204 APPENDIX. 



cultivated grasses of the East, and their abundance is 

 such that the herds of a dozen States could have fine 

 pasturage ; and the winters are so mild that shelter or 

 hay is unnecessary. The natural increase of cattle is 

 80 per cent, per annum.' 



" J. W. Iliff, late the great cattle-owner of the West, 

 wrote : 



" ' I have been engaged in the stock business in Colo- 

 rado and Wyoming for the past fourteen years. During 

 all that time I have grazed stock in nearly all the valleys 

 of these Territories, both summer and winter. The 

 cost of both summering and wintering is simply the 

 cost of herding, as no feed nor shelter is required. I 

 consider the summer-cured grass of these Plains and 

 valleys as superior to any hay. My cattle have not 

 only kept in good order on this grass through all the 

 eight winters, but many of them, thin in the fall, have 

 become fine beef by spring. The percentage of loss in 

 wintering here is much less than in the States, where 

 cattle are stabled and fed on corn and hay.' 



" Mr. Iliff, at the time of his death last winter, owned 

 20,000 acres of water-front and was fast buying more, 

 thus recognizing the necessity of owning his ranges. 

 His cattle numbered over 30,000 head, and he was 

 called the 'Colorado Cattle-king.' He began with 

 nothing. 



" I wish again to call attention to the favorable loca- 

 tion of our ranch, on account of its ready access to rail- 

 road facilities, and thus to market. The Denver and 

 Rio Grande Railroad just touches the western end of 

 it, and the station is about two miles from our ranch- 



