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THE BUFFALO OR BISON 137 



him the name of "Buffalo Jones." In the Farmers Review 

 of August 22, 1888, Mr. Jones stated the problem as fol- 

 lows: 



(1) We want an animal that is hardy. 



(2) We want an animal with nerve and endurance. 



(3) We want an animal that faces the bhzzards and endures the storms. 



(4) We want an animal that will rustle on the prairies and not yield 



to discouragement. 



(5) We want an animal that will fill the above bill and make good 

 beef and plenty of it. 



''All the above points could easily be found in the buf- 

 falo," continues Mr. Jones, "excepting the fifth, and even 

 that is more filled as to the quahty, but not in the quan- 

 tity. Where is the 'old timer' who has not had a cut 

 from the hump or the sirloin of a fat buffalo cow in the 

 fall of the year, and where is the one who will not make 

 an affidavit that it was the best meat he ever ate? Yes, 

 the fat was very rich, equal to the marrow from the bone 

 of domestic cattle." 



The buffalo is the best suited of all animals to withstand 

 those conditions which stockmen have found most inimical 

 to domestic cattle. It can weather our western storms and 

 bhzzards and can withstand the hunger and cold that 

 would kill our domestic steers. As Hornaday says: "When 

 nature placed the buffalo on the treeless and blizzard-swept 

 plains, she left him well equipped to survive whatever nat- 

 ural conditions he would have to encounter." Unlike do- 

 mestic cattle, which usually drift before a storm and thus 

 suffer an inevitable fate, the buffalo knows how to face 

 the storm and endure it. And as regards its abihty to 

 withstand such conditions we have seen how the buffalo 

 formerly wintered in the middle prairie region. 



It is on these facts, therefore, that the claim for a consid- 

 eration of the possibiUty of domesticating the buffalo in 



