JUNE 44 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
304 
Seventh. Flies and roorquitos are not 60 
tormenting to them, and, except in placeB 
when such are extra troublesome, netting or 
sheeting is not necessary to protect their 
bodies from these pests. 
Eighth. Cattle manure is much more valua¬ 
ble than that of horses for light lands. This 
keeps cool and moist in a drought, and con¬ 
tinues to add nutriment to the growing crops, 
whereas that of the latter dries up, heats and 
burns the soil. 
Ninth. The ox may be kept on steadily at 
work till seven to nine years old, or even later, 
and when turned out then to fatten for a few 
months, he makes an excellent carcass of beef, 
which sell* for a good price. Horse meat is 
notin vogue q ilte yet among us, and the 
horse is consequently disposed of as worthless 
when done with as a worker. 
The ox, both living and dead, is distinguish¬ 
ed by the farmer from all other animals, for he 
alone combines the most useful labor with 
the best of meat There is nothing more 
pleasing to the lover of domestic animals than 
the sight of well bred oxen, whether etauding 
quietly in their stalls, browsing in a pasture, 
or yoked to the plow or cart. How patient 
and enduring in their toil, and how strong and 
grandly they move along, looking forth with 
placid, honest eyes, gently swsy'ng their no¬ 
ble heads, crowned with broad-spreading, 
lofty horns! Tip these with bright brass knobs, 
and they add a finish and beauty to the team 
still more to be admired. Tne cost of these 
balls is trifling, and it takes but a few min¬ 
utes to screw them to the horn—by all means 
then let them be thus adorned. 
- *■•*-* - 
THE CATTLE INTEREST. 
Feeding for ProiU. 
CONRAD WILSON. 
There are probably but few of our farmers, 
and still fewer cf other classes that realizi the 
total aggregate value of the cattle interest of 
this countrv. A brief glance at a few leading 
facts can hardly fail to be of interest, and may 
tend to promote a truer appreciation of this 
immense industry. Taking the whole number 
that are now annually slaughtered for beef, at 
twelve millions, with an average weight of 800 
pounds per head, it shows an aggregate of 
nearly ten thousand million pounds, worth 
from five to six hundred million dollars. 
If we take the whole number of cows at 
thirteen millions, the v arly product, either in 
milk or butter, would oe iu money value over 
seven hundred million dollars; or by compar¬ 
ing the nutritive qualily of the milk with that 
of boneless beef, the intrinsic food value would 
be nearly a thousand million dollars. But 
there is in the manure another value which is 
too often overlooked, and the annual amount of 
which Of it were carefully kept, and rightly 
used by all farmers), would amount to over 
three huudred million dollars for the steers, 
and an equal sum for the cows. 
Now, it is true enough that this splendid 
heritage of manure is not all realiz’d by our 
farmers. But that is the fault of the owners, 
and not of the cattle. This value, and even 
more, is all within their reach, and whatever 
they fail to secure is due to their own indif¬ 
ference and neglect. The following statement 
shows the footing up of this annual value. 
Yearly value of slauKbterol cattle'.. £5ni nnO.OOi) 
" uairy product. l.ooo.ouo.uoo 
Total value of manure from both tlie 
above. tiOC.OOO.lKlO 
12 , 100 , 000,000 
Less for cost of labor aud feed, say. skai, 000,000 
Net annual income.$1,200,400,000 
Cos! of Feeding for Beef. 
From some experiments recently cited iu this 
j ournal, as reported by Prof. Sanborn, Prof. 
Cook, and Prof. E W. Stewart, I showed that 
the cost of production for beef, in the cases 
cited, was less than four cents a pound, and 
the cost for butter not over six cents. These 
were, of course, exceptional cases, and better 
than the present average of actual results. 
Yet there is no good reason why ordinary far¬ 
mers may not come very nearly up to this stan¬ 
dard, nor any sufficient excuse, for their fail¬ 
ing to make the f ft >rt. The following facts aud 
figures may perhaps help to guide the earnest, 
progressive farmer in this direction. 
