; 147 
their cattle. Muscatine: Not as good as usual, owing to the exceedingly cold winter 
and, in many places, scarcity of water. Johnson: Fair; winter severe, but grain and 
hay abundant and cheap and stock have been well fed. Jasper: Never so good; corn 
cheap and plenty. Lee: Looking worse than usual; scarcity of rough feed. Shelby: 
Not so good as usual; an unusual number have died in dropping their calves. 
Kansas.—Cherokee: Excellent, owing to the abundant crops. Johnson: Thin; poor 
shelter, and extreme cold weather. Labette: Better than ever known in this county. 
The past winter said to be the hardest ever known in Southern Kansas—thermometer 
down to 18° below zero—but such bountiful crops were raised the past season, besides a 
great amount of prairie-hay cut, that cattle have had all the feed they could eat; besides, 
farmers have had better shelter for their stock, which is the biggest half in their feed- 
ing. Lincoln: All have done well except a drove of 500 from Michigan, which arrived 
here late in October in very poor condition, and lost 102. 
NEBRASKA.—Richardson: Rather poor; hard winter. Pawnee: Never known to be 
better. L’£au qui Court: Fair. Some farmers do not feed till their stock get poor; 
those have the most losses. 
CALIFORNIA.—Sonoma: With rare exceptions neither cattle nor sheep are put into 
“winter-quarters.” They have no other shelter than that afforded by nature. During 
seven years’ residence in this county we have not known a winter so favorable as the 
past to stock. The long, cold rains, so injurious to stock in poor condition, have not 
prevailed; have had no severe storms. The rains have been mild and warm, and 
alternated with warm sunshine, so that grass has grown well, and the stock are in a 
thriving condition. Napa: Unusually good. Our beef has been superior to that of 
any former winter for many years. Stock-cattle have kept good on mountain and river 
pasture; no food given; no shelter. Contra Costa: Excellent. Sold a lot of beeves on 
the last day of February fully as fat as the best stall-fed. Del Norte: Better than 
usual; winter the warmest since 1863. Mendocino: Better than ever before; now 
* fattening on the new grass. Stanislaus: Poor, from the want of proper care and food. 
San Diego: Suffered and 3 per cent. died for want of pasture, owing to drought. 
OREGON.— Umatilla: Fine, without being fed—running on the pasture that nature 
has furnished. This county being a common meadow, and the winter being mild, we 
seldom have to feed any. Douglas: Splendid. Yam Hill: Excellent; much better 
than usual. Grant: Good; many of them good beef. 
NeEvapsa.—LEsmeralda; Very good; favorable winter. : 
CoLoRapOoO.—Fine ; all above average. Conejos: Good; they run at large, and are 
neyerfed. Fl Paso: Allright; fat beyond conception in the East. Have seen the heart 
of a yearling so completely enveloped with fat that the heart itself could not be seen. 
Steers, four years old, slaughtered off the range, net 1,400 to 1,800 pounds. 
Daxota.— Minnehaha: Fine; the weather cold, but equable. 
Urau.—Sevier: Good as usual; the winter very mild. Tooele: Very poor; owing to 
heavy storms in February, many died on the range. San Pete: Very poor. The snow 
has fallen to an unusual depth, covering up all feed, and cattle have had to be put in 
yards and fed on chaff, straw, &c. Rich: Excellént. Salt Lake: Good. 
Montana.—WMissoula: Better than usual; more hay, and less shifting for themselves. 
Lewis and Clarke: Much better than previous winter; open and mild winter. 
IpaHo.—Ada: Excellent; in most instances have improved during the winter, and 
plenty of good beef is coming from the ranges. 
New Mexico.—Santa Fé: Fair. © . 
Be eenahON, lings Good; very mild winter; no snow, and very little cold 
weather. 
CONDITION OF SHEEP. 
The comparatively dry winter and the ‘general cheapness and abun- 
dance of feed have combined, with the advanced price of wool, not only 
to exempt sheep from exposure, want, and disease, but to keep them in 
a condition of unusual health and thrift. One correspondent empha- 
sizes the remark that “ool will not grow on poor and poorly fed sheep ; 
our wool-growers have learned this, and are practicing the more profit- 
able method of early and continuous feeding.” Another observes:: 
“Long experience has convinced me that little or no disease ever 
troubles a lot of fat sheep.” The principal exceptions to the generally 
favorable condition of sheep through the past winter are found in the 
Gulf States, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia. 
The reasons for these exceptions will be apparent in the extracts from 
correspondents which follow. Out of 915 counties reporting with such 
a degree of definiteness as to give some clew to their relative condition, 
