CATTLE-GROWING OUT WEST. 43 



27,000 head changed hands in one season at Schuyler, 

 and a bank in Omaha handled in three months $500,- 

 000 cattle-money. General E. A. Cameron,who operates 

 in Colorado^ says : A herd of 5000 cattle will require 

 about eight herders, at an expense of $900 per annum 

 for two, and $600 each per annum for six, including 

 their food; total, $5400. Allowing $2100 for inci- 

 dental expenses, including teams, horses, saddles, and 

 shanties for the men, the grand total expense would be 

 $7500, or $1.50 per head. Again, allowing one year 

 for breeding, and four years for the growth of the calf, 

 a full-grown four-year-old steer, worth $20 to $30, would 

 cost the breeder $7.50. A Texas yearling can be bought 

 for from $7 to $10 ; a two-year-old for from $12 to $15, 

 and a cow for from $15 to $25. The difference is partly 

 in quality, but more in the time and place of purchase. 

 New stock, just driven in, is always the lowest priced. 

 A two-year-old heifer brought from Iowa or Missouri 

 will bring $35, and the same grade of cows from $45 

 to $55. Excellent milkers will bring even more ; a 

 two-year-old Durham bull, three-fourths thoroughbred, 

 ranges from $60 to $75, and a full-grown thoroughbred 

 will bring from $200 to $500. In cattle-raising in 

 Colorado, General Cameron puts the profits at 50 to 55 

 per cent, per annum on the capital invested, over and 

 above all expenses and losses of every kind. Mr. J. 

 L. Brush, a reliable gentleman of Weld County, Colo- 

 rado, says : " I commenced eight years ago with a capi- 

 tal of $400, and I now own, as the result of the increase 

 and my own labor, 900 head of fine cattle, besides hav- 

 ing made considerable investments in lands from money 



