The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-10-18
CONDITIONS AS DESCRIBED I'M
COAST REGION.
DUE TO LACK OF PASTURE
Land Fast Settling Up and Irrigation
Enterprises and Forest Reserves
the Cause.

~
UT the observations and resultant
conclusions of man generally ac-
knowledged as an authority because
of his extensive information are to be-
| accepted as correctly representing
conditions in the sheep world as ap-&
plying to the territory to the west,
then the fockmaster of Montana may
be said to be much happier situateda
than his competitors in the COAST
states of the northwest. The man rel
ferred to is Colonel y. C.. Burch, thess
veteran editor of the American Sheep
Breeder, one of the leading sheep
publications Of the country. Re-
Gently he was in Denver on his return
home from business trip that took
him over all of the Pacific coast re-
gions where sheep raising is one OF
the leading industries. He was inter-
viewed by a representative Of a stock
paper and what he said is OF interest
to the flockmasters of this state, par-
ticularly to those of central and east
ern Montana. .s
Flocks Are Shrinking.
81 had a most interesting trip" he
said, "and found the sheepmen very
hopeful of the future and the cattle
men rather discouraged. find also-
an enormous shrinkage in the number
of sheep on the range This is due
to the constant and steady encroach-
ment Of the settlers and the vast area
being taken into forest reserves.
"The matter Of pasture for the
sheep seems to be growing more serb
GUS every year, and many are being
forced out of the business, though 81
few new ones are all the time coming
in. Up in Washington and Oregon ~
saw millions of acres that a few years
ago were good range, but are now un-=
der cultivation. Then another cause
of the range contraction is the irriga-
tion enterprises In Idaho, for In
stance, the government is taking In
several counties in a big reservoir
site, and this also comes off the sheep
range.
Down in Utah things are looking
better. On the Manti reserve there
are about 100000 sheep now on range
that few years ago had been com
pletely eaten off. Now there is fine
grass there because the government
has kept the sheep off for few sea-
sons. s9
New Problem Arises There. fl
"But with the shrinkage of the
flocks a new problem has confronted
the people out there, and that is whaS
to do with their crops. Unless there Y
are plenty of sheep and cattle, al
falfa and other crops will not be- q
worth much, and the future of the 4
west absolutely demands more en-
coura cement for the fiocks and herds. n
The government will have to find 9
way to allow the grazing OF the for
est reserves, and when the land ques-
ton is settled in some way there will
be a great future for the industry.
Flocks Are Cleaner.
another thing noticed on my trip
was the great progress made by the
sheep owners in cleaning up the
scab. The flocks are cleaner than
ever before and the bureau of animal
industry and the sheepmen seem at
last to be working together to clean
things up and keep them clean. This n
means much to the welfare of the in
dustry.
Demand Exceeds Supply.
'sThe demand for all kinds of sheep
is greater than the supply. One man
at Antelope. Ore, told me that he
had orders for 10000 more sheep than
he was able to fill. His orders were n
for feeders and breeding ewes. He
told me that he actually could not
find the sheep to fill the orders.
''The fall movement is in full blast
now and will be fairly heavy. but not
heavy enough for the increasing de-
mand." d
Rood Tho Gazette and keen nosted