FOREST AND STREAMS 



361 



Trns Rattlesnake's Rattles.— We are indebted to a 

 Peekskill correspondent for the following valuable informa- 

 tion, The photograph is a capital one : 



Mb. e in .? uf ymir irlaona cttrtfespondetit in 



the io»t iaane ol Fokkrt and Stream, I lake the UtteTty at sending yon 

 a pjiotngranh of a rattlesnake Unit was kfiled ■ I ' i Qaorge, last 

 August. Tn this specimen at least, as is plainly ahown tn the photo., 

 me rallies warn worn wiiii the narrow edge to the grown], This snalce 

 was Wiled while BWlMmlDg across Lake George, near Blafft Mountain, 

 and measured -l^ft. long and 8;,iiu, in edeumtorence, 



E. ANPEESOS. 



tl '. ' - -.-.-.. :fe,-ji, Phiia,, \,-,r. i!7.— Please advise 

 me, through your column? or tiy mail, the lowest waters the "smelts,' 

 snch as cangn; . 'and waters north- of that, have 



been Known to Softool 8 ml he caught. I do not mean the black backs, 

 such as have been caught in New JflWej WO.terfl, wlilch tiro a ilillerent 

 species Iron] (hOSe which are now ID market rr.im the Kennebec River. 

 An answer will oblige. I have a 1 I rftliC pi'ltj who tnBlBli they have 

 e Creek, Delaware, Identical with those 

 W. W. F. 



The smelts of the Kari tan, Passaic and Delaware rivers 

 (Omierus mordax), are believed to be identical with their 

 northern congeners of Maine and near latitudes, while tho 

 Potomac smelts, which are found in the Washington Market, 

 are the Hyhognaihm regius. Attempts have been mads by 

 tho Maryland Pish Commissioners, within three years past, 

 to cultivate smelts artificially. By obtaining specimens this 

 winter you will bo able to make comparisons. 



Arfiteua 1-1. ■- 





AI P ',::,: MEN-AOEBIB TOR THE WEEK 



BSDIHO Nov. 'Jli.-Om 





: ■ '.'/ iiuunmys- 



. Oiandelonp 





Nortti i>v Mr, F. A. ober, presented by 



Lawrence, 





, city ; one pair Seabright bantams, 

 Miss Maiy & Waddlngton, N. Y. city ; 



one white turkey co 





i presented by Mr. t. B, 



Clumber, ft ! 





Uoe initiate, born in the Menagerie ; 



three Jiiiiiuivs, Frlis 01 



co, placed 



Oi i ''-iiiMtion. 



W. A. iJoNKLiN, Director. 









ON A. COLORADO CATTLE RANCH. 



Mil visit to a Colorado stock ranch brought me in 

 contact with a dozen booted, spurred and bronzed 

 men, who wore flannel shirts, wide hats, and no collar. They 

 were riding over the country, showing a rich Englishman 

 " the cows; 1 ' My host had one of the finest ranch houses in 

 Colorado, and they had brought the gentleman down from 

 Rabbit Ear Ranch to call. 



There was no fence about the house; its piazza faced the 

 mountains, TO miles away j the prairie blossoms leaned against 

 the boards, as though the dwelling were a big thistle grown 

 up in their midst; the sod had not been disturbed: there 

 were no trees, no rose bushes, no grading— none of the litter 

 and rubbish of a new house at home. .Neat and complete as 

 ■ nt box, it stood alone in the vast prairies 30 miles 

 from any other dwelling. The big herds of the owner were 

 nowhere to be seen. They with the horses and mules were 

 out in care of the cow boys ou the range. Afar out on the- 

 prairie the tinkling bell of the leader, the weird songs and 

 shouts ot the herders, now here, now there, as they headed off 

 some refractory animal with wide detour and whizzing folds 

 of the lariat, Was one of the mos peculiarly Western and 

 fascinating G f the many strange experiences on the ranch. 



