COURTEEN of Nevada's seventeen counties derive a major part of •T their income from stock-growing and from farming—principally the production of wild hay, alfalfa, and some grain, all for cattle-feeding. In many counties cattle and sheep are of almost equal importance. In the four western counties some diversified farming, including dairying and poultry-raising, is carried on, though stock-growing is predominant there also. In this area numerous outfits handle both cattle and sheep, which is not usual elsewhere in the State. A limited number of small ranches near the Colorado River in Clark County produce vegetables, the Fallon district grows melons and tomatoes, and the western valleys a considerable quantity of potatoes; but a large part of the foodstuffs consumed in the State must be imported and even beef and mutton for the most part comes from out-of-state slaughter-houses.

The large ranches are chiefly in Elko, Humboldt, Eureka, and White Pine counties, with acreages running from six thousand to more than one hundred thousand acres. But the privately owned lands of the State comprise only about one-seventh of the total, the cattle ranches being principally meadow along streams, some winter range, and varied lands ensuring control of water. Nearly all the grazing area is public domain. The United States Forest Service administers most of the higher lands, where stock is summered, and the United States Grazing Service the remainder. All grazing on the public lands is now carried on by individual permits specifying the number of stock that can be taken into an area and the length of time the herds and bands may remain. The fees charged for use of the public lands are usually less than the tax assessments on adjoining privately owned tracts. To a considerable extent, priority on the use of areas belongs to the outfits that can prove they have used them for a number of years, and cattle and sheep men are busy amassing affidavits from prospectors and other nomads to prove long continued use of this and that valley, slope, and water-hole, in hope of obtaining permits for more than one season at a time.

With all public lands virtually withdrawn from entry and all

meadowland privately owned, the only way a newcomer can enter the cattle business is by purchase of a home ranch; and under general practice such a purchase at present includes transfer of use-rights in the public domain. This practice, which is supported by strong public opinion, ha* created numerous problems in administration of the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934, under which the Grazing Service was established, How much effect the new form of administration will have on this and other methods of operation in the cattle business can not be foreseen.

Conditions vary from place to place, but the methods of handling cattle follow the same general pattern throughout the State.

There are two types of cattle operators: one winters out—runs most of his stock on the open range in winter—the other keeps his herds on the home ranch in winter and feeds them hay. Some operators combine the two methods.

In northern Nevada, where winter lasts from December to March, operators who keep their stock under fence need one ton of hay for each head of cattle during this four-month period, and one acre of meadowland is needed to produce a ton. In southern Nevada, because of milder weather conditions, half a ton of hay is sufficient. But the lower feeding costs prevalent in the southern area do not necessarily imply a greater margin of profit, for the potential gain is offset by poorer ranges and poorer quality of stock. Heavy losses are suffered whenever an unusually severe winter occurs, for it often finds the southern operators unprepared to feed their cattle over an extended period. In addition to hay land a rancher who winters in must own some low range and own or control land providing him with a suitable water supply* It is estimated that five hundred head of cattle form the smallest unit that can be economically operated.

The low carrying capacity of the open ranges in the State forces operators to scatter their stock over a wide area, a situation which makes them reluctant to practice controlled breeding, for it is difficult to get the bulls properly distributed throughout the herd when they are not turned out with the rest of the cattle. In northern Nevada calves born in December, January, or February are almost certain to winter kill (die from exposure to cold); in the south such losses occur most frequently in January and February. Nowhere in Nevada is range stock pampered as it is in some other sections of the United States.

The West raises some of the best beef cattle produced in the United States, and that of Nevada compares favorably with beef from other range States. Shorthorns are well represented in areas where the stock

is kept under fence a good part of the year and wintered in feed lots. Elswhere, the Hereford is especially popular for it has been found to be the best rustler, fattening better than other cows on poor range and requiring less attention than the shorthorn. The Angus, hardiest of the beef breeds, is not raised in considerable numbers, for it becomes so wild under range conditions that it is difficult to handle. The prevailing dairy cattle are Holsteins, though Durhams, or dual-purpose shorthorns, are kept on some diversified farms.

