EEPOET OF THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 413 



nets from distilleries, etc. Aside from such establishments, the 

 practice of feeding cooked foods is exceptional. Grinding ^ various 

 grains and feeding them with chaffed hay or straw is a quite com- 

 mon practice. Maize ensilage is now used on thousands of farms, 

 most commonly being fed to dairy cows, but an increasing number 

 are feeding this to beef-cattle, and with satisfactory results. 



There has been a considerable change in the market demands of 

 recent years. Extremely large cattle are less common than formerly, 

 although the average weight of the cattle sent to the leading markets 

 is doubtless greater than formerly. The highest prices are now often 

 secured for young, smooth, well-fattened steers, weighing not more 

 than 1,350 to 1,450 pounds. While large numbers of inferior cattle 

 are still sent to the great markets, the local butchers consume a 

 great percentage of these. It is not an uncommon remark that 

 residents in the country and smaller towns in sections from which 

 thousands of high-class beeves go to the great markets, rarely have 

 an opportunity of eating beef from such cattle. 



The cattle shown at the fat-stock shows annually held for several 

 years past at Chicago may be taken as well representing the highest 

 excellence yet reached by cattle-feeders in the United States. The 

 average of steers of the leading breeds exhibited at this show for 

 eight successive years was, in round numbers, 1,850 pounds for three- 

 year olds, 1,500 pounds for two-year olds, and 1,303 pounds for year- 

 lings. The maximum weights in many cases were largely in excess 

 of these averages. At the show held in November, 1888, weights of 

 2,080 pounds for two-year olds, 1,600 pounds for yearlings, and 1,070 

 pounds for steers under one year old, were recorded. 



The story of the methods of cattle management on the great ranches 

 of the western plains has often been told. With many points of 

 difference the great ranch region, extending from Texas on the south 

 to the British possessions on the north, is characterized by a scanty 

 rain-fall during the summer and autumn. The wild grasses do not 

 make a great growth at best, and when the drought comes on they 

 dry into hay upon which the cattle can live during the winter. The 

 great mass of these lands are still owned by the Government, the 

 light rain-fall making them unsuited for agricultural purposes. On 

 these vast areas, of hundreds of thousands of square miles, herds, 

 frequently of half wild cattle, are bred and reared, and often without 

 any other food than the natural grasses, and with little attention save 

 at the annual " round-ups," at which the cattle grazing over an area 

 as large as some of the smaller States are collected and separated ac- 

 cording to their brands, the calves branded, the males castrated, and 

 the cattle best fitted for market put in separate droves. 



During severe weather the losses of these cattle are sometimes very 

 great. Of recent years it is coming to be recognized that there 

 must be considerable modifications of the system. The scanty past- 

 urage and the fact that water for the cattle is sometimes only found at 

 points a number of miles from each other, make it difficult or im- 

 possible to conduct the business on a small scale, and there are seri- 

 ous obstacles to confining the herds within inclosed fields. It is 

 found practicable, in some regions, to cut sufficient hay for use during 

 severe storms in winter, but even this is not possible in many parts 

 of the range country. The good size, marked, vigor, and healthful- 

 ness and very fair degree of flesh carried by cattle which have had 

 no other food than wild grasses since weaning time, is a surprise to 

 those not familiar with the facts. In the great cattle markets 



