CATTLE HERDING, 885 



where you can act upon the directions given. But if the start 

 should be from you, follow up closely, and look out for and take 

 advantage of a widening of the valley to work ahead, and if pos- 

 sible circle around and come back over the same track, or if you 

 find room, mill them where you are. Quite often, if well 

 mounted, by acting instantly, a run may be checked, but do n't 

 hold too tight a grip or they will be almost certain to break. 

 Better drift a mile or two than, as sometimes happens, have a 

 run of twenty-five or thirty miles, and not get back for three 

 or four days, and then with a large share of your stock lame 

 or foot-sore, and all looking as if just off the trail. 



I have written thus at length of runs or stampedes, because 

 they are very disastrous, if not properly managed, and blast 

 one's hopes and calculations like a cyclone, and to show how 

 they may be guarded against and controlled. I would not give 

 the impression that they are of frequent occurrence, for a herd 

 of wild cattle may be so well and carefully managed as to be- 

 come tame and quiet, and as easily controlled as our common 

 domestic stock. The writer has taken a herd direct from the 

 trail and kept them through two seasons without having a 

 single run that was not checked at once and with a loss of less 

 than one per cent by straying. 



Do n't hesitate for one moment to discharge either a lazy 

 herder or one who is rough and reckless in his management of 

 your stock. The first will be constantly letting your cattle 

 stray ofl', and the latter by his boisterousness and rough hand- 

 ling will keep them wild and ready to run at every little dis- 

 turbance. In short, the way your stock are handled will make 

 all the difference between quiet, fat cattle and lean, wild ones, 

 and on market day the gently handled herd will make a far 

 more satisfactory footing up in cash. 



During all pleasant or ordinary weather let your herd do 

 just about as they wish within certain bounds; give them all 

 the room you can ; but if you wish to get along easily and pleas- 

 antly and bring about the best results, be as particular about 

 your bounds as you would have to be if a field of corn un- 

 fenced was on each side of you, and in a little while your 



