In the United States the raising of cattle for meat is a great business. For years past this country has fed its own people and helped to feed those of Europe. The meat of cattle killed in Chicago and other cities is sold in the markets of London and other parts of England and the people of that country have long been growing fat on American beef. This is not so much the case in Germany, France, and Russia, for great numbers of cattle are raised there, but at times we could find the beef of our country on the tables of most of these lands.
When the white man went to America he found no cattle there. But it was not long before there were plenty of them, brought from Spain, France, England and other countries. These spread all over the continent until there were cattle everywhere. But these were not the best of cattle. There were no fine breeds raised here as in Europe.
Reproduced by Permission of the Philadelphia Museums
Ox Team and Native Cart, with Wooden Wheels, Nicaragua
This is the reason why so many Jersey, Ayrshire, Dutch and other fine milk-givers have been brought here from Europe. Meat-making cattle have also been brought, those known as Shorthorns, Herefords, and others, and now we can find in our fields great numbers of fine, fat animals, which are taking the place of the old poor stock.
Good beef cattle are large and square in shape, full and broad over the back, with thick legs, short necks, and well rounded bodies. The eye is bright, the face short, the skin soft, the flesh mellow and rich.
Cattle of this kind are to be seen now in numbers in our fields. But the great cattle-raising sections of this country are the broad grassy plains of the West and the vast fields of Texas. Here may be seen the great ranges, where for long years past cattle have been kept by the millions, roaming about, feeding on the rich grass, and growing fat and juicy.
Here also is the home of the cowboy, the man who lives on the horse and rides as if horse and man were one animal. His duty it is to ride among the great herds, keep them in order, stop them when they run away in mad fright, and live among them as the sheep-dog lives among the sheep. Brave fellows and splendid riders are these cowboys, among the best in the world.
If you should go west to-day you would not find the open cattle range of the past. The cattle-owners have found it best to fence in their ground, and wire fences may now be seen all over that once open country. But the fields thus made are very large and the cowboy still finds plenty to keep him busy.