Imperial Valley press., 1913-10-15
RANGE CATTLE ON THE
FARM IN CALIFORNIA


part in the future than they have in
the past The great free range is be
ing reduced by squatters, homestead
ers, timber, mineral and oil men who
are securing lands in the range, ard
by fences, damage suits ard restrict
ing efforts are doing to the cattlemen
what they in the past did or tried to
do to the sheepmen. This means that
the number of cattle which can be al
lowed to run at will must be curtailed.
However, the high prices of beef.
prices which will probably hold up in
definitely, provide an opportunity for
the profitable rearing and marketing
of so-called baby beef or stall fed
CATTLE" practice now being eXten-
sively followed in the middle west,
especially in the corn belt. The ac-
QUESTION of good farm lands by the
thinking cattleman is solving his prob
lem by providing him with feed at
times when that on the range is short
or late in starting.
On the other hand, the high prices
are stimulating the range man to use
every possible endeavor to get the
most from his range, and at the same
time the man with a comparatively
small range can now find it profitable
to run a few cattle. He then obtains
profit from land which was formerly
permitted to lie idle.
As the usual cattle proposition is
an extensive one, as regards the terri
tory to be covered, one man cannot
as a rule devote his whole attention
to both the farming and cattle de-
partments. On such ranches the two
should be separated, not because they
are of equal Importance, but be-
cause the same man does not as a
rule inherit or attain the attributes
which make for success along both
lines
A good range cattleman is seldom
a good farmer, and usually a good
farmer is apt to be poor cattleman
on broad scale at least. The first
occupation calls for a wide range Of
vision, a grasp of the subject in It's
entirety; the latter calls for close at
tention to detail.
When the cattle constitute the main
industry all the branches under that
must necessarily be secondary, but III
many cases, as with farming, they
may be Independent. The cattleman
must determine what he needs in the
way of feed. From his knowledge Of
range conditions he alone is best fitted
to say how great a quantity Of hay
and grain he will need each year and
how large a reserve should be held
from year to year. He also knows
what kind and quality of grain and
hay will give the greatest returns
But once the questions of quantity
and quality are settled, the farm op-
erations can be run Independent of the
cattlemen.
In many cases feeding can be prac-
ticed for the period of the year when
the grass is taking root with the idea
of giving the range a chance to be-
come established before turning the
cattle on to eat off the feed. This
means that the range could be stocked
heavily for relatively shorter period
with less damage to the feed and with
increased gains to the cattle. This,
however, as a matter to be settled by
each individual cattleman and not by
the farmer.
To do their best under range con-
di; ions the stock should be left in
small bands, $50 to 300 head of steers
or a number of cows in proportion to
their size, and 1000 to 1900 head of
sheep to the band, depending on the
size of the fields and the watering fa-
cilities. In general FOR simply con-
1nement purposes two steers or twen-
ty sheep can be pastured to the acre
when all the feed is supplied. When
the 4tcck is requi ed to pick On
roughoge only half Cnis number is al.
io#ablc, e., one steer or ten shee1
TO the re. The y rnbo. Of couric,
a)-c determined w hln crtain hn-
it. a- "a ape, sine aad condition oi
cock, but for general purposes these
figures are fairly representative.
The amount to feed is also deter
mined by the size, age and condition
Of the animal, by the quality and kind
Of feed, and by the object to be a.
tanned, whether for maintenance or
for fattening. In general mainten-
ance feeds are not to be recommend
ed; the object should be to feed the
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