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© © R E S 
obtained for Great Britain the noted ex¬ 
cellence of very many of her races of domes¬ 
tic animals; while on the other hand an ab¬ 
surd mania for promiscuous mongrelising 
has produced in France the lamentable yet 
ridiculous results that any practical man 
might have assumed as the consequence of 
mixing together breeds utterly different in 
nature, orbablt9, orspeclalty of production, 
and without consideration of the new blood 
infused being adapted or not to the climate. 
Boll, or culture of the district into which the 
breed Is to be Introduced. 
Mabcbadoch Zaout, a gentleman who 
lived in Brlttauy many years, says:—My 
own opinion—and I give It for what it may 
be worth—is, that this animal, defective on¬ 
ly in size, is susoeptible of all amelioration 
needful by a judicious selection of parents 
from Its own pure blood, and thereafter 
good keep of the calf from its earliest age, 
Instead of the all-but-starvation it has now 
to undergo at the hands of the near-sighted 
peasant proprietor almost up to the period 
of its maturity. My advice therefore 
would be to let well enough alone, so far as 
improvement of this breed goes, by any 
crossing whatsoever, and in fact, its small¬ 
ness of size is a desideratum to many people 
—for from what other source can the owner 
of a mere plot of ground obtain a fair sup¬ 
ply of home-produced milk and butter? 
- » » » 
CATTLE RAISING ON THE PLAINS. 
By OKN. JAMES 8. BRI8BIN. 
It was late In the afternoon of a chilly 
day that Dr. Latham took me in his whee¬ 
zy old buggy, and we started for the graz¬ 
ing grounds eouth of Laramie City, Wyo¬ 
ming Territory. In an hour we were among 
the herds. First we oame upon the ward¬ 
ers or stragglers who, like sentinels, keep 
watch over the main body. Then we got 
among the families—groups of six, ten, a 
dozen, and dually the groat mass of the cat¬ 
tle. 8talwurt Durham calves raised their 
heads from the dry, crisp grass, and won- 
t erlng wbat on earth so strange a thing as 
a buggy oould be, gazed for a moment with 
stariug eyes, and then, with head and tail 
erect, galloped away across the prairie. 
Ponderous bulls, that had cost their owners 
hundreds of dollars each, lumbered slowly 
out of the way, while mild-eyed and de- 
mure-looklug oows gathered in circles 
around us. The young bulls roared, the 
heifers kicked up their heels and scampered 
away, while dams hastened to gather their 
little families together, as if fearful we had 
oome to rob them of their pretty calves. 
I noticed ouo monster bull, and near him ' 
a line cow with four oalves—one three-vear 1 
old, one two-year old, and two little fellows, ' 
the latter evidently being twius. The bull, 1 
the Doctor told me, had been bought in 1 
Ohio at a cost of $500. He was a full-blood- - 
ed Durham, and as fine au animal as 1 had 1 
ever seen. - 
So we rode on for miles and miles, and ® 
still the cattle stretched out as far as we ' 
could see. It was a grand sight—this herd 
of three thousand cows, eighteen hundred " 
calves and fifty bulls! What au endless l 
mass of beef for one man to own, and yet I * 
was told that the gentleman who owned 
this herd had three others equally as large. 1 
The cattle I saw ou the Laramio Plains f> 
were all fat, and many of them fit for the ^ 
butcher’s block, They were of all sizes, ^ 
from the great 2,000 pound bull to two weeks’ ® 
old calves. Wo saw one little fellow' just 0 
brought into the world, who was taking his ^ 
first steps on the prairie, and I got out to ^ 
observe him, but the Doctor hurried mo u 
back into tbe buggy, for the dam shook her v 
head so resolutely uud looked so wicked, *’ 
we thought it time to be going. She was 8< 
a half-breed Texan, with short, sharp horns, 
aud tho Dootor said these cows were very hi 
dangerous when with their young. in 
It was curious to observe the habits of H 
these cattle— like buffaloes, they run in fam- d< 
files, the cows keeping their calves with 
them until they ax-e three or four years old. R 
I saw a dam with sous and daughters larger ( 
than herself, but still she kept them under l 1 ' 
her oare. and watohed over them with all 1<! 
the solicitude of a mother. If they dis- 
obeyed, she punished them, and they sub- Bi 
mltted like well-trained children. Bi 
In the middle of the day they leave the 
high grounds, and go to the river bottoms a 1 
for water, aud at four o’clock, P. M., go 
back again on tbe hills to feed on the rich L< 
gramma and bunch grass. They run in I 
families aud little herds of six, eight, and ra 
ten, aud these stick together like chosen wi 
friends. In traveling to water, they fre- 8p 
quently go three or four miles, and, like the Mi 
buffalo, march in single file, wearing deep sh 
c- ruts in the earth. At night they sleep in 
3- groups, and, if possible, find a sandy place 
>- for beds. When they go for water, the 
g cattle, after drinking, always return to the 
:t point from whence they started out, no 
n matter where they may go afterward. 