In the journal of the Bath and west of Eng¬ 
land Agricultural Sicieiy, a table is given, in 
which it appears that 12 pounds of clover hay 
are equivalent in feeding to one pound of beef; 
also that eight pounds of beuns or peas, or six 
pounds of barley, or oil-cake (either rape, lin¬ 
seed or cotton-:eed). will give the same result; 
and, further, that four and a-half pounds of 
ground peas and linseed cake combined, will 
produce a pouud of beef. 
According to the late Alderman Mechi, seven 
pounds of grain (as an average for the lead¬ 
ing cereals), will produce one pound of beef, 
net butchers’ weight. 
Iu an experiment of G H. Chase, of Western 
New York, it was found that 28 quarts of 
ground barley per week gave an increase of. 
18 pounds of flash. 
The editor of the Riral Annual, commenting 
on some experiments of Dr. Lawes, concludes 
that one bushel of corn, with 100 pounds of 
good hay, will produce 10 pounds of beef in a 
week. 
In another case Dr. Lawes cites from an ex¬ 
periment of B'ddell. a feeding ration for beef- 
comprising oil meal, wheat meal, cotton seed, 
mangels and straw, costing about $7 for four 
weeks, and equivalent to (50 pounds gain of 
flesh, plus one ton of short dung. 
In the Farmers’ Gazette it is stated that a 
daily ration of 3} pounds of beau meal and oil 
meal, in equal parts, added to cut straw will 
produce a pound of beef. 
At the Willoughby Farmers’Club, in Ohio, 
Mr. Moore reported a result showing that 
steers fed with corn meal combined with cut 
stover and cut straw, gained two pounds a day 
at a cost of six cents for the beef. 
Now it is not claimed that the feeding mater¬ 
ials in these cases are aU of them of peculiar 
value, nor that any of the rations, so far as 
they are defined, are specially remarkable, but 
the point intended here, is the instructive fact 
that in each case, if the manurial value is duly 
credited, the cost of the beef is less than four 
cents a pound, and in several cases less than 
three cents. 
--- 
STOCK RAISING IN TEXAS. 
PROFESSOR C. C GKORGESON. 
Texas eDjoys unrivaled facilities for stock 
raising, and she has long been famous among 
her Bister States for this industiy, more per¬ 
haps, for the quantity than for the quality of 
the livi stock she produces. To fully compre¬ 
hend the advantages which this State offers in 
that respect one must have some idea of its 
area and the character of the country. Texas 
contains 274,857 square miles, an area equal to 
all of the Njw England States, New York, 
Pennsylvania, Oaio, Indiana and the lower 
peninsula of Michigan. Although cattle are 
raised in all parts of the State, the stock coun¬ 
try proper lies chiefly between the Colorado 
and Rio Grande Rivers, aud extends' from the 
Gulf northward to the Indian Territory, em¬ 
bracing more than 150.000 square miles. Nc- 
wbere else in the U lion can a tract of this ex 
tent be found which is so peculiarly suited for 
grazing. It is usually estimated that ore 
league, or 4.428 acres, will pasture a thousand 
head of cattle, aud according to this estimate 
the region referred to will be more than sufli- 
sient to support fifteen million head. Bit 
room is not the only advantage the Texas 
ranchman e»j iy8. The mildness of the climate 
is such that the catlle can remain unsheltered 
on the prairies the year round, and while the 
graz’er of the older settlid parts of the north¬ 
ern territories must shelter his stock for a 
long period of the year and feed them at a 
heavy expense, or remove them altogether 
from the Summer pastures, the stockman of 
Texas need take no trouble with his. Even 
during the past severe Winter, which has been 
so disastrous to the herds of the Western 
plains, the cattle in Texas suffered but little, 
and stockmen here are now filling out the 
herds which in Nebraska, Colorado and else¬ 
where have been thinned by hunger and cold. 
