144 THE BEEF BONANZA. 



prove his stock. The herd is looked after by one man, 

 and the stallions are allowed to run constantly with the 

 mares. Notwithstanding the little care it has had, this 

 herd has improved rapidly, and its increase in numbers 

 has been prodigious. Every year Mr. Storey sells off 

 a large number of young horses at from $50 to $75 

 per head, and will allow buyers to pick at $100, yet 

 his herd increases and is now worth a large fortune. 



Mr. Kent, of Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, has 

 twenty stallions, which cost him an aggregate of 

 $691.60 each, and some of them are very fair for 

 speed, but were selected especially for their breeding 

 qualities. Kent is breeding by them, from California 

 mares, what he calls American bronchos. They are 

 small, tough animals, very cheap, and good for riding, 

 but too light for general use or marketing for draught 

 purposes. Mr. Kent's stallions weigh 1225 to 1640 

 pounds, and he expects the cross by them with the 

 California mares will reach the average size of Ameri- 

 can horses. Size, docility, and strength are the quali- 

 ties sought by Mr. Kent. He proposes to change the 

 stallions every second year for a better class, and by 

 mixing the blood with trotters, runners, and draught 

 stock, to obtain from his bronchos a stock of animals 

 suitable for the general market. His mares cost him 

 $28.50 each, and he considers his yearling colts worth 

 $25 each, and his two-year-olds $50 each. He reckons 

 the increase at 75 to 80 per cent, per year from full- 

 grown mares, and, after the fourth year, 25 per cent, 

 of the herd. At the commencement of the season each 

 stallion is coralled with about forty mares every night 



