Homesteading 



farmer had a telephone, and discovered that 

 it is used for many things that do not at first 

 occur to one — hunting strayed cattle, fighting 

 prairie fires, besides the constant touch with 

 the market and the knowledge of condition of 

 roads, calling of grain growers' meetings, tracing 

 of criminals or bums, besides ascertaining before 

 starting for town with produce the demand 

 and the price, which cuts out swindling by 

 elevators, etc." 



So much for Bob's experiment in driving his 

 stock to market, and it may be added in passing 

 that the calves did not altogether fulfil expecta- 

 tions, for although he tried to take good care 

 of them during the winter, several of them died. 

 This he attributed partly to their being dairy- 

 raised calves instead of running with their mothers 

 in the ranch style. 



As regards the second problem, it should be 

 realized that the settler who wishes to raise stock 

 is often confronted by a stage in the develop- 

 ment of the country between the ranching and 

 dairying stages. The early settler, with his 

 hundred and sixty acres, most of which he pro- 

 poses to break up, usually sees around him large 

 stretches of prairie covered with abundant feed, 

 some perhaps held by men who have no inten- 

 tion of settling, and only hold to sell, and in 



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