The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1902-09-13
The South and Live Stock.

| The South and Live Stock.
W. C. Swope, of Courtland, Ala,
| lives lust forty miles below the quar-
! antne lines. He believes that great
| future is before the South as a live
stock country, but he shares opposite
views of many cattlemen who consider
| the danger of Southern fever as great
handicap. Speaking Oh this point he
says:
"!f the cattle are handled rightly
| the danger can be reduced to mini
num- but the moment the breeder OF
the exposition management gets little
careless his, herd is gone. l have had
only one death among my Northern
cattle in the past two years, and now
see that | could easily have avoided
that The case was that of one OF my
young bulls, which l served to a grade
COW. She was ticlly, which did not
of itself mean that the bull would
catch the fever. but l carelessly de-
ferred spraying the animal with disin-
fectants until too late.
There Is a general impression among
Northern cattlemen that the best thing
to do with their cattle when the stock
is shipped below the quarantine line or
otherwise exposed to Southern fever, is
to inoculate them. For my own part
l am not in favor of inoculatiOn. 1t
may be effective in the long run, but a
cow or bull that has been inOculated
remains in poor. half-sick condition
for four or five months after inocula-
ton. Thus the breeder loses so much
valuable time.
"The way I handle my cattle is to
spray them with disinfectants, and l
have always found this works admir-
ably. especially so when l keep my
breeding stock in fenced pastures and
do not allow it to mingle with the wild
native cattle. l have constructed
corral or series of chutes into which
can drive the pure breds from time to
time and give them good spraying.
Such course Of procedure, combined
with common sense management, rem
ders Herefords as safe in the South as
in the North.
"The crying need Of my State as well
as the whole South is better cattle.
The people have at last come to reali-
zation of this. think, and the future
will see rapid strides made in the i'm
proved quality Of our range and feed
lot stock. The ever present Jersey is
a too common class of cattle down my
way. We have a few Durhams. but
not enough to begin to fill the needs
of the country. 1t is a good territory
for the Northern breeders to work up,
and l think they will find it as satisfac-
tory an investment as their deals in
the Southwest.
1.-TWO years ago bought five heifers
and one bull from Missouri breeders,
giving over $4,000 for the animals. With
the single exception mentioned above
they have done remarkably well.
have crossed my bull with native
grade Durhams, and this spring ex-
pect fifty calves. which l will raise
and fatten for the markets.
alabama offers plenty of induce
ments to cattlemen. We have no hard
winters, and never worry whether
there is bounteous corn crop or not.
realizing that the cattle will carry over
just as we'll on hay. My heifers will
average we'll with any of the stock Of
fered in the ordinary present sale, yet
their only feed all winter has been
fifteen pounds of hay each day.
1--WE have the land and the where
withal to handle Herefords and other
fine cattle; all that is needed is little
prodding of our stockmen and my State
will soon take a much higher rank in
the blooded stock raising business"