The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-12-20
HEAVY SNOWFALL MEANS GOOD
GRASS NEXT YEAR.
CATTLE WILL BE WELL FED
Montana's Ranges Have Been Almost
Entirely Denuded of Horses Owing
to the Great Damard for
Them.
Especial to Inter Mountain.l

Helena. Dec. 20.-Stockmen are well
pleased with the recent abundant fall
OF snow all over the state. as 1t assures
them Of ample water. and consequently
ar abundance of range for thei: stock
next summer. ID.
Until late in the autumn the pricipita-
ton had been light and a few light rains
during November did not give much re-
lief. The snow storms of the last two
spring and early summer will at least
relieve the stockmen Of anxiety regard
ing water.
The snow is now general all over Mon
tana. In the extreme eastern section
the fall has been lighter than it was in
the west, northern and southern parts of
the state. The stOckmen generally are
prepared to feed their stock during the
winter and in those sections where there
i, but little pasture land, hay put up
during the summer is being fed Where
there is range that is not too closely
eaten over the cattle are allowed to
browse in the snow.
Plenty Of Good Feed.
The hay crop i'll Montana this year was
w , ASSs 14ASCo,duu IL Is uOuDl1 III IL ally
year has seen as much hay put up as
was cut during the summer.
In all sections of the state where lands
are watered by irrigation, three, and in
some cases four, crops were raised. On
the bench lands one crop was raised
and generally speaking it is doubtful If
any year has seen So many hay stacks in
Montana
Cattlemen are fast realizing the me-
cessity of feeding their stock through the
winter. 1t often requires several of the
pest summer and spring months for a
steer to recover from the effects of a
severe winter. Il
During the last three years the winters
have been mild, and in man ysections Of
the state. ranchmen have hay left over
that 1t was not necessary to feed dur
ing the preceding winter. as the cattle
lived on the ranges and meadows during
the winter months. There is no telling,
however, when there may be reoccur-
renee of the winters experienced in the
SOS, when the ranges of Montana were
strewn with the carcases of range cattle
that persisted during the winter
During the summer the ranchers lit
orally made hay while the sun shone.
While not few of them had many tons
left over from the previous winter, none
of them were willing to take chances on
a long. hard winter.
Every season sees more cattle fed dur
ing the winter than the previous year.
Experiments made by the state expert
ment farm staff prove that cattle given
shelter and food during the winter do
much better than those allowed to rustic
for themselves.
Well Prepared for Hard Winter.
This of course would naturally be true,
but they have figured it out that a
greater profit is made upon cattle cared
for, than those allowed to feed on the
range during the winter. They do not
require so long to recover from the cold
OF the winter and put on flesh as soon as
the spring opens up and are in better
flesh and better grade than those ami
mails that are allowed to rustic for them
selves in the storms and the cold of a
Montana winter.
could be asked by the cattlemen The
snow is deep in the mountains and the
entire state is covered with a mantle of
white.
They are we'll prepared to stand a long
winter, and there is no likelihood that
the winter will be long, although it is
possible there will be a season of very
severe weather, which will of course
work the greatest hardship upon the
sheep men.
There are perhaps fewer horses on the
Montana range than ever before. During
the early spring whel the horse market
offered good inducements to shippers
large consignments We're made from
Montana.
Thousands of head OF horses were
shipped out of the state. Trainload after
trainload of Montana cayuses and range
horses of a better grade were shipped.
A few years ago person riding the
range would see a cayuse on every hill
top, but today one may ride for miles
and miles across the range and not see
a horse of any kind.