[February, 
60 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
CATTLE CORRAL, VICTORIA COLONY, KANSAS .— Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
The above engraving is a representation of 
the corral, or enclosure in which are kept the 
calves of the large herd of native and thorough¬ 
bred cattle belonging to Mr. George Grant, 
of Victoria, Kansas. When this is completely 
finished, it will afford shelter for 1,000 head. 
The sheds, each 1,200 feet long, and 24 feet 
wide, are built of stone and wood, and are 
roofed with 12 inch boards 12 feet long, sloping 
each way from the center. The center wall 
dividing the sheds, is of stone, and 8 feet high. 
At one end is the herder’s cottage, and near the 
center is seen the stable in which the thorough¬ 
bred calves are housed, and over which is a 
hay-loft. The whole corral is surrounded by a 
naturally impassable barrier, consisting of the 
steep bluffs of a bend of a fork of the Victoria 
River, except in one narrow neck where are the 
fence and gateways. The inner bank slopes 
gradually, by a clean gravelly shore, to the 
river, upon the opposite side of which the bluff 
rises so steeply as to be impassable for stock. 
This spot, fortunately so admirably suited for 
the purpose to which it is now applied, has a 
historical interest, it being the site of the old 
Fort Hays; this, not many years ago, was in 
the center of the Indian country, and has been 
commanded by Gen. Sherman and Gen. Custer. 
Thus the appliances of war are here usefully 
turned to the arts of peace, and calves now 
feed where once cavalry horses grazed. The 
river banks are high arid well timbered, and I 
afford excellent protection to the enclosure, i 
Mr. Grant’s herd consists of several hundred 
native cows, and some of the best bred Short¬ 
horn and Polled Angus bulls. The sheep cor¬ 
ral previously described and illustrated in the 
American Agricvliurist, (June, 1875), is some 
miles distant from the calf corral. Since de¬ 
scribing the sheep corral, we have learned that 
the large flock of over 7,000 sheep is in the best 
condition, the sales of wool in 1875 netted over 
$6,000, and the lambs more than paid the whole 
expenses of the flock. Wchave also from Mr. 
Grant the following figures, showing the cost 
and proceeds of the crops of hay, grain, and 
fodder, raised at Victoria in 1875, viz: 
EXPENSES. 
Sundry expenses.$ 833.97 
Seeds..." 770.14 
Labor. 2.090.99 
Horse-feed. 1,041.30 
Management. 2,130.58~$6,879.04 
RECEIPTS. 
Cash sales.$ 720.74 
Seeds on hand. 394.95 
1.791 bushels rye . 1.074.60 
384 bushels oats. 134.40 
114 bushels Hungarian grass.. 159.60 
408 tons Hungarian hay. 7,020.00 
100 tons prairie hay. 500.00 
400 tons rye straw.V!. 1,200.00 
55 tons oat straw. 165.00—11,369.29 
Profit of crop.$ 4,490.25 
The receipts might have been largely in¬ 
creased had all the grain and seed been 
thrashed, but a very large quantity was left in 
the straw and hay. The crops are credited at 
the price at which they are charged to the 
stock when fed. These prices are compara¬ 
tively low, and the winter’s keep of a sheep 
upon the fodder amounts to less than 60 cents 
per head. The enterprise of Mr. Grant has 
abundantly proved that stock keeping in west¬ 
ern Kansas may be made very profitable if 
rightly and intelligently managed. Several 
young men who have purchased tracts of land 
in this colony, among whom are two sons of 
Ex-Mayor Gunther, of New Y .k City, are do¬ 
ing well with their flocks. A number of young 
English gentlemen have also settled in the col¬ 
ony, and are succeeding well with their cattle 
and sheep, and their farming enterprises. This 
successful experiment of Mr. Grant shows con¬ 
clusively that stock-keeping on the western 
prairies, which were once supposed to be fit on¬ 
ly for buffaloes and Indians, may be made very 
profitable, if carried on with sufficient skill, 
industry, and capital. But it would be wrong 
to encourage the idea that any person empty- 
handeH, may safely enter into this pursuit with 
the expectation of making money. Permanent 
shelter and some provision for winter feeding 
arc required, and a certain amount of capital is 
needed for these. $5,000 at least would be 
needed to enter this business safely, and to 
provide means by which risks may be avoided. 
