Cattle truck

“ A strong two wheeled truck, with a large strong plow attached to it, drawn by four yoke of oxen, was an outfit often seen breaking prairie. To the largest plow supported by a wheel attachment, which was necessarily very strong and heavy, I think they used a team of six yoke of cattle; and with this outfit broke three and four acres of prairie land in a day. Horses were seldom used to work in harness. In crossing the plains I remember seeing only one team in which a horse was used. ”

“ Then the white painted cattle pen yonder, from which the animals are forced into the cattle trucks, is full of frightened beasts, lowing doubtfully, and only goaded in by the resounding blows upon their backs. Then the sheep file in in more patient ranks, but also doubtful and bleating as they go. An engine snorts to and fro, shunting coal waggons on to the siding—coal for the traction engines, and to be consumed in threshing out the golden harvest around. ”

“ Cattle-trucks provide ample novelty, aroma and draughts. Refuse covering the floor is swept by the occupants into a corner heap, but someone has to sleep on it. An open space between a sliding door can comfortably accommodate two with legs dangling over, but invariably has four or more hunched-up, jumbled khaki figures.
These trains never hurry: always twist and turn and double back half-a-dozen times in journeyings from one point to another. ”

“ It could be attached to a simple horse frame for transport into the fields. There the farmer would load his produce, and when the body was full it would be returned to the road, picked up by a crane attached to the tractor, swung on to its carriage and wheels, and taken away to join other cars. By making the bodies of such dimensions as to fit three into an ordinary railway truck, they could be entrained easily. On reaching their destination another tractor would lift them out, fit them to wheels, and trundle them off to the consumer. ”

“ Pink and rose clouds drifted through a brightening sky as the Honeychile Bakery truck careened along a narrow road badly in need of rock and grading. From the road, the truck rattled into a rutted track through dewy woods and skidded swaying to a stop at the side of a long, low, grassy hill.
The tall creature dressed in black, red-spotted fur stepped from the cab. An opening appeared in the hillside. Four machines—dull metal eggs balancing on single tractor treads—rolled silently through the opening. Jointed steel arms darted from recesses in the eggs. One machine opened the truck doors. ”

“ Good roads, trucks or anything [199] else which will lend assistance to diversified cropping are without doubt beneficial to the farmer.
Intensive farming of perishable crops can be done only where the roads allow daily contact with the market. The truck, because of its more rapid speed, will widen the zone of such farming very much over the old zone when the horse-drawn vehicle was in vogue. Because of the risk involved and the labor necessary the net returns per acre for this sort of farming are high, allowing small parcels of land to keep a family. ”

“ Each is accompanied by two drivers, sixteen men to cut food for the cattle, and twelve to load the trucks. In consequence of the hot sun during the day; trucking is always carried on at night. A wild scene is presented while the trucks are moving from the forest, each accompanied by several men carrying torches, the drivers cracking their whips and uttering their shouts. Thus they go on till they reach the river’s brink, when the logs—each marked with the owner’s initials—are thrown into the water, and the trucks return for a fresh load. ”

“ Forty to 60 per cent of our potato crop is lost each year by rotting in the ground owing to poor transportation to market because of inadequate transportation over long distance.... By motor trucks the farmer will be able to reach better markets farther away than now by horse and wagon. He will be able to spend more time actually producing on his farm and be able to sell food more cheaply by eliminating the present tremendous waste. By use of the motor truck the farmer will be able to produce more and sell at less cost. ”

“ Every animal, besides the regular brand of the owner, has his tail bobbed and a “road-mark” put upon him during the drive, and in a mixed herd the rider goes in and “cuts out” all the cattle that bear his brand and runs them into a separate flock.
When cattle are sleeping it requires very little to stampede them. A loud breath, the clank of a chain tied to the leg of a wagon-mule, or the galloping of a horse will sometimes cause them to be up and gone in the twinkling of an eye. ”

“ These useful trucks are California inventions, and of the greatest importance to the grower. They are now made of [132] various sizes, but should never be over four feet wide, while three feet is even better, and their length should not exceed six feet. They are made to turn readily anywhere by having the front wheels or wheel movable, independently of the balance of the truck. By the aid of these trucks the grower can use horse labor in distributing his boxes and trays in the vineyard, even where the vines are planted so close that ordinary wagons cannot pass. ”

