Texas Ranchmen Declare Conditions Ideal for Cattle, Sheep and Goats.
The impression made upon a prominent Texas ranch owner who recently
visited the great cattle ranges of Florida was that Nature has been too
good to the cattle industry in this State to encourage improvement in
the crude methods of breeding and handling stock which have been in
vogue for years, for the cattle owners have made money without trying.
Among those who spent a week during the latter part of August inspecting
range conditions were M. Sansom of Fort Worth, president of the
Cassidy-Southwestern Commission Co., director of the Federal Reserve
Bank and owner of large cattle ranch interests. * * *
Mr. Sansom expressed his impression of Florida's opportunity for raising
cattle in these words:
"The only trouble you have in Florida, Nature has been too good to you.
If it had done half as much for Texas the Government officials would not
now be worrying about the future meat supply for the United States and
our Allies. I have seen Texas when the cattle were no better than the
grade I have seen on this trip. We started twenty-five years ago to
improve our herds and stayed with it, until today we furnish some of the
best breeding and feeding cattle for the Northern States.
"Florida now has very great advantage over pioneer Texas, as you can get
some of our good breeding stock and make rapid progress breeding up your
herds. The Osceola Cattle Co., in Osceola County, has started along
right lines, and the manager gave me some figures on calf production
which show that his herd are producing a larger percentage of calves
than we get in Texas.
"But your luxuriant range grasses and abundance of stock water are
almost unbelievable. Your range will carry from three to ten times as
many cattle per section as the Texas land in a normal year. And when I
say normal year I want you to remember that sometimes the rain clouds
forget all about Texas for months at a time, and then our ranges suffer
from drought, as large sections of them are doing at this time.
"You have a sheep country as good as exists, and a goat country better
than any other. It is too bad that you do not raise more sheep on your
ranges, for they do not hurt the cattle pastures, eating only the tender
blades down under the more mature grass. We run thousands of sheep on
our cattle ranges in Texas. The goats will be a distinct benefit to the
Florida ranges, as they do not eat much grass when they can get
underbrush, briars and weeds. By having those cleaned out of the
pastures the grass will have a better chance to grow.
"I am informed that Florida does not have to combat coyotes, which are
our worst sheep enemies, so you really have no serious losses to
anticipate on your sheep investments. And yet there are very few sheep
on the ranges we have visited. It is to be hoped that your cattlemen
will use more sheep on the ranges.
"The range country should become the calf incubator for the Southeastern
States, the offspring being sold at weaning time or as yearlings. That
will give your ranges a larger carrying capacity for breeding stock and
let the grain-producing sections do the finishing."--_From the
Manufacturers' Record, Sept. 13, 1917._