The face of the country consists mostly of rol¬ 
ling prairies which in the northwest rise into 
several groups of sand-hills aud low moun¬ 
tains. The rainfall is very small, but there is 
water enough for stock. B irdering the creeks 
are narrow strips of woodland. The principal 
fodder plant is a low-growing, nourishing 
grass commonly called the Mjsquit, (See last 
week's Rural New-Yorker, p. 36(5) somewhat 
similar in appearance to Bermuda Grass. It 
is said to retain its nutritious qualities though 
i . be parched brown by the sun. Such, briefly 
stated, are the extent and character of the 
stock country of Texas. 
The Individual Wealth 
of stock raisers is on a scale corresponding to 
the vast extent of territory. It is not uncom¬ 
mon for one man t > own a range comprising 
10 000 to 50 000 acres, aud not a few rauges 
contain upwards of 100,000 acres. I am in¬ 
formed that Richard King, of Nueches County 
owns 250,000 acres, or over S00 square miles, 
In one tract of land, 200,000 acres of which are 
inclosed by a wire fence consisting of five 
wires aud a board on top. Another gentleman, 
Capt. M. Kennedy, of Corpus Christi, has 150,- 
000 acres under fence. This fence, with the 
buildiugs and improvements for herdsmen, 
is said to have coat $100,000, To E Astern 
landowners these figures will sound fabulous, 
but it must be remembered that no attempt 
whatever is made at the cullivati >n of crops. 
The auuual increase of stock is generally put 
at 25 per cent, over and above all casualties. 
Stock raisers of this stamp frequently live in 
almost palatial dwellings and their children 
are educated in the best aehools the nation can 
afford. There are others who own no land at 
all, but drive their herds from place to place 
over the wild prairies, wherever they find good 
pasturage and plenty of water, much as did 
the patriarchs of old. This is the case chiefly 
in the West where fencing has not yet been 
practiced. Still others rent pasturage at from 
one to three cents per acre annually. Land in the 
stock region can be purchased in tracts to suit 
the buyer at from 50 cents upwards per acre. 
The ChnrneterUltc-s «r Texts Cattle 
are well known in cattle markets all over 
America. They are noted for their immense 
horns and rather small bodies, witb a corres¬ 
pondingly smali amount of beef. It is a hardy 
prolific and rather docile race, such as would 
naturally result from the conditions under 
which it has been bred. For beef cattle they 
are. however, too narrow through the quarters 
both in front and behind, the ribs are not suf¬ 
ficiently sprung, making the lack of width 
across the back very apparent, and they are 
very slow to mature. The wealthier stock- 
men are rapidly improving their herds by the 
introduction of thoroughbred males, mainly of 
the Suort-horn and Devon breeds. Fur the 
production of milk the Jerseys have been ir- 
troduced and they are at present in high re¬ 
pute. There can be no doubt of the wisdom of 
introducing these latter breeds. I venture the 
assertion that the value of a herd of natives 
for beef can be raised 50 to 60 per cent, in two 
crosses with thoroughbred Short-horn or Here- 
fords. Bat the enterprise is connected with 
great risk and often severe losses when the an¬ 
imals are brought from districts where the 
cattle are susceptible of the disease commonly 
known as Texas cattle f ;ver ; for they will be 
almost certain to contract this disease aud a 
very large percentage succumb to it. The 
Eurest way appears to be to introduce cows, 
recently got in calf, in the Fall. The disease 
will not break out in the cow till the following 
S immer, and the ca'f w’ll, iu the meantime, 
become so well acclimated, haviDg been devel¬ 
oped and born here, that it will either take the 
fever lightly or not at all. 
The iVIodas-opernnd 
of raising cattle in Texas is simple, and the 
expense in the business is next to nothing 
outside the hire of herders and the mainte¬ 
nance of fences, where these have teen built. 
