1911. 
ECHOES OF “DRY LAND” FARMING. 
During the Summer and Fall months 
of 1910 the number of Western cattle 
and sheep received at the important live 
stock markets has been considerably 
larger than number received at the same 
markets during the corresponding 
months in 1909. The following table, 
furnished by the Bureau of Statistics of 
the United States Department of Agri¬ 
culture, shows the total shipment of cat¬ 
tle and sheep into Chicago during June, 
July, August, September and October of 
1909 and of 1910. 
Cattle 
1909 
June ..180,484 
July ..191,907 
August 233,818 
Sept... 278,422 
Oet. . . . 292,963 
1910 
227.519 
234,303 
293.520 
283,313 
330,604 
1909 
Sheep 
1910 
301,024 326,414 
362,698 442,283 
419.849 
533,656 
597,177 
569,828 
685.765 
895,519 
From the figures given above, it 
might appear to the reader that the pro¬ 
duction of cattle and sheep on the west¬ 
ern ranges is on the increase. What 
the table actually does indicate, however, 
is that the increased numbers of stock 
sent to market, have depleted the num- 
thk rural 
exceptionally dry one throughout the 
\\ est, and the growth of grass was cor¬ 
respondingly short. 
Owing the the large numbers of stock 
on the range that has been reduced in 
area, and to the unusually dry season, 
by the time late Summer had arrived 
the range had already been grazed oft" 
short, and but comparatively little grass 
was left for Fall and Winter. Conse¬ 
quently, in order to winter the stock, it 
would be necessary to purchase and feed 
unusually large quantities of hay. In 
response to this demand, the price of 
hay soared. In localities where, two 
years ago, $4.50 to $6 was considered a 
fair price for Alfalfa hay in the stack, 
the ranchers were asking from $10 to 
$12 in the early Fall months of 1910, 
and some were holding for even higher 
price. The price of good mixed hay or 
of Blue joint or Timothy hay, was even 
higher than for Alfalfa hay. To pur¬ 
chase the hay that would be necessary 
to carry the stock through the Winter, 
at existing prices, would in many cases 
NEW-YORKER 
lOl 
' ' “ "”V n ■ 
WKmmBm 
ATYPICAL “DRY LAND ” FARMHOUSE. 
bcrs of cattle and sheep in the herds 
and the lambs left on the range. For 
some time there have been several fac¬ 
tors operating gradually to decrease the 
numbers of cattle in the West. In some 
places, where thousands of cattle used 
to graze, sheepmen have brought in their 
bands of sheep and crowded the cattle 
out. Another cause, which is responsible 
for the decrease of both cattle and sheep, 
is the recent interest in “dry land” farm¬ 
ing, and the new homestead law which 
grants to homesteaders in the semi-arid 
region, 320 acres, instead of 160 acres. 
In one section of northern Montana with 
which the writer is quite familiar, within 
the last two years several hundreds of 
homesteaders have taken up land, so 
that at the present time many thousand 
acres of the best portion of the range 
has been fenced in for farming purposes. 
Some of these new homesteads were 
fenced in as early as 1909. The pasture 
that year, however, was unusually good, 
so that the effect of the reduced acreage 
was not noticed very much. By 1910, not 
only were there many more homesteads 
fenced in; but also the season was an 
mean that the stock would “eat their 
heads off" before Spring. Under these 
conditions the only thing which many 
of the cattle and sheep owners could 
do, was to sell off stock which under 
ordinary conditions would have been 
wintered over. This is the reason why 
so many more western cattle and sheep 
have been received at Chicago, Kansas 
City, Omaha, and other large markets, 
in 1910 than in 1909. 
I here will be less cattle and sheep on 
the ranges next Spring than for a con¬ 
siderable number of years previously. 
And in view of the conditions which 
have been stated in the preceding para¬ 
graphs, it does not appear likely that the 
herds and flocks will again be increased 
to what have been the normal numbers 
in recent years. If “dry-land” farming 
can be successfully carried on, it is prob¬ 
able that considerably more land, that is 
now unfenced, will sooner or later be 
fenced in for grain farming. If this be 
true, it would appear that in the future 
less of our beef and mutton will be pro¬ 
duced on the free range pastures of the 
West, and therefore more will have to 
be produced on farms throughout the 
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