48 Western Live-stock Management 



Value of calf in October $25.00 



Per cent calves at weaning 66| % 



Value of calves per cow (661% of $25) 16.67 



Margin for interest and taxes or rental on grazing land 2.72 



On a typical cattle ranch of the better class of the North- 

 west, such as are now being put under fence, each cow will 

 require ten acres of extra good bunch-grass for spring and 

 fall and fifteen acres of mountain grass for summer or a 

 total of not less than twenty-five acres of grazing land 

 for each cow in the best localities and two to four times 

 this amount on the poorer lands. Of course the cost 

 figures vary somewhat from those given above, but not 

 very much. Under strictly free range conditions the per- 

 centage of loss is greater than the 3 per cent indicated and 

 the percentage of calves at weaning somewhat less. On 

 the other hand, with good fencing and careful management, 

 the loss can be cut to 2 per cent and the percentage of calves 

 raised to 75 or even 85 or 90 per cent. Only from a herd 

 of carefully selected cows in the hands of a very skillful 

 and painstaking owner can 85 or 90 per cent calves be 

 obtained. 



The annual cost of running calves and yearlings and 

 two-year-olds is about the same as that of running breed- 

 ing cows. With calves, the investment and the hay are 

 less, but they require more care and the loss is much 

 heavier. With yearlings and twos, the expense items do 

 not differ much from those with cows. About the only 

 item in which cows cost more than steers is in the interest 

 and depreciation on the bulls. The annual income is also 

 about the same. At the present time in the Northwest 

 the October prices on steers are about as follows : calves, 

 $25 ; yearlings, $40 ; twos, $55 ; thus making an annual 

 increase in value of about $15. Investigations into the 