Jn Colorado there is a class of highly educated men engaged 

 iu the cat t le trade. The men are sunburned and wear flannel 

 shirts while ou the ranch, but none need mistake them for 

 common or ignji'ant person. 1 :. They are, iu very many cases, 

 gentlemen Of culture and standing. In the circle of ranchmen 

 whose acquaintance I have formed during my stay, there are 

 several men of large wealth and scholarly attainments, who, 

 traveling in the West for health, became interested in the 

 cattle business, enchanted by the wild, open air life, and have 

 invested in stock, roughed it, and enjoy the climate, the free- 

 dom and the excitement, as well as the money it brings. One 

 gentleman— mine host— was iu the navy, but likes the billowy 

 prairies better than the deep blue sea. A neighbor is one of 

 the finest special geologists iu America. Traveling in pursuit 

 of his profession, he saw there was money in cattle, and so 

 left his [esthetic Boston home for a tent on the plains. Another 

 il ist, whose name is known on two continents, has, during 

 the past year, gone heavily into the business. Two Harvard 

 graduates arc ou ranches adjoining. The two young men, 

 educated in Germany, herd their own flocks and live tempo- 

 rarily in a dugout. At the ranch where 1 was entertained 1 

 saw three youths, brown and bashful, come every evening 

 home with the horses, and ride away in the early dawn, at 

 break-neck pace, after the snorting herd. They looked like 

 any farm boys; yet in the evening, when work was over, and 

 they Est On the steps with the family, their talk was wonder- 

 fully blight and interesting. Two of them had traveled in 

 iiurope. One was the son of ex-Senator Conness, of Califor- 

 nia ; one was Mr. Pope Yeatman, nephew of Gen. Pope, U. 

 8. A.-, the third was the son ot Fred Law Olmstead, of New 

 York. Thoy ate as well read boys as one can find anywhere. 

 Iu delicate 'health ftoin city hie aod study, they came out 

 here to "rough it," are BtpUt and well, busy from morning 

 until night, riding all day over the blossoms and the fresh 

 grass, null, learning the cattle business from the beginning, 

 wdl, no doubt, in a few years own ranches and herds of then- 

 own. 



The man wishing to engage in stock business here buys so 

 many i, ; \ . . Vxaa lienl,trom men just in oh the trail- 



that 'is, who have just, driven a iu.rd up from Texas. So many 

 yearlings, either male or female OU steers; so many two, 

 three years old, or beeves, cows, yearlings, or two years old, 

 are culled L| Btook cattle ;" three years old are " separate stock 

 cattle ;" over three years old are '-stock beeves." The year- 

 lings thffl ve.iv average $D apiece; for two years old and c'bwa, 

 .or three-year- olJ steers, sio; for beeves, $20. The 

 i. s man selects his range, builds his corral and shanties by 

 is his oattle there, brands them, turns them loose, 

 pays his herders $30 to $40 per month, foreman $70 to $100. 

 Prices are higher further north in the Indian country, but 

 around hei> this i^. the average. 



The ranches are Government land. Anybody can graze 

 the}* herds thereon, but by coowBon custom the man who has 

 long had lange in a certain place is not di'ivcu away by new 

 comers, A man can if he chooses, pro erupt 160 acres near a 



stream, build his house there, and allow his herds to range 

 around for forty or fifty miles. The general pasture land of 

 this region is an Immense triangle, bounded by the mountains, 

 the North and South Platte, and I he Arkansas. Very few 

 cattle ever get over the mountains or across the rivers, there- 

 fore practically this range is enclosed by these natural botmd- 

 ari i 



The customs concerning the range vary in different locali- 

 ties. On the Arkansas a man owns a certain number of miles 

 of river front ; back of that he claims bis range. Ilere the 

 custom is different. The country on tho South Platte is 

 older, well settled, and every man's range is as well known 

 as if it had a high wnll about it. 



In the winter the cattle graze on land where the lack Of 

 water prevented their pasture in summer In winter the 

 snow quenches their thirst, aud under the snow the nutritious 

 grass serves them as their only food. They are never sheltered 

 or watched, or herded during the winter. Left to take care of 

 themselves, they wander olf, tire driven by the storms far 

 from home, and by spring scattered over the whole triangle 

 enc'osed by rivers and mountains. Every man's herds are 

 mixed up together. Then comes the grand round up. 



