138 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES 



them or hurries them unnecessarily along the trail. They 

 are loaded with every possible care, and as they are 

 strong they make the shippers very little trouble. 



Hay-fed Cattle. In some parts of the West, notably 

 western Colorado, stockmen are raising a very superior 

 grade of steers known to the trade as hay-fed cattle. 

 They are commonly southern steers brought up early in 

 the spring and turned out on the mountain ranges, most- 

 ly within the limits of the various National Forests, and 

 grazed on the ranges until snow flies in the fall. They 

 are then taken to the home ranches of the owners and 

 fed native hay to finish them for market. 



Under such conditions these steers take on flesh very 

 rapidly and furnish the markets with a supply of steers 

 before the corn-fed cattle are ready for the trade. This 

 business is a growing one and while it has been devel- 

 oped to a very high degree in Colorado, it is followed in 

 many portions of the West where the conditions are 

 right. By conditions is meant the proper ranges for the 

 summer'months, such as are found in the higher moun- 

 tains of the Rocky Mountain region, and hay meadows 

 where the native hay can be grown at slight cost. The 

 fact that most of these hay ranches are in such locali- 

 ties that the hay would probably not find a market ex- 

 cept through the medium of the cattle, makes the busi- 

 ness all the more profitable. 



The Humboldt and Reese River Valleys in central 

 Nevada are other districts where hay feeding has been 

 developed to a great business. Most of the Nevada cat- 

 tle are shipped west to the coast, principally San Fran- 

 cisco. 



Rule for Measuring Hay. As forest officers fre- 

 quently purchase hay in the stack, some rule or method 



