216 APPENDIX. 



by, and after the calves were branded they were turned 

 out on the range again. 



"The wool-shipments from the "West for 1873 in 

 Wyoming alone were 85,077 pounds; for 1874, 215,- 

 242 pounds; 1875, 228,033 pounds; 1876, 333,919 

 pounds; 1877,346,280 pounds; 1878, 400,000 pounds. 

 The cattle-cars carry twenty head per car, and there 

 was shipped last year by Iliff & Co. 32,480. These 

 cattle yielded a net income to their owners of $30 per 

 head, making an aggregate sum of $974,000. The 

 cattle literally raised themselves ; they had been on the 

 range from one year to another, without shelter or 

 hay. 



"Winter grazing in Wyoming has become an estab- 

 lished fact. I have already taken up so much of your 

 valuable space I am afraid I shall be barred out, but, 

 in conclusion, I would like to add I am doing some- 

 thing in the stock business, — ship annually to Boston 

 tons of wool and round up hundreds of cows and 

 horses. I will also add I am very enthusiastic about 

 stock-growing associations. But if I get started on 

 this, there is no one on the range can stop me, so I will 

 close at once. W. J. O." 



I cannot give a more fitting close to a book like this 

 than by making the following quotation concerning 

 the wool-clip of Colorado during the past year: 



In 1879, 2,000,000 head of sheep were sheared in 

 Colorado, the average weight of fleece being three and 

 a half pounds, and the average price paid 20 cents per 

 pound, the amount realized reaching $1,400,000 on 