•f It would be Impossible to describe all the 
n herds I saw during a two weeks’ journey 
b on the plains, aud I can only give your their 
d whereabouts, numbers, and, in some cases, 
the names of their owners. 
On Laramie Plains are 15,000 stock cattle, 
I, 800 calves and 1,000 brood mares, owned by 
o Edward Creighton & Co. of Omaha, making 
y a total of 17,800 head owned by the one 
~ Company, aud besides this stock they have 
- 3,500 head at Horse Creek, aud 800 head at 
i North Platte. Dr. Latham and Captain 
5 Coates, U. S. Army, have 4,000 head of line 
r stock cattle and calves on the plains near 
, Laramie. L. Filmore, Division Superin¬ 
tendent of the Union Pacific Railroad, has 
l 300 stock cattle and 100 milch cows, on the 
I Laramie Plains. Mr. Haley and Carmi- 
> chael, have 300 American cattle and 700 
* stock cattle near Laramio. Clarence King 
and N. R. Davis of California, have at Lone 
■ Tree, Nebraska, 131 miles West of Omaha, 
i 500 stock cattle. Mr- Bennett has at Elk 
Mountain, 400 head of stock cattle. Elk 
■ Mountain is above Laramie and near Fort 
Steel, 697 miles West of Omaha. Thomas 
aud Hay of Cheyenne, have at Lone Tree, 
150 head. J. W. Iliff of Cheyenne, has on 
Crow Creek and the Platte, 13,000 head. Of 
these, 4,000 are beeves, 2,000 milch cows, 
3,000 calves and 3,000 stock cattle. Iliff has 
sold annually 3,500 beeves. He can put on 
the market 4,000 head per year aud not de¬ 
crease his herd. The average price of fat 
steers, at $20 per head, gives him au annual 
income from his herd of 880,000. D. & J. 
Snyder of Cheyenne have, at Crow Creek, 
5,000 head of beef and stock cattle. 
J. H. Durbin & Brother have on Horse 
Creek GOO head; F. Landon, at Pole Creek, 
200; Tracy & Hutchison, do., 700; J. M. 
Carey & Bro., on Crow Creek, 700; Nuck¬ 
olls & Gallagher, of Cheyenne, on the Platte, 
3,000; Frank Kotchum, do., do., cows, 150; 
W. D. Peunock, do., do., do., 40; James A, 
Moore, do., Pole Creek, 1,300; W. G. Bul¬ 
lock, of Fort Laramie, on Horse Creek, 
4,000; Texas Owner, on do., 1,50 ; Milner 
& Davis, 200; Mr. Fftrrel, ou Laramie River, 
300; Mr. Tracy, ou Muddy Creek, 500 • Mr. 
Whitcomb,beef cattle, on Box Elder, 1,000; 
Dunoan, Perry & Short. U. S. A., ou Horse ; 
Creek, 2,400; Keith & Barton, ou North 
Piatte, 3,000; Mr. Brown, yearlings, do., 1 
1,300; Major Walker, stock cattle, do., 500; ' 
Coe & Carter, do., do., 9,000; Taylor, Gay- 1 
loid A Co., stock and beef, Cache L Poudre, : 
5,000; D. C. Tracy, of Pine Bluff, stock cat- 1 
tie, Pine Bluff, 700; E. Coffy A Co., stock cat- 1 
tie, Sabylle Creek, 350; Mr, Powell, do., 1 
North Fork of Laramie, 1,500; Beuj. Mills, 
dn., Chugwater, 400; R. Whalen, do., do., t 
250; John Phillips, do., do., 250; Mr. Simp- c 
son, do., do., 100; H. B. Kelley, do., do., r 
750; Johu Hinton, do., do., 125; W. G, Bui- 1 
lock, do., do., 125; F. M. Phillips, do., do., j 
2,100; Adolph Curry, do., North Platte, t 
1,000; Dickey & Sloan, American, Muddy r 
Creek, 80; Mantle & Bath, stock cattle, ou c 
Little Laramie, 400; Patterson & Bros., ou )j 
the Bijou (Platte River), 8,000; John Hitson, 
on the Platte,900; Reed A Wyatt, do., 1,000; v 
Mr. Bally, on the South Platte, 400; Mr. „ 
Geary, on the Platte, near Gi'eeley Colony, t 
300; Mr. Lemons, do., do., 400; Mr. Ash- j, 
craft, do., do., 400; Mi’. Munson, do., do., j 
800; Mark Boughton, at Junction of the 
Plattes, 2,500; Bent & Bros., on the Platte, 
near McPherson, 1,000. In addition to these 11 
vast herds, amounting, in the aggregate, to ^ 
uver 100,0(10 head, there are, ou Big Thomp- 1* 
sou, five herds of various size. ai 
having built over five miles of fence during 
the past year. Sheep raising on the Plains, 
North aud West of Colorado, is as yet 
an experiment, and it is by no means cer¬ 
tain it will prove a success. The number 
of cattle on the plains has more than 
doubled during the past year, and notwith¬ 
standing the late and unexampled hard 
winter, the herds seem to be doing very 
well. 