Brands and the branding of cattle are subjects of inexhaustible interest in the range country—and beyond, wherever the American language is spoken. They are so closely interwoven with the story of the West that the very words have a magic quality. They are redolent with the smell of sweat and scorched hair; they conjure up the sight of wide plains rimmed with blue hills shimmering in the heat; in them is the thunder of hoofs on sunbaked earth, the protesting bellow of hard- driven cattle coming in through the dust, the slow drawl of tired voices by a campfire beneath the stars.

Brands—the X-Bar-X, the Flying A, the Laay S, the 71—these unite romance and business, for the picturesque devices have always had a very utilitarian purpose. They came into use—as every one familiar with range life knows—to enable owners to identify their stock. Little of the range is under fence, cattle graze far into the hills, and when the fall round up of beef occurs, it would be impossible to establish ownership if there were no brands. Brands, therefore, must be easily identifiable by cattlemen, buyers, and others connected with the business. In the old days brands were registered at county offices, and the record was a square of leather on which the owner had burned, or branded, his particular symbol. A number of these leather records have been preserved.

The county registration system gave rise to a certain amount of duplication of brands, and to put an end to this confusion—source of endless disputes—an act was passed in 1923 providing for a State cattle registration office. The few duplicate brands th^t still exist belong to pioneer families, who registered them under the old county system and cling to them as they would to family crests. Today brands are no longer filed on leather. The symbols, ranging from letters of the alphabet to animal tracks, scissors, stars and coathangers, are drawn on cards that are kept in prosaic filing cabinets. Sheep brands are still recorded in the counties. In all 2783 brands were on file in the State in 1940, many of them used on both cattle and horses, and in some cases on hogs.

Old brands must be re-recorded every five years at a cost of one dollar; recording a new brand costs two dollars, a transfer of ownership one dollar.

These symbols of ownership are not lightly disregarded. They have a property value, just as an acre of land has value, and banks will not lend money on stock unless the cattle bear a recorded brand.

A story often told to illustrate the importance of the brand relates how, during a drive, the foreman of a trail herd allowed his cowhands a free evening when they camped for the night near a large town. The buckaroos not only made the most of the occasion—they made so much of it that when the following day dawned not one of them was fit to straddle a horse* The irate foreman fired the whole crew and rode to town to get enough money from the local bank to pay the men off. The banker did not know the foreman, who was far from his base, but he was willing to make the loan if his visitor could prove that he was really foreman of the outfit. The foreman tried in vain to find someone who could vouch for him. Then he had a bright idea. He galloped back to camp, rounded up the remuda, hitched up the chuck wagon, with the outfit's brand burned all over it, and drove remuda and wagon back to town. The banker was asked to look out the window. He saw the brand on hide and wagon and asked for no more. The foreman got his money, Operators who keep their cattle under fence during the winter generally turn out their dry steers, yearlings, and dry cows around April first, cows and calves about two weeks later, keeping in only * few old cows and the calfy heifers, which are turned out about May first, after they have calved.

Spring branding of calves starts between the middle of May and the first of June. The leading operator in the district usually determines tht way ia which the range is to be covered and the date when work will begin, after communicating with the other ranchers in the district and those adjacent to it. On the date set the cowboys meet at a ranch or in a pasture at one end of the range. The large operator may send *s many at tea riders, the others one or more apiece; the adjoining range ueers tend rtpt (representatives) to gather in their strays and return them to their own range. One rep may look after the interests of several outfits.

Each rider has from four to ten saddle horses which, as a group, arc calltd a cavj or remuda. One man acts as boss and each day designates the *rea to be covered, and the place where the cattle are to be gathered. The towfcops as the? spread out from camp eover an area roughly eir-

cular in shape, and because of this the day's ride is referred to as a circle Sometimes two circles are made in a day, one in the morning, the other, usually closer to camp, after a hastily eaten noontime meal.

The boys start out shortly after daybreak and before noon meet at the bunch ground with the cattle they have found. Here the cattle are worked and branded. Some outfits, however, prefer to take their cows and calves to the nearest corral for branding. Operators who brand at a corral generally use stamp irons (already made up) but operators who brand at the bunch ground carry running irons (rings or bars with curved ends) as they are much easier to carry and fewer irons are needed. The procedure followed depends on the amount of help available, the distance from camp, and whether it has been decided to work the cattle before or after the calves have been branded. The reps and small operators usually want to take their cattle back to their own ranges without delay; stockmen with plenty of pasturage may be in a hurry to put their beef on pasture for the summer so that it will be in condition for an early market, while some stockmen pasture for the summer to avoid having to ride again during the beef roundup.