Every Btock raiser adopts some brand, consist¬ 
ing generally of initial letters or a monogram, 
which is registered in the office of the county 
clerk, and with this every head in his herds is 
branded. To facilitate the branding, a strong 
inclosure, r or pen, is built, called a corral. It 
may be circular or polygonal in shape, and it 
is often constrncted of logs sunk into the 
ground close one to the other and reaching 
eight or ten feet in hight. It opens out to the 
prairie on one side, through a narrow passage 
called a “shoot," some five feet wide and of 
any desired length. The cattle to be branded 
are crowded into this “straight and narrow 
path,” where, unable to turn or move, the 
heated irons are applied to their bodies. 
When all in the “shoot" are branded, the rails 
which close the passage in front are removed 
and the terrified creatures are again free on 
the prairie. On the .unfenced ranches the 
cattle of a dozen or more stockmen may run 
together, the brand being the only evidence of 
ownership. In this case the ranchmen of a 
district meet together some time in the Spring 
before the calves are weaned, and brand all the 
the young stock, each calf being marked with 
the same brand as that on the cow it follows. 
This is called the annual “ round-up." Some¬ 
times they are driven into a corral, as above 
described, but they are as frequently lassoed 
as they run. thrown down and branded on the 
spot. The branding is a cruel operation, and 
the man who can invent a dyo 01 paint which 
will be as irremovable as the brand, and as 
readily applied, will be a benefactor to the 
cattle of Texas. The tendency at the present, 
however, 19 to make the brand large and deep 
so that it can be distinguished at a distance. 
The bulk of the cattle a» e sold in the Spring 
and early Summer. Prices for stock cattle are, 
on the ranch, $3 to $6 for yearliDgs; and $S to 
$12 for two-year-aids; $12 to $15 for cows ; 
and $14 to $18 for four-year-old steers. They 
are then either sold to drovers, or, when the 
owner has a large number, he may drive them 
to the market himself. Not more than 2,000 
to 3,500 head can h8 conveniently driven in 
one body, and when on the trail it requires 
about one man for eveiy 200 head to drive 
them. They are driven 6lowly and, of course, 
pick their living along the trail over which 
they pass. Arriving at the market in Kansas, 
Colorado or Nebraska, the herd is purchased 
by cattle buyers, who graze them from a few 
mouths to a couple of years, according to age 
and condition, and at the eud of this period, 
they are shipped eastward to Chicago, Cincin¬ 
nati, New York and other markets. 
It sometimes happens that a whole drove 
gets frightened at night while on the trail, and 
a stampede ensues. This is the dread of the 
drover. An uncontrollable panic siezes the 
herd, and in wildest flight they run off in 
whatever direction they may happen to get 
started. Hardly anything 6hort of a rampart 
can 6taud against them. The foremost are 
pressed on by those behind and if they fall 
they are trampled to death in an instant. 
The aim of the drovers in this emergency is 
gradually to turn the leaders of the stampede 
so as to make them move in a circle, when 
in due time they become exhausted. 
Besides what are driven to Northern mar¬ 
kets, thousands are annnaily slaughtered and 
packed in the several beef packeries here in 
the State, and large numbers are also exported 
to Havana and elsewhere from the seaports on 
the Gulf. The total namber of cattle which 
yearly leave Texas for the support of the 
world is probably not much less than 300,000. 
State Ag’l College, College Station, Texas. 
-♦♦♦- 
POLLED CATTLE. 
(See page 389 for Illuetration.) 
Of the several breeds that which we jast 
now wish to consider is the Angus, or the 
Aberdeen, the peer of the Short-horn in the 
pastnre and tbestall and on the shambles. This 
breed, of which we give some excellent and 
Interesting illustrations, originated in the 
Northeastern part of Scotland in a district of 
limited extent, extending from the Southern 
slopes of the Grampian hills to the rich low¬ 
lands of the Frith of Forth. It thas occnpies 
a bold headland which projects ont into the 
North Sea where the climate is harsh and rigo¬ 
rous. Consequently these Angus cattle are 
hardy and able to buffet the northeast storms 
and breezes which pour from the ocean over 
their exposed pastures. They are thus natu¬ 
rally suited to onr Western pastures and better 
able than the more tender Eogli6h races to 
resist the hardships of our rigorous Northern 
Winters. They are, nevertheless, excellent 
feeders, having been greatly improved for 
nearly a century by the most skillful and en¬ 
thusiastic breeders, the first of whom—Mr. 
