The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-12-26

now making the change. Again, once
sheep got upon range, the cattle
could not afterwards subsist upon it,
as the sheep eats the heritage so closely.
1t appears, therefore, if l read Alright
the tendencies of the times, that sheep
and not cattle will. in the main. be
the possessers of the hills and noun
tains, and only in those places where
his master owns the water will the
range steer reign supreme. Thus
more and more as time goes on the
cattle will have to be confined to the
valleys and the farms, and the range
steer will have to modify both his hab-
it's and his form to fit the new condi-
lions.
The change in this direction is even
now taking place, as in many places
the range steer has made his start, as
a calf, on the farm and been turned
out on the range to get his growth In
some places the practice is carried
further than this and during the sum-
mer only does the stock get upon the
range.
BEEF ON THE FARM.
There is room for much improvement
in the handling and product : = beef
ing stock on the farm. While Z . gross
returns from beef may not be { great
as that from milk production, yet as
the labor account is less, the net
showing may not be so different if we
get the right kind of an animal to work
with.
A little experience we have had at
the experiment station, in fattening
steers for experimental purposes, indi-
Gates that many of the range steers
are altogether too eXcitable to do the
best in the feeding lot. Those grown
and trained on the farm are likely to
be much more tractable. The typical
beefing animal has what may be called
phlegmatic temperament, and any
animal with q wild, nervous nature.
seldom fattens economically
A few years ago [ remember reading.
[ believe, in some of Darwin's works,
an account of the change which the
buffalos of America had undergone
after the horse had been introduced in
the chase. The last survivors were
longer-legged and RANGER animals than
those from which they had descended.
1t is law of nature that animal life,
and, in fact, all forms of life, adapts
itself to the conditions under which it
is placed, so that with the buffalos,
those survived the longest which We're
the f1eeteSt of foot and thus they would
likely produce more offspring than their
slower brothers, which would tend in
a few generations to modify the whole
nerd. With the range steer the same
tendency holds. While the animals may
be crossed with those of improved
form, yet the influence of situation,
soil, climate and management are su-
perior, so that we find the range ami
NAL more leggy, though strong of con-
stitution, and lighter in the body than
the animal that tops the market.
VARIATION IN PRICE.
An examination of the market quo
tations for steers at the Chicago stock
yards for Dec. 10, 1897, shows a varia-
ton in price ranging from So so to $3.50,
or 81 per hundred pounds. This means
difference in price of $50 in a 500
pound steer, or $40 in a 1O0O-pound ami
NAL. Between good and extra steers
a difference of 81 per hundred is
quoted, or $40 and SIS difference in price
between the 1,5O0 and 1,0O0-po steer
respectively. Some people may won
der why there is so much difference in
the price of beefing cattle and at times
[ believe it is thought to be more in
the imagination of the buyers than in
the animals. This is quite a mistake.
The value of steer ready for the
block depends upon the amount of
meat he has laid on in the most valu-