When the cattle are bunched the cow boss looks over the herd in order to determine roughly what stock has been brought in. He then designates two men to rope the calves, two or three more to hold the herd, the balance to throw and brand. The roping must be done by careful, experienced men, who must be sure of each calf's rightful mother before they rope the calf. When they make a mistake and put the wrong brand on an animal, it must be replaced with one from the brander's outfit or the erroneous brand must be vented (nullified) and the calf rebranded on some other spot. A good cow boss keeps mistakes of this kind down to a minimum for they easily create suspicion among neighbors and, even without this complication, cause extra work for everyone.

When a calf has been thrown the brand is applied on either shoulder, either side, or either hip. The left hip is greatly preferred, because, according to the buckaroos, an animal usually falls with its left side up. Calves are marked at the same time they are branded—that is, their ears are cut in such a way as to help establish ownership; these earmarks, as a rule, are recorded as well as the brand. Most operators also use a wattle—a piece of skin cut loose on the neck, brisket, or rump to help identify the animal.

The reason for this use of several methods of identification is that rustlers (cattle thieves), are, and always have been, numerous on thi

western ranges. Operators do not see their stock for months at a time, and rustlers have ample opportunity to alter markings. Brands can be altered but it is a risky undertaking, for if an operator becomes suspicious he can determine which brand was put on first by killing the animal and examining the skin from the inside. With only the brand to go by it is impossible by late fall, when the animal's hair is long, to establish ownership without throwing the animal and clipping its hair to reveal the brand, whereas the earmark and wattle are always easily discernible.

After the calves have been branded the cow boss gives each outfit an opportunity to cut out (separate) that part of its own stock that it wants to drive back to its home ranch. As soon as these cattle have been removed, the remaining cowboys trail the rest of the stock toward the high summer range.

With only slight variations this procedure is followed day after day, rain or shine, as the outfit works its way across the range. Some cowboys drop out, others take their places, as the days go by, but the cow boss stays on, keeping track of the number of calves branded, supervising the work, and—not least of his duties—keeping peace among the riders. His word is law and is seldom disputed.

There was a time when the round-up was tinged with a happy-go- lucky fiesta spirit Despite the fatigue and the hardships they had to endure the cowboys found energy and time for horse racing and boisterous amusements. They had a great fondness for practical jokes, and as sure as a greenhorn was along they would, as initiation, catch his horse by the tail and tumble both horse and rider in the sand. Today the round-up is as strenuous as it ever was, but the buckaroos are a little less addicted to horse-play. When the last circle of the day has been ridden, and the range cattle have been turned loose, they ride back to camp at a leisurely pace. After they have eaten—and their appetites are good—if it is not quite dark, some shoe their horses or train the younger horses in their remuda. The others play cards or are satisfied to loll around until the time comes for them to roll up in their blankets.

By late June the calves have all been branded, the public range permits filled, and the horses used in haying gathered in. For a short time the cattle on the range are forgotten as all hands turn to harvesting the hay for winter use.

Toward the end of August the beef round-up starts, and the same routine is followed as in the spring; all the late spring calves must be branded. Fat steers and cows are cut out and taken to camp. Every few

days some are driven off to their respective owners' ranches, for if they were concentrated in one place any length of time, the forage needed by the owner or leaser for his own herd would soon be stripped bare.

The picturesque chuck wagon is no longer the common sight it once was at Nevada round-ups. With pasturage now available at close intervals throughout much of the range country, the cowboys can eat and sleep at ranches and a truck moves their belongings from one place to the next The breakdown of the large outfits, however, is the principal reason for the disappearance of the chuck wagon. When a wagon was run, some one rancher usually had to carry the burden of the expense for the small outfits, which, though they made full use of this convenience, made no contribution toward the cost of its operation. The result was that the rancher who paid for the chuck wagon was gathering and working everyone else's cattle until he reached the center of his own district, where—his neighbors having gone their many ways—he had to work most of his own stock without outside assistance. But there are areas in which a chuck wagon could still be used to advantage if only the operators could reach some agreement on sharing the expenses.

