The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1902-09-10
SOUTH 4 GRAZING COUNTRY.
Superiority Of Our Pine Forests
Over Western Plains.

Over Western Plans.
Baltimore, Nd, Sept. Connect
cd directly with the industrial growth
OF the South is the question of cattle
raising. Not only is q population in
creasing through indussry to be fur
rished its besf raised at home, but
increasing employment in industry is
to be offered in the handling of cattle
in all its forms from the field TO the
consumer. Census figures show that
In Eve important Southern States there
was in 1900 a smaller number of neat
cattle than there was in 1850, and in
two Of them q smaller number In 1900
than in 1880. A number Of factors
have contributed to the actual decline
IN the number of cattle In some
States, together with failure In oth-
ers Of the increase to keep pace with
the increase In population. One OF
them is the habit Of selling young
stock for shipment TO the West to be
grazed and killed there andsto be re-
Eurned TO- the South as beef The
lark cf economy In guch % policy is
ssing impressed upon Southern farm
arg and there are signs OF interest In
afeFivaEof cattle raising and in pack
ing house undertakings. Bearing
upon that movement IS q letter IN this
weeks Manufacturers Record from
Mr.. G.. j. Haden, OF Atlanta. embody-
ing the results OF q trip he has made
in the West. He compares the high
plains OF the West with the vast
stretches OF pine timber plains of the
Southeast, with fifty inches of rain
fall year, situated on an average L00O
niles nearer the markets and as yet
unused for agriculture, ano he says:
Onr Southeastern lands escape the
destructive billiards and snow storms
that afHict the plains; for be it remem-
bered that the grazing lands OF the far
West are from 4, 600 to 6,000 feet above
sea level, and the best Of them {partic-
ularly these parts near the Rocky
MoRntains} are subjected to hevay
snowfans. -.
g The casual observer who first
passes through the Western plains and
then through South Georgia forests
will satisfy himself at a glance of the
greater quantity Of grass ON the latter.
CattIe-growing, which has been caE-
ried on in these forest lands IN a
small way, adjusted to the feeble
finances and lukewarm enterprise Of
the native settlers, has been practical
ly all profit. The watering and win
tsring necessary in the West are un-
known requisites. Hitherto herding
has also been unnecessary but this
last item mast be considered il the in
3dustry is pursued on q considerable
scale. Persons remote may be sur
prised TO know that, although Georgia
was one of the thirteen original
States, yet within seventy-hve miles
Of the frss settlement (Sawannah) the
traveller may ride across the forest
ten miles without seeing the habitat
Of man. Georgia, the largest State in
sonare miles east OF the Mississippi
River, having depended tor nearly a
century upon natural reproduction,
una;ded by immigration, is yet decid-
edly pieaeer at both its northern and
southern ends. Hence there is suf6-
cient grazing, at present not utilized,
for millions of cattle. Add to these
facts that water is abundant, if not on
the surface accessible by shallow
wells, costing to dig from So to $40
each, or at most artesian wells, cost
ing on an average Of $500, and there is
a conclusive showing in favor of the
Southeast as against the far West.
..The land privileges in the South
east would be less IN proportion to the
feeding power Of the grass than in the
plains. But as the Southeastern lands
are in the most part timbered, or even
where cut over are valuable for gene
raj farming purposes, wish sufficient
timber remaining for farm uses, the
stock-grower would probably prefer
to be bis own landlord. He can then
at small cost supplement whore needed
with. improved grasses.
The actual expense is less to equip
q ranch for beginning in the South
eastern pine lands than on the West
e.n plains. The peculiar advantage Of
the pine land country is in the fact
that more grass is found In less area,
bringing the herds closer to given
point, which facilitates business. The
absence Of the harrassing coyote, the
sleepless thief of the night, that eats
away the ranchman's dividend, is also
q cumulative argument in behalf OF
the inviting forests along the South
Atlantic. The high prices of cattle
and cheapness of the land warrant an
inhowing verdict. /"