The Dawn of a New Constructive Era 123 



which I have said on this subject. How many acres of cut-over Seven to Ten 

 timber land are necessary to carry a cow through the season? Do ^^^^^ to a 

 you know ? I do not, and I have never met a man who does. 



By way of explanation, let me say that this was written 

 before I had the pleasure of meeting our good friend, Mr. Thomp- 

 son, of Texas. Mir. Thompson was the first man able to give me 

 an intelligent answer to that question. He said yesterday that 

 when they started on that 60,0C)0-acre tract in Trinity and Polk 

 Counties, in Texas, they estimated they would carry one cow on 

 every fifteen acres; but he says that he has found they can almost 

 cut it in two, and now they estimate that around seven to ten acres 

 will be required to keep a cow for the season. 



The first thought which an investor should consider before 

 going into cattle raising in these sections, is this very question. 

 It therefore seems incumbent on all of us who are interested in 

 this problem to bend every effort to bring about a speedy accumu- 

 lation of accurate information on the pasture question, and the 

 problem should be studied under different types of conditions, 

 each type related to the whole, so that when we have accumulated 

 data, it will not be fragmentary, but each part will fill a niche in 

 the construction of the entire structure. 



The wintering problem does not give one nearly so much 

 concern as does the problem of pasturing through the growing 

 season. The wintering problem can be solved by foresight. We 

 are apt to overlook the fact that during the short winter in the 

 South, losses among cattle may be quite as serious as on the 

 ranges of the West, unless owners have fortified themselves with 

 a sufficient supply of feed to carry the animals through. Under 

 the best climatic conditions, cattle of the age of yearlings up, 

 will lose from fifty to one hundred pounds during the winter 

 when forced to subsist on cotton-stalk fields and cane brakes. Plenty of 

 When winter conditions such as occurred during the winter of F^^ft in Win- 

 1916-17 prevail, heavy losses result. Thousands of cows died in ^^ ^^^^ '" 

 the South during the past winter. The weather had something 

 to do with these deaths, but shortage of feed was the principal 

 cause. All this loss might have been prevented if one of two 

 things had been done: First, if the owner had not stocked up 

 with more cattle than he had feed for; second, if he had taken 

 precaution to provide sufficient feed in advance to carry the cows 

 through the winter. In any cattle enterprise on cut-over lands, 