Most of the cattle coining off the Nevada ranges do not carry enough flesh to be sent direct to market for beef, and are generally rated as feeders (cattle that require fattening); consequently, they are sold to speculators and packing companies who ship them to California or the Mid West. There they are fed a special fattening ration for from 90 to 120 dayt before being sent to the slaughter houses.

By mid-October the last of the beeves are gone and it is time to wean the calves and start putting the cattle into the fields as they drift down from the hills. All calves seven to ten months of age arc separated from their mothers, put in a feed lot, and given the best hay and concentrates. This is a critical stage in the animal's life, for if he does not make the proper growth as a weaner he is likely to be undeveloped as a two-year- old—the age at which most Nevada steers are marketed. By the first part of December this work is over and the cattle are then classified, according to age and flesh, the poorer ones to be put on hay and the stronger fed little or no hay until snowfall. If an operator has winter range he puts the strongest dry cattle on it, and if the snow becomes deep he may supplement the forage with concentrates, generally cotton seed cake, which is easily handled and high in protein.

During the winter the experienced rancher feeds his cattle in groups. In addition to the weaners is the hospital bunch (the oldest and poorest cattle and calfy cows), which must be kept dose to the house at they

require a great deal of care and supplementary feeding. The main bunch, composed of cows, calves, yearlings, and some of the poorer steers, and dry cows, are fed hay but do some grazing. The dry bunch—the strong cows and steers—requires little or no special feed and, if the winter range is good, grazing carries them through to spring.

The stock industry was in serious difficulty after the drought years of the later 1920*8, but there is evidence that it is now recovering from the effects of those years and is adopting new methods of operation and improving the breed of the herds. With increasing frequency huge trucks and trailers are seen transporting both sheep and cattle between the summer and winter ranges; this saves them from the long exhausting drives and sends them to market with less need for fattening.

Sheep-raising presents a different set of problems. Although sheep range most of the year on the public domain or in the national forests, and sheepmen need own little land for a home ranch, many Nevada operators nowadays own enough land for lamb sheds and shearing pens. A band of a thousand is considered the smallest unit for efficient operation.

The spring activities begin at various times according to the district, but the average date is May i. Most operators shear before lambing starts, about the last of April, if the weather permits. The shearing is done by groups of trained men who go from one outfit to the other on contracts made by the leader of the gang, who pays his men and is responsible for the efficiency of their work. Shearing time is a period of intense activity, one man or two dexterously shearing an animal at top speed, another gathering the shorn wool and carrying it to men who tromp it into sacks about eight feet long.

When a sheep is released from the shearer the outfit brand is painted on its back or flank with a solvent oil paint, which must be renewed twice a year. This oil brand washes off when the wool is scoured. Lambs are branded and earmarked when they are docked. Some operators also put a special brand on all bucks, and on blooded sheep. This brand is put on the nose or foot. The practice is not general, however.

While dipping all sheep in a strong disinfectant is only resorted to when inspection shows scabbing, it is mandatory that all bucks be dipped once a year, which is done in the spring or in the falL

Sheep lamb once a year, in the spring. The bands are sometimes brought to sheds for lambing. Sheep have multiple births, the increase averaging from one hundred to one hundred and eighty per cent. Twins are the rule, rather than singles, and triplets are not rare. Lambing of a

band takes from four to six weeks, after which the sheep are moved to the summer range. Bucks are not commonly run with the band except from the middle of November to the end of December, in order to control the lambing period.

Sheep are usually driven to the summer range though some operators now transport them by truck- In September or in the early fall, dependent on market conditions, the bands are brought down from the summer range and separated. Healthy lambs and old sheep are sold; the weaker lambs are held for winter feeding. Bands are then made up again and sent to the winter ranges.

Summer bands of the large operators number approximately one thousand ewes with lambs, winter bands about two thousand to twenty- five hundred ewes. The average band has one herder, occasionally two. With the herders is a camp tender, who brings them their supplies and aids them when necessary. A herder places great reliance on his dogs for handling the band and as a general rule no amount of money will induce a sheeptender to sell a well trained dog.

