CHAPTER VI 
EQUIPMENT 
THE equipment required for the raising of beef cattle 
is simple compared with the equipment required for the 
handling of many other kinds of live-stock. Perhaps 
the first and most important is a saddle horse and lariat 
rope. As the industry becomes more intensified, addi- 
tional equipment is required. The second step will be 
a good set of corrals, and these in turn will be supple- 
mented by branding chutes and scales. Following these 
will come fixed pastures and possibly feed-lots, with full 
equipment of feed-racks and watering devices. Then will 
come hay cutters, and, in some parts of the country, silos. 
Barns, in most of the West, would probably come last, 
since almost no cattle are kept under roof. 
BARNS 
With a few exceptions barns in the true sense of the 
word are unnecessary for commercial beef in the West, 
although in exposed localities bedded sheds are very use- 
ful. These are merely long sheds opening away from the 
wind and large enough to bed down all the cattle. They 
are very simply constructed and aim only to keep off the 
wind and storms. Rough boards are generally used for 
both sides and roof. Plenty of bedding is essential to 
obtain the real value from a shed. It is almost never 
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