890 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



If you do risk your range, on no account neglect to burn off 

 three or four acres for a stack-yard. You will see men by the 

 score stacking their hay right on the open prairie, with no pro- 

 tection whatever; but if all others are fools, you act wisely, and 

 some windy day you will have hay and they will have none. 



The Best Breed. Our stock journals have devoted a 

 large amount of space, of late, to the discussion of this impor- 

 tant point: Which is the best breed for the stockman and the 

 butcher, the producer and the consumer? Short-horns, Here- 

 fords, Polled Angus, and Galloways, each have their admirers 

 and champions, ready to back up their opinions with a formida- 

 ble array of facts and figures. 



The truth is, each and all are good. But the question is, 

 Which of these famous breeds will give the best results out on 

 great prairies and ranges of the West? All agree that the 

 ideal animal for this purpose must be hardy, and come of hardy 

 stock, that he may endure the chilling blasts of winter and the 

 hot winds of summer; that he must have the " get-up-and-go " 

 qualities that make a good forager; that he must be compact 

 and beefy; of such condition and build that neither meal-bin, 

 oil-cake, corn-crib, nor a stall are essential for his growth and 

 proper development. In short, that he must live, thrive, and 

 fatten on the range, and go direct from the buffalo-grass to the 

 slaughter-house. 



The result of crossing any of these thorough-bred bulls on 

 good, selected Texas cows, is such as to surprise all not inti- 

 mately acquainted with the business. The calves of such a 

 cross resemble the sire in a remarkable degree, and exhibit his 

 best points so prominently that men well up in the business 

 would judge these animals much higher bred than a single cross. 

 We believe there is no family of cattle that will give the same 

 improvement in the first cross as the Short-horn with the Texas 

 cow; but it is observed that a further infusion of Short-horn 

 blood is not an improvement for this purpose. 



For the small stockman, with fifty to a hundred cattle, who 

 can house and care for his animals, as Eastern men deem nec- 

 essary, a good Short-horn bull is the best and will give the most 



