Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1897-02-12
SURPLUS OF HORSES.
THERE ARE t25,ooo ROAMING THE
FIELDS OF THE WEST.

Electricity and Bicycle Rapidly Reducing
the Noble Animal to His First Estate.
Owners Ready to Give Them Away-Nsed
the Pastures For Cattle.
Imagine 4 herd of horses aggregating
1876, 900 for which no practical use can be
found. Stockmen Of the northwest are to-
day considering what disposition can be
made Of this immense number OF animals.
. This great herd roams the prairiea Of
Montana, North Dakota, Washington and
northern Idaho. They are grazing upon
grass that is required for the sustenance
of cattle and sheep and are practically
worthless for any purpose. The cause Of
this serious condition isdue TO the bicycle
and to street car systems operated by cleo
triclty and by cable, the use Of which with
in the last few years have so largely done
away with the employment of horses. In
some Of the districts named the horses are
increasing so rapidly In numbers that they
are actually crowding live stock, used for
supplying the meat markets Of the coun-
try, off ranges where they find grass on
which to subsist
The men who own this vast number of
horses, ranging, as they do, over such
large expanse Of territory, can devise no
means Of relief, and they are practically
helpless. Excellent horses, tlfbroken, can
be bought for from So to s15 head, but
even at this low figure no buyers can be
found, while the horses, too valuable to be.
destroyed and at the same time too expen-
sive to keep alive, continue TO multiply
Asa result Of the liberal policy adopted
companies Of the northwest after meas
, ures were adopted by the government to
circnmscribe and Keep the Indians within
certain hounds, the great ranges at one
time occupied by elk, buffalo, deer and
antelope were quickly taken up by capital
lists, who, having heard OF the fame Of this
region as hunting grounds, established
rancbes there and began raising stock on
large scale Hundreds of thousands Of
dollars were invested In cattle and Large
herds Of stock bought in Texas, Arizona
and other states and territories in the
southwest and driven to therich ranges in
northern Idaho, North Dakota, Washing
ton and Montana to fatten on the nutri-
tious bunch grass which grows so lux
uriantly there Immense fortunes were
made In this way. and cattle kings were
~ Ah0 ncNlts
among these stockmen were many who
raised large herds of horses, either sepa-
rately or in conjunction with cattle When
the Northern Pnciflc railroad was com.
pleted, much greater accessibility to the
horse markets Of the east was possible So
encouraging was the Investment in horses
that many owners Increased their herds to
as high as 10000 or IL, 900 head
grades Of horses and abandoning the half
breed and broncho grades Largo draft
horses at one time found ready sale in
the eastern states and in Europe. 1t was
also thought that there would be an excel
lent market for l6rses in large cities, where
street car companies use these animals for
motive power. For number of years
there was much profit In raising stock for
street car use, but when electricity and the
cable system were adopted the profits In
horse raising gradually diminished until,
instead Of there being gains, there was a
constant loss
Importations OF fine breeding stock from
Kentucky and eastern states as well as
from England and Scotland, were made.
but It was found that the horse industry
was on the decrease. Shipments to east
ern and middle western states over one
railroad nloEe dropped from 10. 600 hcad
yearly to 1000 To such an extent did
tho market depreciate that, instead Of max
ing money, horse owners found that they
they stood a good chance of going into
bankruptcy.
Then the bicycle came into general use
and the horse raising industry received its
final blow. Those who had been in the
habit of using saddle horses found that
bicycle did not require to be S'bruken in. -
nor did it require feeding or stabline,
while. in many ways the machine was ca
pable of being applied to greater use than
a horse. -
This surplus Of 1875, 900 horses consists
not alone Of brbnchos or cattle horses, but
in it may be found such stock as coach
and Clydesdale horses nearly all Of which,
however, are unbroken. Among them are
the descendants Of some very high priced
stations, Ono ranchcr near WaIla, Walla,
Wash, has 1000 horses on his range, all
Of which are finely bred. These he Is will
ing to sell at $40 per head, "big and lit
tie, as the saying is among cattlemen,
which means colts as well as the grown
animals, He can find no purchaser for his
stock.
The question which is now agitating |
these stocknen is, what can be done to |
rid the ranges of this immense number of |
horses jim order that pasturage may be \
provided for the large herds Of cattle and \
sheep?" For cattle Of this description an
amount OF pasturage h required which
person other than a stockman or one con-
versant with the situation cannot imagine.
OF course there is no feeding in that part A
of the country for cattle during winter.
for they range out Of doors during the en-
tire year; therefore they must depend for
food entirely upon the bunch and other
grass which grow on the prairies md In
the mountains
In 1895 an experiment was made with
view Of providing way out Of the trou-
bic. A plant was established at Portland,
Or, for the purpose of Strengthening
horses and canning the meat for export to
France, The plant was operated less than
one year, however, for it did not succeed.
Horesemen then sought to induce beef
packing and rendering es-
adjustments In the United States to take
horses for Strengthening purposes, but the
attempt failed. The packing house own
ers absolutely declined to add horse slaugh-
tering and canning TO their beef slaugh-
tering industry on the ground that If it
became generally known that they were
canning horse meat the sale of their can
ned beef would be materially affected, II
not entirely destroyed
Proprietors Of rendering establishments
refused to 60 westto buy horses from the
range" for the reuson that they were able
10 obtain in the cities all the discarded
horsvs they needed at few dollars per
head, or at the slight cost Of hauling them
rom different parts of cities to their es-
Horse owners in the west
we're thus again disappointed in finding
, market for their stocks in large cities as
.hnv Ind exnncfnd - Now Ynrlr Herald