The silver star., 1898-02-24
Farm Department.
coLoRADo's POSSIBILITIES.

coLoRADO's POSSIBILITIES.
No Reason why Stock should Go East to
Be Fattened and Slaughtered.
Mr.. William N. Byers, the we'll
known pioneer of Denver, In discussing
the possibilities Of Denver and Colo
RADIO as a stock raising and distribut-
ing center, said:
The men who conceived and carried
to a successful termination the recent
great stock convention have done
nobly, and the result Of their work il
already in evidence by the great In
crease In shipments Of live stock to
this market and the opening OF new
commission houses here by firms that
have heretofore considered Omaha the
only stock market In America after
Chicago. This is but the advance
guard, we may say, Of the great busi-
ness that is In store for our city II It
Is properly handled.
Il am, however, greatly surprised
that the friends Of this new industry
have nothing to say and apparently
take It as fact, when told that Den
yer cannot be great Strengthening and
meat curing point because its location
Is a matter of two or three hundred
miles from the Nebraska corn fields.
Why should It be cheaper to ship stock
to the corn cribs that to bring the corn
cribs to the stock? 1t should not be.
Besides this, am not entirely salts
fied that corn is absolutely necessary
to top of or harden up the flesh OF
beef animals. Take England, for ex-
ample, they raise the finest beef and
mutton on earth, yet there is not one
farmer or feeder in every thousand in
England that would know what corn
field was il he should see it They
feed roots and small grains almost ex-
clusively. In many respects we, in
Colorado, have the advantage over the
Englishman. There is not a foot Of
ground in Colorado, upon which water
can be turned that will not grow larg-
er and better crops Of rye. barley. oats,
peas, turnips and sugar beets than any
other place on earth. We can raise
acre per year, while the unfortunate
farmer east OF us considers himself in
luck II he gets one and one-haf tons
Of hay per acre OF his pasture.
There Is really no reason why fod-
der enough. and of better quality
than can be raised in Kansas, Ne
brasks or Iowa, should not be grown
in Colorado to fatten a sufficient num-
ber of stock to supply packing houses
as large or even larger than those now
In operation in Kansas City and Oma-
ha- The stock can be fattened on the
alfalfa, beet pulp and turnips, and II
they must have grain to finish on,
feed them rye, peas and oats mixed. as
do the Canadians and Europeans.
whose beef and bacon command in
American markets prices 30 per cent.
above that cured In the packing houses
OF our own country. The farmers Of
the San Louis valley are now grow
ing great crops Of peas and rye, the
latter being harvested twice a year in
many Instances. and they find II more
profitable than was at first anticipated.
The old idea that corn cannot be
raised IN Colorado has been exploded
and this argument against this packing
industry is advanced only by those
who are unacquainted with the facts.
I have successfully grown corn on my
ranches for several years and I will
guarantee to raise on irrigated lands
any amount Of corn that for fattening
purpose will 10 the average acre equal
any corn Geld In the Mississippi or
Missouri river regions
This Is q very broad statement, but
l mean just what say and can demon
strate Its truth.
TT ie true We cannot raise tail,
woody and worthless corn stalks like
they do in the east The stalks are
much smaller, with more leaves, all Of
which tho stock will eat, which can
not be done with eastern corn. raise
the evergreen sweet corn, the sugar In
1t being the highest fattening property,
and. as said before. I win agree TO
put "a much fat on bunch Of steers.
sheep or swine with an acre OF Colo
RADIO sweet corn as can be done with
an acre of the old-fashioned yellow
field corn Of Iowa or Illinois.
This crop has to he planted early
and must be well cared for. II "a not
~ easy to grow as oats, wheat or
harley.
ITO show the amount Of prosperity
that is slipping away from us. simply
because we are not vet awake to what
can be done at home. will call your
attention to the fact that few days
ago forty carloads OF canned beef pass
ed through this city from the Armour
houses In Chicago bound for San Fran
ciseo. whence II will he shipped to
AseD"ssA bCt uFts ut C11INtN VnuI
finally found their way into these ears
wore probably born In Texas, driven
or shipped to Denver for sale ms feed
era, then to Montana, Kansas, Ne
braska or Iowa and fattened. then sent
to Chicago for slaughter. after which
the cured meat was rcshIpped to Dem
ver on Its way to the seaport, from
where II will be sent to foreign
country. n useless journey of over
1000 miles, to say nothing Of the
and cost OF freight. Every
one OF these cattle might have been
fattened within the state on Colorado
grown forage and slaughtered In Den
ver, and. In my opinion. the day In not
very far distant when this will be
done. The only thing necessary In tn
make the feeders, farmers and packers
10 understand these facts. and with
our climate. which In the best In the
world for curing meats, we will start
In on a siaughtcrIng and packing era
which will noon distance the fondest
hopes Kansas City ever had.
"Of course the establishment Of in.
dustrtes Of this kind In Denver and
Colorado will be opposed by the trans.