The herder, almost always a Basque, rises before dawn and brews himself a huge bowl of coffee, into which he breaks bread and strong cheese. At break of day the band begins to browse over the hills; as the day grows warmer, about nine or ten in the morning, it settles down to a siesta. While it rests the herder prepares his second breakfast. His third meal is taken in the late afternoon, and the last after dark, when the woolies have been bedded for the night

Under grazing control the old feud between the sheepmen and the cattlemen is disappearing, but at one time the feud was so bitter in some parts of the State that murder resulted frequently. Both sides poisoned waterholes, causing great loss of life among the animals.

Army remounts are bred to some extent in Nevada and numerous ranchers breed riding stock for their own use and for sale. The wild horses, which formerly bred with the other horses, are now thinning out; for the past few years the Forest Service and other agencies have cooperated to pick them up in order to save the range for cattle and sheep. They are sold at public auction, shipped to dog and cat-food canneries, or used for coyote bait. A few hunters in the Pyramid Lake and other regions have used airplanes to round them up. The plane flies low over the running band and the roar of its engine drives the wild horses in headlong flight toward the corral.

The by-products of the cattle industry do not greatly increase the income of stockmen as cattle are sold on the hoof and medicines and

serums, manufactured from certain parts of both sheep and cattle, are processed outside the State* The hides are also marketed elsewhere* Wool, however, is sold directly and is an important factor in the State's economy, A woolen mill at Las Vegas, to be operated by Boulder Dam power, has been proposed but its construction is unlikely as wool must be worked in a more humid climate.

In 1938 Pershing County began to grow sugar beets and in 1939 had about 2,000 acres under contract with one of the leading sugar refineries. Increased acreage was not permitted for 1940 under the Federal production control In the western counties alfalfa is grown to finish (fatten) cattle for market within the State and in Pershing County sugar beet tops are also used for this purpose.

Nevada remains primarily a livestock State, because eighteen inches of rainfall are necessary for successful farming; crop-raising is thus a hazardous gamble except in the few places where irrigation is possible. In the canyon of the Colorado there is evidence that the pre-Columbian Nevadans faced the same problem and built canals and contrivances for raising water from lower to higher levels* The first white men to reach the Walker River Valley reported that the Indians there irrigated patches of land to raise an edible root that formed a great part of their food supply.

In territorial days the Utah Territorial Government granted the privilege of taking irrigation water from the Carson River to settlers in Carson Valley; and at Franktown in Washoe Valley, and at Las Vegas, the Mormons early undertook irrigation projects. Travelers passing through these places paid high prices for hay, grain, and root crops on sale there. The successors of tht Mormons, having extended the irrigation systems, sold produce to the mining camps especially to Virginia City, at incredibly advanced rates, for California, the main source of foodstuffs, was far away, and the freight charges were ex- horbitant.

Since 1866 irrigation dependant on the appropriation of water from lakes or streams, or on the ownership of springs, has been subject to legislation. The law of 1866 required that anyone desiring to construct a ditch or flume should record the fact in the county in which the ditch was to be built. The recording was intended to deter waste, and to give ample warning to all whose rights might be affected, but this law, like so many western irrigation laws, permitted tht indiscriminate filing of indefinite and ridiculous claims.

Many of the laws intended to settle priority of water claims were

ixperimental, and litigation over water rights increased until a law massed on February 16, 1903, gave the State engineer the necessary authority to deal with the situation. Since then not only has litigation >ver water appropriations become negligible, but Nevada has been able co cooperate with the Federal government to develop irrigation systems. But in aggregate extent and value, the privately or cooperatively developed irrigation facilities far exceed those developed with Federal aid. First of all Federal irrigation projects in the country was the New- lands, which began diverting water from the Truckee to the Carson River in 1907. Much later Rye Patch Dam was constructed to impound the waters of the Humboldt. There have been several lesser undertakings of a similar nature. Although the State has been allotted a share in the waters impounded by Boulder Dam the fertile valleys near Lake Mead are few and relatively small.

