350 AGRICULTURAL REPORT.. 
cattle. Mr. W. H. Downes, general superintendent of the central branch 
Union Pacific Railroad, reports the shipments of cattle over that line, 
in 1870, at 112 car-loads, or, at an’ average of 20 head per car-load, 2,240 
head. This road is completed from Atchison to Waterville, Kansas, one 
hundred miles. 
The general northward movement of Texas cattle during 1870 is va- 
riously estimated between 100,000 and 200,000 head. The aggregate 
shipments of the five railroad lines above mentioned were 252,000. How 
large a portion of these cattle were from the Indian Territory there is 
no means of determining, inasmuch as these are consolidated with the 
Texas cattle in all the reports. The estimates quoted do not appear to 
be extravagant. The cattle brought to market by these lines of trans- 
portation are from Northern or Central Texas, those of the coast regions 
finding a more eligible market by sea. They were bought by the herd 
in Texas during 1870 at.about the following prices, viz: Beef cattle, $11 
per head; milch cows, $6; three-year olds, $7; two-year olds, $4; 
yearlings, $2.50. When only beef cattle were bought, the prices ranged 
higher, averaging from $12 to $14 per head. The average drive to 
Abilene, seven hundred miles, occupies about two months, and costs 
about $2 per head, besides a margin of 20 percent. for stampeding, 
stealing, &c. Arriving at Abilene in tolerable order, a mixed drove 
will command about the following prices, viz: Beef cattle, $20 per head; 
milch cows, $12; three-year olds, $10; two-year olds, $8; yearlings, 
$5. After grazing through the summer, their market value is advanced 
20 to 25 per cent. Beef cattle, well matured for market, readily com- 
mand $25 per head. 
Chicago has largely controlled the Texas cattle trade since its inaugu- 
ration, but St. Louis is organizing a formidable competition, with the 
advantage of shorter lines of communication with the cattle regions. It 
is evident that the present arrangements of the traffic are mostly pro- 
visional and temporary. ‘This great mass of production cannot remain 
dependent upon the present imperfect outlets to market. The monop- 
oly of transportation, now enjoyed by the. Kansas Pacific Railroad and 
its connections, will be broken up when the southwestern lines, new in 
progress, shall have been completed. Cattle shipments to eastern mar- 
kets, over these shorter lines, will be preferable to those over the long 
elbow-routes through Chicago and St. Louis. 
The prices of beef on the hoof in the New York market during the 
first ten months of 1870 averaged about 8 cents per pound, or about 
double the rates ruling in Chicago and St. Louis. The animals average 
about 900 -pounds, representing a valuation of $72, and costing the im- 
porter about $55 per head—a. profit of about 30 per cent., counting all 
incidental and unavoidable risks. In the St. Louis and Chicage markets 
the Texas steer represents a value of about $31 50 per head, at 34 per 
pound. The expense of bringing him to the abattoir of those cities is 
about $23, leaving a profit of $8 50, or nearly 40 per cent. Chicago live- 
stock reports mention the fact that Texas cattle lose less weight in dress- 
ing than Illinois cattle, and can, therefore, be sold at finer margins to 
carcass-butchers. Beef-packers assert their superiority for packing to 
the rough, coarse stock previously imported from west of the Missouri 
River, being finer-grained, richer, and more tender. Their hides are 
also worth from 15 to 20 per cent. more, and their yield of tallow is 
larger. 
The Chicago live-stock reports, during the latter half of 1870, repre- 
sent a continued and increasing pressure of Texas cattle upon the mar- 
ket. The extreme range of prices has been between $2 and 37 per hun- 
