284 RESOURCES OP CALIFORNIA. 



204. Occasional Starvation. Nineteen out of twenty of 

 the cattle of California never get any food save such as grows 

 indigenously in the open country, and they always suffer for 

 it. From March to July the pasture is abundant and excel- 

 lent, and the cattle are fat ; from July to October, in ordinary 

 years, the grasses and clovers, though dry and brown, are nu- 

 tritious, and the cattle still remain in good condition ; but 

 from October to January they grow lean rapidly, and almost 

 every year a considerable number of them die by starvation. 

 Either the grass may be all consumed, or it may be deprived 

 of its nutriment. The first case happens when the grass is 

 very scanty, because of the small fall of rain during the win- 

 ter ; the second occurs when a heavy rain, lasting a day or 

 two, comes before New Year's day, and is followed by cold, 

 dry weather. The rain takes away the palatable and nutri- 

 tious qualities of the old grass, and the cold and dry weather 

 prevents the starting of the new grass, and between the two 

 the cattle suffer. In 1856, seventy thousand head of cattle 

 died in Los Angeles County alone by starvation, one-third of 

 the entire number in the county, which has now only 27,000 

 in all. In 1863 and 1864, the loss by starvation was estimated 

 at 200,000 or 300,000. Santa Barbara County had 97,000 head 

 in the spring of 1863, and only 12,090 in the spring of 1865, in- 

 dicating a decrease of 85,000. The numerous droughts affect 

 the neat cattle interest more permanently than any other. The - 

 failure of wheat in one year does not injure the crop of the 

 next, but is rather a benefit to it, since the soil has had a rest, 

 and its materials have been prepared for plant assimilation by 

 exposure to the air. A severe drought prevents an increase in 

 the sheep, but does not reduce their number. But the neat 

 cattle receive less care, are less profitable, and find more diffi- 

 culty in surviving on scanty pasturage. 



205. Fine Blood. The cattle of pure Spanish or Mexi- 

 can blood in a few years will have entirely disappeared from 

 the State. The American and English breeds are replacing it. 