Stock Jargon

rnnHE livestock industry, one of the most important of the State, has JL its own jargon, bewildering at first to the uninitiated.

The man who rides the range, watching the huge herds of cattle, is known variously in this State as cowboy or buckaroo; the term vaquero, with its many spellings — vacqueros, yaucero (from yaucca, Sp.)—is rarely used in Nevada. Other names used in referring to these cattle artisans are waddle, cow puncher, hand, and cow poke. The man who has achieved great skill in this field is known as a top hand and commands a higher wage. On the other hand a flat-heeled peeler or pumpkin roller is an amateur cowboy, or a farmer who has turned cowboy. The buckaroo who holds a large herd of cattle from straying at night, the night herd, is known as a night hawk. The buckaroo who herds the saddle horses is the range, and the one who takes the night shift with horses is the night rango, the night hawk or owl.

A buckarooJs paraphernalia includes the following: the saddle, which the cow-country calls cactus, hull, chair, center fire, kak, pack, or rigging; the horn of the saddle, called the biscuit, grandma, old Susie, the handle, or the pig, all indicative of the contempt of true cowhands for the flat-heeled peeler who must pull leather (grasp the saddle horn) in order to remain with his mount; the cinch or girth, which is the binder holding the saddle in place. Thus a cinch-binder is a horse that when cinched too tightly refuses to move or falls over backwards.

The bridle, consisting of headstall, bit, and reins, has several appendages—the bozal or braided rope band, the romal, a heavy whip attached to the end of the reins, the feador, the knotted rope holding the reins, and the martingale or the adjustable neck-band to hold the horse's head down. A hackamore, a rawhide nose-band used in place of a bit, is a type of halter consisting of a headstall, a feador and rope band, and is sometimes known as a McCarty*

A bear trap is what the old-fashioned ring or spade bit is called by cowboys using lighter, more humane bits. The tapederos is a leather covering of various shapes and sizes that fits over the stirrup to protect

the rider's foot. The tapederos is not as commonly used in Nevada as in some other cattle states. The buckaroo's spurs are referred to as steel, gads, hooks, gut lancers, or chihuahuas.

The guns often carried by the cowmen are smoke cannons, hip cannons, or hog legs.

The vocabulary of the round-up is a language apart The wagons taken out are the bed wagon, and the chuck or grub wagon. The chuck wagon carries the food and utensils for the range kitchen. Man-at-the- pot is the first buckaroo to pick up the coffee pot when out with the chuck wagons. It becomes his duty to pour the cofiee for the outfit. "Come and get her before I throw her out" is the time honored mess call

The bed carried by the cowboy is known as his hot roll or cama. The individual quilt in the roll is a so off an. On moving day the morning call is "Roll out and roll up."

The horse the cowboy rides is his cabello (kavayo), cayuse, mustang, broomtail, fuzztail, pungo, or hay burner; and to mount him he climbs upon his summit, steps upon him, or forks him. A broncho or bronch is an unbroken horse, and the rider who breaks him is the peeler. A horse that is an outlaw is known as a wassup. A wild horse is also called a mustang or broomtcdl, but more commonly a bangtail. A horse that likes to buck is salty. Other names for mean horses are snakef plain hell, hard to sit, outlaw, renegade. A spotted horse is a pinto or painted horse. One that refuses to leave camp in the morning is a camp-staller, and a horse that has never learned to respond properly to the bit is hard-mouthed.

The horse that bucks turns on, breaks in two, swallows his tail, leaves the world, pitches, weaves, spins, sunfishes, prints tracks, unwinds, and turns a wild cat.

A roughstring, the spoiled, unbroken horses taken on the roundup, are usually assigned to the care of one or two men. The cavvy or caviatha is the band of saddle horses, while the peratha is any large band. The cawy is often called the remuda. The round-up of the horses in the morning for the day's ride after cattle is the circle. And at round-ups cowboys from other outfits are known as reps (representatives). The horses each brings form his string.

To lasso, throw a wicked loop, dab it on, front foot 'em, or lead 'em in, is the duty of the roper. The ropes used have several classifications— the white line applies to a manila or linen rope, a riata to one of braided strands of rawhide, and a Macarte or McCarty is of twisted horse-hair

(mane or tail). A rope is sometimes seagrass, twine, string, Tom Horn, or maguey.

