benches, all
covered with sslf-curing bunch grass,
will .tiil remain, aud will forever be used
for the mslntenano of small herds of
cows and sheep, properly attended and
provided With corrals and hay, against
the time. when the beasts must be fed.
III. farmers will undoubtedly go Into
cattle raising, and dairy-farming 10 sure
To be- great Item In the states rr.our-
ce., since the hills are beside every future
farm. aud the most provision that will
be needed will be that of little hay for
stocking the winter corrsls. Last year
the cattle business In Montana WAS worth
ten millions of dollars to the owners of
the herds. "l'rv,idencc MAS on deck"
az the COW boys would say.
Hut the sheep there brought twelve
millions of pounds of wool on Their
back. In the same year. They are band
ei In herd. of about syJD head, aud each
hand I. In charge of one solitary. lonely,
forsaken herder, Who will surprise his
employer. II he remains sane man any
great length Of time. In the summer
these heriers sleep In tents, and the
ranch forrmen start out with fresh pro-
visions at infrequent intervals, and hunt
up their men q. they follow the herds.
In the winter the grazing u done In shell
tered place. especially chosen. On the
winter ground. q corral Il built, and
thirty to forty tons Of hay are stored
there for emergencies when the snow
lies thick on the ground. II IL aprime
country for sheep. They get heavy
coats, and are subject to no epidemic dis
eases. The grass IL rich and plenty.
and the warm Pacific Winds soon melt
what SHOWS occasionally cover the
ground. The wool ranks next 10 that
from Australia. The tendency of the
sheep herders to become insane u the
most unpleasant accompaniment of the
business, except the various forms OF
mutilstion of the sheep for business
reasons. The constant bleating Of the
sheep and the herder's loneliness, spend.
log weeks and months without any COM
panionship except that of q dog and the
herd, are the causes that are commonly
accepted to account for the fact that so
many herders 90 insane. Since found
insanity terribly common among the
pioneer. on the plains In Canada. where
no sheep were raised, prefer to leave
the lncessant bleAtlng Of the sheep out
Of the calculation, and To call Il loneli.
ness-and yet, In my opinion, that IL not
the sole reason.
The horse market has been very poor
for some time. and mules are being rails
ell for the market With better results.
The substitution Of electric for horse
power on street railways has lessened
tie demand for horses, and 90 has the
use Of steam farming implements. There
has been an over supply Of horses as
well. hut the Montana men hnd horses
q good Investment. II costs nothing to
raise them, aud all breeds seem 90 In
prove there. They get great lung de-
velopment, and acquire no diseases.
When they cannot be sold from go To
slO0 apiece, the owners keep them until
they DO fetch those prices.-lIarper's
Magazine.
Probably the oldest timber In the