264 PROFITABLE STOCK RAISING 



RUSHING CATTLE TO MARKET 



^Recently the great receiving markets of Chicago, 

 Kansas City and Omaha have been overcrowded with 

 tcattle offered for slaughter in an immature and un- 

 ifinished. condition. A consideration of the immedi- 

 !ate;reasons for these conditions is of particular in- 

 iterest; ^The large number of western cattle offered 

 I marks the, final closing out of nearly every big out- 

 fit in the Northwest. The smaller ranchers, who 

 have made establishments along creeks and rivers, 

 where they are able to irrigate and raise winter 

 feed, are keeping their stock, and will do so in- 

 definitely. But the cattle growers whose holdings 

 range from 2,000 head up have been shipping out 

 the remains of their herds. 



Just the influences which have caused the large 

 rancher to close out his holdings have been roughly 

 outlined already. Two additional factors for cur- 

 tailing the extent of cattle ranges have entered dur- 

 ing the last five years. One of these is the immense 

 profits which have been realized from sheep in the 

 West. The steady increase in the number of range 

 flocks has prevailed for the last 15 years, in spite 

 of the most strenuous efforts of the cattlemen to 

 keep them out of cattle-grazing territory. These 

 two classes of animals are not good neighbors on 

 the range, since the sheep are able to crop the grass 

 much more closely than cattle. This makes it im- 

 possible for cattle to live on range on which sheep 

 have been pastured. Hundreds of cattle growers, 

 some who were in the business on a small scale, 

 and some of the large ones, have accepted the in- 

 evitable, closed out their cattle holdings, and bought 

 sheep instead. 

 For 30 years and more, both cattlemen, sheep- 



