48 Western Live-stock Management 
' 
Value of calfin October . . . . .... . . . $25.00 
Per cent calves at weaning . . ~ « « 662% 
Value of calves per cow (662% of $25) ae - . . 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 percent and the percentage of calves 
raised to 75 or even 85 or 90 percent. 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 
