RANGE STOCK MANAGEMENT 179 



sheep were taken, each of as near the same weight and 

 breeding as was possible, weighed carefully before the 

 experiment and placed in separate pens. Here they were 

 fed the same feeds and handled alike. One band was 

 fed no salt, while the other was fed three-fourths of an 

 ounce daily with the other feed. 



When the experiment was closed the sheep that had 

 been fed salt weighed 5^4 pounds more and sheared 1^4 

 pounds of wool each more than the band which re- 

 ceived no salt. The wool of the salted sheep was also 

 of more excellent quality and better fibre than that of 

 the others. 



Bulls on the Range. The question of the number of 

 bulls needed on the ranges is a perplexing one and, like 

 salting, is the cause of a great deal of hard feeling among 

 stockmen. Most of the western range states have laws 

 calling for at least one good grade bull for every twenty- 

 five breeding cows, but I am quite certain that the court 

 records of every range state may be searched in vain 

 for a single case where it has been enforced. 



Number of Bulls to Cows. Without plenty of bulls, 

 there can certainly be no hope for reasonable increase. 

 In the large pasture outfits in Texas and New Mexico 

 where, as a rule, the bulls are kept away from the 

 cows part of each year, not less than five good active 

 young bulls are considered enough for 100 cows. Nor is 

 this a bull too many on the open ranges where the 

 cattle scatter out into small bunches and especially in 

 a rough country where the bulls do not as a general 

 thing follow the cows. 



Age of Usefulness. Bulls seem to lose their vigor 

 early in life, and a bull ten years old is in the judgment 

 of most stockmen past his prime. From three to seven 



