Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1935-07-25

forty acres to the COW as a basis, to
support my herd, making sixty-two and
a half square miles, almost equal to
eight miles square This land I am
compelled to fence for protection from
other cattle. Fencing this land at the
rate of 5000 per mile will cost me So
400; the lease, at the rate of ten cents
per acre, will cost an additional sum
OF $4,000, making the total cost of
leasing and fencing, $40 400. My herd
of cattle, at $40 per head, is worth $780,
900, SO you can readily see it will take
the one-half of all my cattle to pro-
tect the other half from the encroach-
ments of large cattlemen. And the
smaller your herd the greater will be
the cost per head to fence; besides,
every cattleman who has been actively
engaged in the business upon the plains
knows hat during some seasons the
rains go in streaks, leaving large belts
Of country unWatered, that the grass
becomes parched and burnt up by the
scorching sun, so that cattle in this
locality are compelled to drift to where
pastures are green and water plenty"
What would be the result. it was ask
ed, if the public domain were all fenc-
ed? 1t would be impossible for cattle
to drift to green pastures, was the
answer. Another serious difficulty was
envisioned. The streams supplying the
! grazing lands are situated from eight
to ten miles apart. Again, the eco
nOmic phase of this situation was dis
cussed.
1.-The small cattlemen are situated
along these streams and own one-half
to a mile of the water. In fencing up
the public domain you would be al
| 1op,aJ ~ fpv,4n n,1x, II, fr@,,r nf x,n,x,.
own waterings, the fence to extend
only one-haif the way to the next
stream or watering, making your fence
ten miles in length and one mile In
width. This strip of land (taking &c
acres to a COW as a basis will support
160 head of cattle. 1t will take %
miles of fence to enclose it, at a cost
of $500 per mile, which will be equal
to 81, 400; my 160 head of cattle at $40
per head will be worth $4,000, leaving
a balance of 81 200 on the wrong side
OF the ledger. But suppose it is only
required to build one-half of the fence;
this will cost him $4,000, the number of
acres enclosed is 6,400; the leasing OF
this land from the government at ten
cents an acre will cost $640, and this
added to the fence will make $2,840;
deduct this from the price of your
herd and it will leave Just $3.50. If
you can conceive of any more systema-
tic plan to work out of the cattle bus
mess and turn over the grazing lands
of this western country to the capt.
,alists of the east than the leasing and
fencing up of the public domain.
would be glad to know it"
The argument wa strong for the
open range. The cattle would drift
until they found plenty of grass and
water. Nature, it was stated, had done
wonderful things for the grazing lands
of the west. In some sections the pinon
ridges and the deep canyons furnished
excellent protection from the wind.
and storms. Fencing the range would
shut out a large portion of the cattle
from this protection. 1t was an axiom
of the range that in proportion as the
cattle are exposed to the cold, SO mus
their food be increased.
S. A. Marney, editor of the Stock