Hugh Watson, of Keillor—deserves the chief 
credit for their well deserved reputation. The 
bull Prince of the Rsalm aged 15 months, of 
which we recently gave a portrait, is a repre¬ 
sentative of a herd descended directly from Mr. 
Watson’s cattle and bred by Mr. Ferguson of 
Kinnoehtry in the county of Fife, which is the 
best part of the district above mentioned. As 
a proof of the merits of the ADgns cattle, we may 
refer to the fact that at the last Exposition at 
Paris in 1877, these cattle took first premi¬ 
ums in competition with every other race of 
b^evee. and that they have frequently taken 
the first place at the Smithfield fat cattle ex¬ 
hibitions in Eogland. They have also been 
chosen by the most expert breeders for the 
purpose of crossing on the Short-horns. Sev¬ 
eral head of this cross, Angne-Darhams, were 
exhibited at Paris in 1877, when three four- 
year-olds weighed alive an average of 2,347 
pounds, and dressed 1.633 pounds net. 
It is an interesting fact that this same cross 
has been tried and made perfectly successful 
In Kansas. By the kindness of Mr. Thomas 
R Clark of Victoria, Ellis Co., Kansas, we are 
enabled to give a representation, copied from 
a photograph, of 36 head of Angus-Dnrham 
steers as they appeared in a pen at the Union 
Stock Yards at Chicago, a 6hort time ago. 
These were bred by Mr. Clark at his ranch at 
Victoria, from pure Short-horn cows and a 
pure Angus bull. The Angus cattle at Victo¬ 
ria were imported a few years ago They 
have thrived remarkably in their new home 
and have been used with great success in cross¬ 
ing upon the ungainly native Texan cows as 
well as on comely Short-horns. Mr. Clark’s 
experiment, possibly made without a knowl¬ 
edge that it had been successfully carried ont 
in Scotland many years ago, has terminated 
veiy favorably. Ila finds that the products of 
the cross are. with rare exceptions, all polled 
animals, and believes that the production of a 
native hornless cross breed, which will possess 
all the good points of both parents, can easily 
be founded The lot of steers sold at Chicago 
were very favorably considered by the butch¬ 
ers. They were sold to a New York dealer 
who states that they made the best quality of 
beef and dressed equal to extra cattle, making 
62 pounds dressed meat to the 100 pounds of 
live weight. The butchers, Messrs. Sehwarz- 
schild and Susberger, of New York, regarded 
the beef as very fine for the age and weight of 
the cattle, which were two vears old aud aver¬ 
aged 1,340 pounds live weight. This is an in¬ 
teresting result, and considering the desiranle 
character of these polled cattle, it is to be 
hoped that Mr. Clark’s example will be fol¬ 
lowed by others, and an effort made to popu¬ 
larize the hornless breeds. It should be no¬ 
ticed that these Angns-Dorham steers bred by 
Mr. Clark, were grazed on the open prairies, 
which at Victoria, are the E Astern verge of the 
vast plains which stretch westward to the 
Rocky Mountains and northward to the Cana¬ 
dian boundary, and far beyond it, so that their 
growtn and substance have not been produced 
by stall feeding or by means of rich food, or 
by the careful sheltering or luxurious pamper¬ 
ing enjoyed by some of the cattle in the 
East. Besides, this locality is subject to the 
hardships and rigors of torrid Summer heats 
and severe Winter storms and colds, and these 
cattle necessarily have to go through all these 
equally with other stock that are kept on the 
plains. The experience of several years at 
Victoria has satisfactorily shown that the 
Polled Angus cattle thrive perfectly well in 
America and can take their share of the hard- 
