Homesteading 



solution of one of these problems. He told of 

 these in letters home, and as he knew I was keenly 

 interested, he allowed me to read them and make 

 extracts bearing on the matters, which I will 

 give here. First, however, I will briefly state 

 the problems. The first is the question of mar- 

 keting matured stock. A man, after carefully 

 tending his little bunch of stock for three or four 

 years, finds perhaps that about November he 

 has three or four animals in the pink of condition, 

 and naturally wants the best price he can get. 

 Winnipeg, with its great stockyards, is of course 

 the great market for the North- West ; but it is 

 many hundred miles distant, and the owner, 

 being a settler and not a rancher, cannot make 

 up a car-load even by clubbing with his neigh- 

 bours, for as yet there is not enough stock in 

 the district ; and even if he could, the poor beasts 

 which he has tended with so much care would 

 probably arrive at the stockyards sadly out of 

 condition after their long, trying journey, which 

 fact, combined with railway freight, agents' charges, 

 and other expenses, would very much reduce 

 the amount of dollars ultimately received for 

 the animals. Of course, it is the old problem 

 for the farmer in all countries of the middle- 

 man. The position of the rancher is a little 

 different, even if he can only ship twenty to fifty 



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