1 1 
PROGRESS OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC 
RAILROAD. 
. Axthis date (August, 1872,) regular freight 
and passenger traius have been running for 
six months on schedule time over the main 
line of the Northern Pacific Road, from Du¬ 
luth to tho Eastern border of Dakota, 252 
miles; the track is laid and construction 
trains now run a considerable distance west¬ 
ward across Dakota; uud about the middle 
of October the Road is to be completed and 
in operation to the Missouri river, 200 miles 
from the west line of Minnesota, and 452 
miles west of Lake Superior. 
On the Pacific coast, in Washington Terri¬ 
tory, a fluished section of 25 miles, has been 
in regular operation for some months, and 
an additional extent of 40 miles is now ap¬ 
proaching completion—making G5 miles at 
the western end that will be In miming or¬ 
der the present season. This will give a to¬ 
tal of 517 miles of Hoad put in operation in 
a littlo more than twenty-four months from 
the date of beginning work, notwithstand¬ 
ing tho necessary delays of the first year at¬ 
tendant upon the prosecution of thorough 
preliminary surveys and the selection of the 
best liue through a densely wooded region. 
A better idea of the real magnitude of tho 
work accomplished, will bo conveyed by 
stating that the portion of the Northern Pa¬ 
cific Road, now approaching completion. Is 
considerably longer than the New York Cen¬ 
tral Raili*oad and it3 connecting lines, ex¬ 
tending from Albany, New York, to Cleve¬ 
land, Ohio. 
Surveys.—lu addition to this actual con- 
I sfcruction, tho work of surveying aud locat¬ 
ing the entire line across the continent lias 
been pushed with system and vigor. Summer 
and Winter; careful engineering, and the 
selection of the best of several possible fines, 
have in many instances reduced the cost of 
construction considerably below the origin¬ 
al estimates. Continuous surveys and ex¬ 
aminations have been made from Lake Su¬ 
perior to Puget Sound, with the exception 
of a short section ou the Yellowstone river, 
which is now being surveyed. 
Traffic.—The section of road now in oper¬ 
ation across Miuuesotaali’eady enjoys a very 
considerable local traffic, including the ear- ] 
rying trade of the British settlements in . 
Manitoba and of the Hudson’s Bay Compa- f 
ny. Three steamboats, for the acconxmodu- / 
tion of this latter business, ply on tho Red ( 
river of the North, between the railroad , 
crossing and Winnipeg, in British Colurn- t 
bia. ; 
The completion of this season's contracts 1 
will give the Road immediate andperma- x 
nent control of the very lai’ge aud profitable \ 
traffic of the Upper Missouri river, includ- f 
ing the Government transportation in the c 
Northwest. o 
NOTES FOR HORSEMEN. 
Horae Pawing In tbe Stable.—Having 
noticed inquiries in regard to preventing 
horses from pawing in the stable, allow me 
to say I have been very much annoyed and 
provoked at a valuable horse of mine in 
consequence of that bad habit, which seems 
to be tho only bad trait of character he has 
ever manifested. I have tried a variety of 
means, among others the strap and chain, 
but all failed. Recently I devised a plan 
which has succeeded to my entire satisfac¬ 
tion. I made a frame four feet long and of 
sufficient width to reach nearly the top of 
the manger, from which 1 Ruspeuded it, 
allowing it to reach to within about ten 
inches of the floor. I boarded up the sash, 
or frame, in order that he could not get his 
feet over the lower bar, which wa3 made of 
a round stick two inches in diameter. The 
act of pawing sets the swing in motion, 
causing it to strike against the shins, which 
so disgusted my animal that he very soon 
gave it up entirely. — E. W. S., Otsego Co., 
N. Y. _ 
A Used-up Horse.—Mrs. H. S. Neely 
of New Castle, Pa., asks if any of our read- 
ei’s know a cure for big head or mad stag¬ 
gers in horses. She says:—“ We lost ahorse 
some time ago. The symptoms wore, first, 
he began to turn the sight of his eyes back¬ 
ward ; then ho became stupid; would shake 
his head; got stiff in his hindlegs; his back 
appeared affected all along, Hellved about 
a week after being taken, eating heartily 
all the while. The doctors could not cure 
him, and called the disease big head or mad 
staggers.” Tho diseases called big head and 
mad staggers are very much unlike, but this 
horse hud neither of them. The disease 
was probably an affection of the spine, which 
also affected tho brain, and was practically 
incurable; or if relieved, the horse would 
never have been of any use afterwards. 