In Colorado the time and places of the round ups are es- 

 tablished by law, or rather determined by County Commis- 

 sioners, who publish in the spring the places for' the round 

 ups for every day during the six weeks, usually beginning in 

 the middle of May. Every ranch or neighborhood then fits 

 out a squad of men to go and pick out their own cattle. Gen- 

 erally a neighborhood club together for the great spring frolic. 

 There are busy times times there after the long winter's rest 

 and isolation. The mountains are white with snow Trom top 

 to toe, but the crocuses arc as thick on the prairie as in the 

 garden borders at home ; a profusion of the dantiost wild 

 blossoms keep them company, and from the bleak plains which 

 the frost has scarcely left, the hardy floral pioneers lift brave 

 and beautiful heads out of the lender grass. Tho harness is 

 overlooked, wagon covers mended, provisions laid in, aud at 

 last, on a bright spring morning, the wagons and outfit are 

 seen starting from every ranch in the country toward a com- 

 mon meeting-place on the unfenced plain. For an outfit of 

 ISO men thirty wagons are the average number, and at tho 

 round up at, least 700 head of horses are seen — good cow 

 horses — ridden by No. 1 cow punchers. 



Each squad elects a foreman or captain, and all the captains 

 are under the control of the commander-in-chief, who, for 

 the nonce, is a greater man than a major-general of the army. 

 The men are picturesquely clad in warm flannel shirts and 

 buckskin trousers, and present a gay appearance dashing ofi 

 in advance of the canvas-covered wagons, which contain the 

 beds and food. Each outfit has its distinctive name. One is 

 known as the Owl Creek Squad ; another is the Wild Cat 

 Outfit : anolhcr the Lone Tree Company. 



The places of round up are usually about twenty miles from 

 each other. Among them are " Big Crow," " Little Crow " 

 and " Gerry," named for the grandson of Elbridge Gerry, 

 Governor of Massachusetts, from whom the word "Gerry- 

 mandering" was derived. The grandson Geny was one of 

 the old settlers in this country ; he died not long since at 

 Evans, Colorado, leaving a largeproperty, and four squaws to, 

 inherit it. 



The men from the ranches, on the edges of the grazing 

 land, i. e., at the foot of the mountains or nearest the rivers, 

 sweep around the boundary and start the cattle toward the 

 centre of the range, the main place of the round up. It takes 

 weeks to get them together. During that time, with (hiving 

 wild steers by day, and night herding or keeping them from 

 scattering at night, no mau gets over five hours' sleep out of 

 the twenty-four. After arriving at the place of the rendez- 

 vous the commander issues his orders : The Wild Cat men 

 are to take the outer circle, the Owl Creek men the next cir- 

 cle of cattlo, and so on until the herds are subdivided into 

 patches on the plains, and are more easily handled. The 

 cattle are roughly sorted on tho way to the place of the next 

 day's round up. The confusion is lessened each day. In 

 time each neighborhood gets its cattle. Then each man in the 

 neighborhood squad separates his brand from his fellow's, so 

 that by the time the home range is reached every ranchman 

 brings along his own brand, and the young calves which run 

 by the sides of the branded mothers. After the home range 

 is reached the first thing is to brand the new addition to the 

 flock. 



Sometimes a calf old enough to leave the mother is with the 

 herd; its parents not kuowm it is an alien, and a subject of 

 dispute, and is known as a "Maverick." Mr. Maverick, a 

 Texan, had a small herd on an island, where they remained 

 until the close of hostilities, scarcely thought of. When he 

 went to look after them they bad increased to that extent that 

 the small island was crowded. lie had them conveyed to the 

 main land, where they broke away and scattered over the 

 whole State. Every quadruped unbranded, or whose owner 

 is uncertain, has in Texas since that time been called a Maver- 

 ick, and the name coming hither with the Texan drovers has 

 routed in tho grazing plains of the West. The law directs in 

 this section that all Mavericks shall be turned in for the bene- 

 fit of the school fund. 



After the round up the work is not all done, although the 

 cattle business differs from some other undertakings in the 

 fact that the work is all during the summer. In the Winter no 

 thought or care is taken of the stock. They roam oil and 

 take care of themselves. 



