The Sources of Animal Products 
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NUMBER 
CH DOT REPRESENT: 
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432 610 OCC 
Fig. 68. There are four chief cattle regions in the world : (1) Europe, especially the northwestern 
part; (2) India; (3) the United States; (4) the Rio Plata region of South America, which centers 
in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay. and southeastern Brazil. 
The cattle ranch. In the early days when settlers were few in the 
western United States, the cattle were allowed to wander from one 
range to another, wherever grazing was good. The cattle of many 
owners mingled in great herds, but each owner knew his own animals 
by the brand they bore. The brand was a mark burned on the flank 
of the animal with a red-hot iron. Once or twice a year the cowboys of 
a region mounted their wiry little ponies, or mustangs, and drove all 
the cattle to a place that had previously been agreed upon. Gather- 
ing the cattle in this manner was called a ¢ roundup.” The cattle 
that were ready for the market were sorted out and driven into cor- 
rals, while the calves that had been born since the last roundup were 
branded. Each calf was marked with the brand of the cow it fol- 
lowed. 
This method of cattle raising had serious disadvantages. In the 
first place, it was easy for unprincipled men to steal cattle, especially 
unbranded calves, for the cattle wandered far and wide. More- 
over, too many cattle were pastured in the same section, with the 
result that the grasslands became overstocked and great numbers of 
animals died in winter from cold and starvation. Still more died in 
summer, when both food and water were scarce. Most of the great 
ranges are now divided among the cattlemen and fenced with 
barbed wire. Winter shelters have been built on many of the ranches, 
especially in the cold north, and alfalfa is grown or purchased 
for winter foddering. Only in a few sections do the earlier conditions 
still prevail.