Horses Chewing Bridles. — An in¬ 
quirer asks how to prevent horses from 
chewing their bridles. Mix bitter aloe in 
a solution of gum arable. Rub it on the 
part of the bridle that the horse is in the 
habit of chewing, and ho will cease depre¬ 
dating.— D. T. R., Pittsburg. Pa. 
Hfiitn. 
1 saw mauy flocks of sheep, the largest 
herds of these animals being at tbo follow¬ 
ing points:—Edward Creighton & Co., ou 
the Laramie Plains, 10,OiJO; Winslow & Co., 
do., 1,500; Sargeant, Thomas & Co., do., 
2,000; Moulton & CV»., do., 2,l>00; Dana & 
Boswell, do., 1,000; Judge Kingman, on 
Crow Creek, 3,000; James Moore, ou Lodge 
Pole, 9,000; Mr. Maynard, at Lone Tree, 
1,500; General King A Co., U. S. A., 1,000; 
Party from Soceo, Mexico, 2,(MX); Emoi*y 
Boston, 3,000; Mr. Carmichael, 200; Mr. 
Bailey, on the South Platte, 2,000; Mr. 
Munson, at Greeley (’olouy, 3,000. Malting 
a total of 41,200. 
In Mr. Moore’s herd of 9,000 head on the 
Lodge Pole, were 3,000 lambs quite young. 
I was told the ewes of this flock would 
l'aise 6,000 lambs annually; that the flock 
would shear 65,000 pounds of wool each 
Spring, worth ou an average $30,000. Mr. 
Moore has already invested $300,000 in 
sheep, and is inclosing an immense ranche, 
Lauds.—The portion of the Road now 
nearing completion will at once entitle tho 
Northern Pacific Raili'oad Company to, and 
place in its possession, about Ten Million 
acres of the lands granted by the Govern¬ 
ment—an area exactly twice the size of 
Massachusetts. These lauds are adjacent 
to either side of the track in Central Min¬ 
nesota, Eastern Dakota, and Western 
Washington. They are mainly prairie 
farming lands, of excellent average quality, 
the remainder being eovei'ed with valuable 
forests of timber. They lie directly in tho 
path of immigration and settlement, have 
a sufficient rain-fall, a climate of unsur¬ 
passed healthfuluess, and, in the main, a 
siugularly productive soil. 
Settlement.—In conueotiou Jwith the 
Land Department has been oi'ganized a Bu- 
i*eau of Immigration to promote and hasten 
the settlement of the country tributary to 
tbe Road. Agencies are establised in the 
older States of the Union aud in Europe, 
through which information is diffused and 
every reasonable facility furnished to or¬ 
ganized colonies and intending settlers. 
Settlement and cultivation of the counti*y 
keep pace with the steady and solid pro¬ 
gress of the Road. 
BEE NOTES AND QUERIRS. 
IIow to Secure Luck aud Profit.— 
W. F. Dewitt, Warren Co., N. J., writes 
the Beekeepor’s Journal; “ I desire to tell 
beginners how to have luck and profit in the 
apiary. Have your hives placed so you can 
get to the rear of them, and then, never let 
the grass grew there. You must tramp it 
out, however, aud while you are doing this, 
work with the bees. Work intelligently, 
guided by some good journal and a good 
work ou the subject. I winter In doable 
hive, with a space of 2 ,Mj inches between 
walls, which is filled with straw. I have 
wintered this way for two years with per¬ 
fect success. I consider the honey product 
one of the greatest blessings a kind Provi¬ 
dence has given us. A few have the light 
to see it, but the many, through ignorance, 
trample it under foot. 
Bee Culture in Oregon.— A. H. H. 
writes;—“Bees do well here; but they are 
left to take cai*e of themselves. The climate 
of Williamette Valley is well adapted to 
bees. It requires but about fifteen pounds 
of honey to winter a swarm. They some¬ 
times work ant'd near Christmas, aud begin 
again in February. There are about six 
weeks of dx-y weather here after the clover 
season, when they do not store much honey; 
but early in Spring they work on the willow, 
maple, fx-uit, aud clover blossoms; in the 
Fall, on ripe fruits. Swarming time is about 
the last of April aud first of May. 
•--- i- ... 
To Make Moveable Comb-Hives.—J. 
C. N. asks some one of our readers to tell 
“ how to make a moveable comb hive with¬ 
out infringing on any patents.” We believe 
it is claimed that patents cover all move- 
able comb fi’ames; we have, a3 yet, seen no 
decision to the contrary. If any of our 
readers are better posted, we shall be glad 
to have them respond, only we do notwaut 
any discussion, in detail, of claims now in 
dispute. 
