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Show "DRY FARM" CATTLE Increased Shipments Have Depleted De-pleted Herds and Flocks. In Future Less of Our Beef and Mutton Mut-ton Will Be Produced on Free Range Pastures of West and J Land Devoted to 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 consider-ably larger than number received at tbe same markets during the corresponding corre-sponding months of 1909. The following follow-ing table, furnished by the bureau of statistics of the United States department depart-ment of Agriculture, shows tha total shipment of cattle and sheep Into Chicago Chi-cago during June, July, August, September Sep-tember and October of 190S and of 1910. Tattle. fthe.p I!. 1910 19ns m. Jun IsiUM K7.R19 1 K4 324.414 July I'M m7 2:14. 3"3 3''.2.(H 44,1.23 Atufimt Z,m.M T'J b'M 419. MS M'.ft:M K'pirnber r.4?2 IXf 31.1 WS.ff.S VL 'te October T.C.i 330,tto4 M.Kl ktf.bU) From the figures given above, It might appear to the reader that the production of cattle and sheep on the woBtorn ranges Is on the Increase. What the table actually does Indicate, however, is that the Increased numbers num-bers of stock sent to market, have depleted de-pleted the numbers of cattle and sheep In the herds and the lambs left on the range. For some time there hare been several factors operating gradually to decrease the numbers of cattlo In the west. In some places, where thousands of cattle UBed to graze, sheepmen have brought In their bands of sheep and crowded the cattle cat-tle out. Another cause, which Is responsible re-sponsible for the decrease of both cat-, tie and sheep. Is the recent Interest In "dry land" farming, and the new homestead law which grants to homesteaders home-steaders In the semi arid region, 320 acres. Instead of 1C0 acres. In one section of northern Montana with which the writer Is quite familiar, within the last two years several hundreds hun-dreds 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 farm-ing purposes, says a writer In the Rural New Yorker. Some of these new homesteads were fenced In as early as 1909. The pasture that year, however, was unusually good, ao that the effect of the reduced acreage was not noticed very much. By 1910, not only were there many more h?.rne-steads h?.rne-steads fenced In, but also the season , was an exceptionally dry one throy.fi-out throy.fi-out the west, and the growth of gfiss was correspondingly short. Owing to tbe large numbers of stock on the range that haa been reduced In area, and to the unusually dry season, by the time late summer had arrived the range had already been graced off short, and but comparatively little grass was left for fall and winter. Consequently, In order to winter the stock It would be necessary to purchase pur-chase and feed unsually large quantities quanti-ties of hay. In recponse to this demand, de-mand, the price of hay soared. In localities lo-calities where, two years ago $4.50 to $fi was considered a fair price for alfalfa hay In tbe 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 Blucjolnt or Timothy hay, was even higher than for alfalfa hay. To pur-chare pur-chare the hay that would be necessary to carry the stock through the winter, at exlHtlng prices, would In many canes mean that the stock would "cat 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 ao many more western cattle and sheep have been received at Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha, and other large markets. In 1910 than In 1909. There will be lens cattle and sheep on the ranges next spring than for a considerable number of years previously. previ-ously. And in view of the conditions which have been stated In the preceding pre-ceding paragraphs, 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 success-fully carried on. It Is probable that considerable more land that Is now un fenced will sooner or later he fenced In for grain farming. If this be true. It would appear tiat In the future fu-ture less of our beef and mutton will be produced on the free range pai-turea pai-turea of the west, and therefore more will have to be produced on farms throughout the United Slates. |