Horse and Stock Raising 



are shipping lots of cattle still. It would seem 

 evident, too, from the railroad returns, that 

 stock comes in much greater proportion in com- 

 parison with grain from the Canadian Northern 

 system than from the Canadian Pacific Rail- 

 road. Under these circumstances it is not sur- 

 prising that many should say " This is a cattle 

 country," and that in many districts there is 

 considerable discussion on the question as to 

 whether it is best to adopt what is known as 

 " Herd Law " or " Fence Law." With the former, 

 it may be explained that the fields of grain are 

 not fenced, and the man who owns horses and 

 stock is supposed to keep them in a pasture, or 

 to have some one in charge to herd them, while 

 under the latter the crops are fenced and the cattle 

 and horses range at large over the uncultivated 

 parts of the prairie. Now, in the particular 

 district of which I am writing, as has been pre- 

 viously stated, a great many of the alternate 

 sections are still held by the C.P.R. at compara- 

 tively high prices, from eleven to seventeen dollars 

 an acre, quite beyond the reach of the average 

 homesteader. Besides these, there are many 

 quarters of sections which have been homesteaded 

 by men who are known as speculators, i.e. men 

 who have just homesteaded their land, or com- 

 menced to do so, for sale, and only hold it till 



223 