In the season the ranchman lives in his wagon the most of 

 the time, and is going over his range constantly. A wagon, 

 ten men, a f oremau and cook, fifty" saddle horses, provisions 

 for two weeks, and they start from home and go from one 

 end of the range to the other. As they go along they collect 

 the beef and unbranded calves, take them to some corral, and 

 brand the calves that are all the time coming on, turn them 

 out, select beef for shipment, and keep an eye on the general 

 condition of the herd. They move about ten miles "a day. 

 When beef enough is started for a train load of twelve to 

 twenty-five, car?, containing from 280 to 400 head of beeves, 

 they take them to the nearest railroad point, ship them to the 

 Union Stock Yards, send along with them a trustworthy man, 

 who delivers them over to a commission merchant of the 

 yards, who sells thorn and sends the money by draft on New 

 l r ork to the owner. 



A few days after my arrival I wituessed what they called 

 " cutting out," A drove of two thousand cattle that bad been 

 selected as beeves from the herd, stood in a close bunch 

 on the plain a couple of miles from the ranch house. We 

 drovo over to see the tun, aud, standing well out of the way 

 of the racing horses, swinging lassos, and scattering cattle, 

 watched wifli interest. The fattest beeves are "cut out" 

 from the herd and driven into a separate bunch that was 

 guarded at a little, distance by watchful horsemen. One by 

 one the finest cattle were separated. Home thirty horsemen 

 were riding in all directions, swinging the long horse-hair 



ropes from their saddle horns in an inextricable tangle, digging 

 their spurs into their horses' flanks, heading ofi the steers that 

 were aiming for us, turning them from the herd, driving them 

 toward the bunch across the plain as though there was not a 

 moment to lose. 



One of our party, excited over the chase of a rebellious cow 

 that bore down upon us, waved her handkerchief and came 

 near causing a stampede. In a moment after the white signal 

 was fluttered every cow was facing her, heads up, horns high 

 in air. The foreman shouted for her to hide Ihe handkerchief, 

 Eta told us afterward that an unusual sight, especially of any- 

 thing white, sometimes causes a great herd to break away and 

 run for miles. At such times they will sweep over every ob- 

 struction, trampling down men and horses alike. The way to 

 turn a herd is not to head them or dash up in front of them, 

 but by wide circling detours turn them gradually into a semi- 

 circle. 



One man alone can't handle cattle at all. It takes four 

 mounted men to herd seven hundred -, it takes eight men to 

 drive and night herd a bunch of two thousand to three thou- 

 sand cattle at onetime. Mr. Miff's herd of forty to fifty 

 thousand has sixty mcu employed, and a proportionate num- 

 ber of wagons and horses. 



The cattle man has to be moving from the time the grass is 

 big enough to feed a horse from the length of his tether until 

 the snow tlies in November. Then the stock not shipped is 

 turned adrift, wagons put under the shed, harness hung up, 

 men discharged, except two or three to take care of the horses 

 and do chores about the place, and the ranchman, brown as a 

 berry, stout, hearty and vigorous, goes into winter quarters at 

 home, or puts on his store clothes, takes a run East, and there 

 meets old friends. The stockmen to whom I have talked say 

 too many men are crowding in. From a profit of from 50 to 

 100 per cent., it has gradually dwindled to 20 to 25 per cent. 

 The old-timers want plenty of room. When ranchmen are 

 settled nearer than thirty miles apart, it crowds too close for 

 comfort. The dealers have, in the past few years, been im- 

 proving the increase of the West by the introduction of 

 thoroughbred Durhams among the Texas stock. 



The assessment returns count Colorado 550,000 head ; Wy- 

 oming,235,000; Utah, 350,000; Washington,200,000: Montana, 

 200,009; Oregon, 175,000; California, 650,000. When it is 

 remembered that the assessment is never over 50 per cent, of 

 actual amount, an idea may be had of the immense cattle 

 trade in the country west of the Mississippi. The great feed- 

 ing grounds of the world are transferred from Texas to tie 

 wide buffalo ranges of the plains, and the sheltered mountain 

 parks, and the fertile pastures of tho Pacific slope. 



Those who see cattle only in the crowded slock cars, or in 

 the slaughter yards of cities or villages, can have no idea of 

 the good times the cows have hero. Running water, un- 

 limited range of juicy buffalo grass, and a new bed every 

 night of velvety prairie blossoms, what more could the most 

 fastidious bovine desire ? And yet to this is added air pure 

 and clear as nectar, winds balmy as the;, breath or heaven; 

 in winter, shelter from the mountains ; in summer, freshness 

 from their snows- —Sun. 