In pursuit of his work a cowboy dallies, or holds an animal on the rope by wrapping it around the horn of the saddle counter clockwise. Coffee grinding is the incorrect way of taking dallies; it means that the rope is wound clockwise. To tie hard and fast is another term used to describe holding an animal on the end of a rope attached to the saddle horn.

The cattle are longhorns, dogies, or cows. A bunch of cattle is * herd, round-up, or rodeo, each term with a different shade of meaning. A bunch separated from the main herd is a cut or preada. Moving cattle from one range to another throws or drifts them, and separating them for prime beef condition, for outfit ownership, or other like reason is to cut, part or knock out. A leppy or buttermilk is a motherless calf— described by buckaroos as "a calf whose mother died and whose daddy ran off with another cow." Leppy also refers to a colt that has lost its mother, A maverick or slick-ear is an unbranded, unclaimed calf. The first term originated in Texas where a man named Maverick went to war for the South and never returned with a result that his cattle wandered the ranges unbranded for a number of years. The term gradually grew more general until any unbranded critter became known as a maverick. Dogs are poor, weak calves, while rawhides are weak cows. When the female stock claim their young they mother-up.

A branding iron other than the type used to stamp on hide is a running iron. The ring is a small iron carried on the saddle to brand calves on the range. The ring is heated and held between crossed sticks.

A dewlap is one method of marking calves so that they can be identified by the owner; the skin on the brisket, or lower neck, is cut in different ways so that it hangs down. This mark is easily spotted in a large herd when the earmark or brand might be difficult to read. A wattle is similar, but the skin-cut hangs down on some part of the body. A sleeper is an animal earmarked but not branded. This is a mark used by petty cattle thieves; the calf is marked with their ear identification, and, if it passes as theirs, it is branded later. An oreana is an unbranded animal old enough to have strayed from its mother, making identification impossible. The finder usually brands it for himself.

A nester is a homesteader or small fanner, much hated by cattlemen because he settles on or near a waterhole.

Nevada ranchmen have the saying "The riders come from the north, the ropers from the south," and this is generally true. In the north

country, Wyoming, Montana, Northern California and Northern Nevada, owing to snow conditions and the fact that in winter the riders wear heavier clothes—chaps, tapaderos, and so on—they ride larger horses, and usually larger horses are harder buckers. Then, too, the northern cattle are fed in the winter and are more domesticated, and branding is mostly done in corrals. Thus the average northern buckaroo becomes a better rider than roper. In the south the buckaroos ride smaller horses, cattle range out all the time, and calves are branded on the range—which makes the southern cowboy a skilled roper.

The northern men generally use rawhide riatas. These ropes will not stand a severe sudden jerk. Thus the northern men dally so that they can let the rope slip on the saddle horn and not subject it to the jerk. The southern cowhands use the manila or linen rope, which is very strong, and they tie hard and fast.

A term that is common to both sheep and cattle is leppy, sometimes spelled leppie, for a motherless lamb as well as a calf or colt. A bummer is another name for these baby lambs, which are frequently given away by sheepmen, because of the difficulty of hand-raising them on a bottle. A granny is a ewe with such an instinct for motherhood that she steals all the lambs in the vicinity from other ewes. Perversely enough, instead of granny as the mark of age, gummer is the label for the old ewes— those without teeth. A spreader is a ewe whose teeth are worn and starting to spread. The bell wether is the leader of the band, with a tinkling bell strapped on its neck.

A drop band is a band of ewes about to lamb. The bed ground is the place of the night's stay. Sheep ropes are used to tie ewes that do not at first claim their Iambs, and a gancho is the sheep hook for catching the animals.

The herder or jockey is the man who cares for the sheep, and the camp tender or camp jack is the one who cooks and cares for the camp, assisting the herder when necessary.

During shearing season common terms are: high roller, a shearer who works fast but poorly; pink 'em, an animal sheared so close to the hide that the skin shows pink; wool tier, the man who ties fleeces after they are shorn; wool tromper, the man who presses the wool into sacks; and wool wrangler, the one who carries the tied fleece to the sacking frame for the wool tromper to drop into sacks.