The American Cattle Trade. 
They are tall, lean, lank, and bony, flat-sided, high in the flank, 
and often swayed in the back ; heads coarse, with long and wide- 
spread horns, with a half or lull twist to them, and set rather 
back, with points outward. The colours are black, dark brown, 
"brindle," reddish-brown, light yellowish-red, and occasionally 
a grey, nearly all with more or less white upon them. The 
c ows are almost as large as the oxen, and of similar appearance ; 
they furnish the call but a scanty supply of milk, and that for 
only twelve or fifteen weeks from birth. They have half-wild 
natures, impatient under restraint. But this description applies 
rather to the past than to the future. The " Texans," as they 
are called, form nearly, if not quite, one-fifth of the whole 
number of cattle in the country. 
So also, in Canada, the rugged little Brittanies of the early 
French settlers maintain themselves as a distinct race, and serve 
a most useful purpose within certain limits, but are seldom seen 
beyond them. 
Authorities differ as to the number of neat cattle now in the 
United States, but a medium estimate for the present year is 
29,000,000. This is probably low, as i^; allows an annual 
net increase of but 1 per cent, since 1870, being the rate per 
annum for the decade then ended, which included the war 
period ; while for the ten years from 1850 to 1860, the increase 
was from 10 to 25 millions, or almost 40 per cent. These cattle 
represent a value placed by some at 180 millions sterling;* this 
being based upon their worth for the ordinary purposes of the 
dairy and shambles, with no allowance for the fancy prices at 
which imported and pure bred animals are held, and which are 
paid for them, as in the famous case of the 8000/. cow. 
Add the fact that in the United States there are for every 100 
persons but 75 cattle, and that these have 5000 acres of land, 
and some idea may be formed of the capacity of this country for 
the production of animal food. 
There are few parts of this country not favourable to cattle 
raising, although the sections differ, of course, in natural advan- 
tages of pasturage, &c. In New England, the Middle States 
and the northern tier of the Western States, and throughout the 
North- West, good pasturage abounds in its season, but is avail- 
able during less than half the year, protection and forage being 
necessary for six or seven months. In the great central section, 
especially in the famous blue-grass region of Virginia, Kentucky, 
Tennessee, parts of the Carolinas and of the Gulf States, the 
* The prices and values stated in this article have been calculated from those 
originally given in United States currency by Professor Alvord, at the rate of 
4s. per dollar; and small amounts have been reduced by taking the cent as 
equal to a halfpenny. — Edit. 