The Inteenatiosal Dairy Fair. — The great International 

 Dairy Fair was opened at the American Institute building, 

 this city, last Monday, and is now in progress. There is an 

 immense display of dairy products, and the whole process of 

 the manufacture of butter and cheese. The tables and stands 

 on the right of the building are devoted to cheese, those on 

 the left to butler* Near the centre two pyramids of cheese 

 have been erected. The pyramidal exhibit of H. K. & F. B. 

 Thurber & Co , of this city, comprises samples of every 

 variety of cheese made in this country or Europe. There are 

 the Cheshire, Derby, Wiltonshire, Somersetshire, and other 

 varieties from England ; the " Couda," from South Holland ; 

 the " Monk's Head," from France ; the " Ballini di Gravina,', 

 and the " Bade di Tuglio," from Italy; the " Cacia Ca villi," 

 from South Italy • tho " Mistrclla," from Sicily, and many 

 other curious varieties, including the " Stilton," which looks 

 like a length broken from a buried stone column out of the 

 ruins of Balbec. Around the base of the pyramid are ten 

 specimens from a Whitesboro, N. Y., factory, each weighing 

 close to a thousand pounds. The exhibit is surmounted by 

 a life-size figure of a cow with a crumpled horn. The most 

 extensive part of the fair is devoted to cheese. There are 

 cheeses from all over the world. From Theresa, N. Y., 

 comes the mammoth specimen— a huge cheese four feet in di- 

 ameter, two feet high, and weighing seventeen hundred 

 pounds. Then there are cheeses very small in diameter, but 

 so awfully powerful that they have to be confined in one of 

 Herring's strongest safes. The butter comprises some two 

 hundred entries, coming from all the i great dairy districts Of 

 tho country and from Ireland, Denmark, Friesland, Holland, 

 Wales, Normandy, England, the Isle of Jersey, and all other 

 oleaginous countries. There is a dairy-maid carved iu butter 

 and a real live one, too, in the part of the fair devoted^o the 

 dairy work. Here may be seen the whole process of manu- 

 facture. A handsome display of cows furnish tho milk, 

 which, under the hands of skilled workers, in due time comes 

 forth as goldeu butter aud cheese. There are dairy imple- 

 ments, models of whole establishments, and in short every- 

 thing that can interest people who inako butler, people who 

 sell butter, and people who eat butter, and that is everybody. 

 Here, are some statistics of the great butter and cheese indus- 

 try of tho United States, which we fancy will be new to most 

 people: "There will be exported this year from the whole coun- 

 try 130,000,000 pounds of Cheese aud 25,000,000 pounds of 

 butter. There are 13,000,000 cows in the country, or twenty- 

 three to every 100 persons. This is six times as many as in 

 Great Britain, twice as many as in France, two and a half 

 times as man y as in Prussia, aud more than iu England, Ire- 

 land, Scotland, Wales, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, 

 Finland, Austria, Hungary and Switzerland combined; alto- 

 gether these countries contain four limes the population of the 

 United States. The value of lh« laud and cows in this coun- 

 try employed in furnishing milk, butter and cheese is $1,300,- 

 000,000. More than 3,000 factories are engaged in the manu- 

 facture, besides numberless private dairies. One manufac- 

 turer in Western New York has more than forty factories, 

 and others in different sections have from live to thirty each. 

 Tho best counties in Pennsylvania, JT orthei u^Ohio, Michigan. 

 Northern Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Colorado are devoted 

 to dairying. Ten years ago California imported these articles; 

 now she exports thorn. Fifteen years ago Chicago bought 

 cheese from the East; now 100,000,000 pounds pass through 

 that city for New York annually. Canada bought, of the 

 States until a few days ago ; now her annual exports of butter 

 and cheese have reached 80,000,000 pounds. With the ex- 

 ception of a few counties in Vermont and New Jersey, the 

 states other (id n those mentioned buy more than they pro- 

 duce-; the entire South buys and largely from merchants in 

 this city, who handle annually about $3,000,000. 



