The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-12-16
THE AMERICAN BISON SOCIETY.
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 bIooded buffaloes. The government alone can resist the temptation to sell the heads and hides of these wonderIul creatures: the government alone can keen them with the least possible FISK of loss by disease and with the great est opportunity to increase to the point where there will be no longer any i'm mediate danger of their extinction. It was through the shortsightedness and indifference of the United States gov ernment thirty odd years ago that tle American people lost the grandest ana most valuable animal native to thelf soil, and it surely is the right of the neople to demand such reparation, late and insufficient though, 1t may be, as may be had through the preservation bv the government of the last remnant of what but lately was the most num- erous large mammal of recent times.
 Personally, I believe that the strong sentiment in favor of our greatest American animal is sufficient to save him, if those who feel 1t will only sneak. I believe there are tens Of thousands of people who can appre- ciate the buffalo as a great character fin American history, in whose hVlnS presence only can we really under" stand the Indian and the life he led fin the early days; believe that these same people and many more, will ad- init the debt we owe the buffalo for the great part he played in 'the win ning1of the West" Of Americans born 11o fhnlfra whose relatives or friends would have suffered hunger, if not starvation, but for the presence of the vast herds of buffalo beyond the Mississippi, and no doubt there are many who from person. al experience can testify to the great value of the animal to those obliged to traverse the wilderness ill times gone by. do not believe these people will allow the bison to pass without maxi gnan effort in his behalf.
 But there are good economic reasons why this animal should be saved and allowed to increase in numbers. Shorn of all sentiment, and as he stands on his hoofs, he is the most valuable na- tive animal In the country; kill him, and there is no domestic animal in
 
 much in dollars and cents. The meat is as good as domestic beef and some parts of it rather better, while the hide alone will sell for money enough to purchase three or four good cows. A fine head is worth much more, and although the value of heads would probably decrease as buffaloes be- came more numerous, there would al ways be a good market for the skins, as for many purposes we have nothing quite so good. I know a man who is wearing a Buffalo ulster which has been in use for twenty winters, and it is not by an means worn out. As a winter carriage robe it is generally conceded that a Buffalo skin has nev- CT had an equal, and for this use alone, the article would probably com nand a, high price indefinitely. Then the Buffalo has wool almost as thick as that of the sheep. Naturally, there is much more of it, and while it is coars- CT than sheep's wool, it can be woven into very warm and useful garments. There was factory devoted to this industry in operation in Winnipeg, and I am informed that the enterprise was
 
 of the buffalo put an end to the supply of raw material. It would be a fairly simple matter to shear the animals in the spring as sheep are sheared, but this might not be necessary, as the buffalo sheds it's wool annually, in patches resembling felt, and this might be gathered from the ground.
 As beast of burden the bison is al- most unknown, yet I suspect that if properly broken when young, he would prove superior to the domestic OK for speed, strength and endurance My own experience with the team of buff falo calves which I borrowed and broke to the yoke and to harness last summer, tends to confirm this suspicion; at any rate, I do not believe any pair of do- mestic calves of the same age in New England can either travel so fast or handle so heavy a load as those eight months-old buffaloes. They have al- ready shown what they are made of at the Sullivan County (N. H. fair, and they will be tested again at the conn., ing Sportsmen's Show at Boston.
 Of buffalo-domestic cattle hybrids, will say nothing at this time, beyond stating that in all probability the rear ing of them will be profitable. The American Bison Society will interest itself in the preservation of the full 'blooded buffalo. When this is assured it will be time enough to think about cross breeding. If we don't save the full-bloods we can't even have hybrids.
 It is so well known that, under pro- per management, buffaloes multiply rapidly and that they are both easy and inexpensive to rear it is hardly necessary to repeat it; the point now is to have the government undertake this work until the herds are suffi- ciently large to warrant their distribu- tion to stock-raisers, farmers and oth- CTS who may desire to handle them. In, order that Congress may feel -justi- fled in appropriating the money neces- sary to do this, it is necessary that