The Sources of Animal Products

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NUMBER
CH DOT REPRESENT:

WORLU
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. Gathering
 the cattle in this manner was called a ¢ roundup.” The cattle
that were ready for the market were sorted out and driven into corrals,
 while the calves that had been born since the last roundup were
branded. Each calf was marked with the brand of the cow it followed.

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. Moreover,
 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.