“ What few trains belonging to his herd had escaped the ditch were used in filling up other unfortunate ones, the injured cattle from the other wrecks forming his present holdings.
“Our people were anxious to get their cattle on to the market early this year,” said he, “and put their foot into it up to the knee. Shipping to Red River was an experiment with them, and I hope they’ve got their belly full. We’ve got dead and dying cattle in every pasture from the falls to the river, while these in sight aren’t able to keep out of the stench of those that croaked between here and the ford. ”

“ Trucks which haul nothing but milk and cream are quite common. The farmer leaves his full cans of milk or cream at a specified place, usually a platform at a level with the truck floor, on the roadway. The driver of the milk truck picks up the full cans, leaving empties in their place. Or he may pick up the full on his way to the market, creamery, or railway station, and leave the empties on his return. ”

“ A single swallow does not make a summer, but the trend is no doubt toward much longer truck trips. And as the roads and vehicles become stabilized and standardized this will be even more evident. For example, milk collected at stations 50 and 60 miles from the large cities can be hauled in to market in large tank cars which are built somewhat on the thermos or vacuum bottle principle, the milk arriving at its destination cooler and in every way better than if hauled in small containers. The truck has a large field open for its especial qualities. ”

“ There is no doubt but that pneumatic-tire equipment, and to a lesser extent, the cushion-tire equipment will extend the average haul to 50 miles. Hard-surfaced roads will again extend it 25 to 50 miles, making a haul of 75 to 100 miles not uncommon.
A further effect of the truck and the ease of marketing which it will bring about is that hogs will be marketed in smaller quantities but oftener. The farmer instead of turning off his marketable animals twice a year will send them in four times a year, possibly monthly. The tendency will be to stabilize the market over the several seasons. ”

“ To the weight of the carriage and its load, that of the driver must be added: he usually sitting 334immediately behind the bullocks. When the load is unavoidably rather too heavy behind, so as to cause a tendency to tilting, he sits more forward, between the cattle, and even occasionally upon the yoke itself. It is evident the latter position must be extremely oppressive to the cattle; but in hackeries laden with cotton, where the burthen necessarily occupies a great space, hanging over the rumps of the cattle, such a position is nearly inevitable. ”

“ On the return of the first outfit from the west, some three weeks after leaving, the herd of stock cattle was cut in two and started. But a single man was left on the Clear Fork, my ranch foreman taking one herd, while I accompanied the other. It requires the patience of a saint to handle cows and calves, two wagons to the herd being frequently taxed to their capacity in picking up the youngsters. It was a constant sight to see some of the boys carrying a new-born calf across the saddle seat, followed by the mother, until camp or the wagon was reached. ”

“ If animal food be transported alive from the grower to the consumer, the distance of the market is limited by the power of the animal to travel, and the cost of its support on the road. It is only particular species of cattle which bear to be carried to market on common roads and by horse carriages. But the peculiar nature of a railway, the magnitude and weight of the loads which may be transported on it, and the prodigious speed which may be attained, render the transport of cattle, of every species, to almost any distance, both easy and cheap. ”

“ How often nowadays does one ever see a carriage pair, or fours in the park or elsewhere that really needs "driving"?
"Shipping" cattle means loading them into railroad cars and despatching them to their destination. The cattle are first penned in a corral and then run through chutes into the cars. One year I sold the Company's steers, a train-load, to a Jew dealer in Kansas. They were loaded in the Panhandle and I went through with them, having a man to help me to look [Pg 144] after them, our duty being to prod them up when any were found lying down so they would not be trodden to death. ”

“ Whether or not it pays for a farmer to own and operate a truck depends upon the size of the farm, kind and quantity of the commodities hauled, distance from market, character of the roads, and the loading on the back trip. A small farm could not be expected to furnish sufficient hauling to keep a truck busy unless intensively farmed and producing commodities which require frequent marketing. Even a small farmer, though, might by hauling for neighbors keep his truck reasonably busy. Or several neighbors may coöperate in the purchase of the truck and arrange how it shall be operated. ”

“ If the owner desires to do his own hauling of the feed from the railroad and the other necessary trucking he would, of course, have to keep more horses, a team at least, or an automobile truck. Where only one horse is kept, this trucking must be hired done. ”

“ To return to the freight train: You climb aboard, and entering the caboose sit down before you mean to, the thing giving a plunge just before you are ready. Four or five men are disposed about the car. They are drovers. You think you have blundered into a barnyard. Those men have their outdoor voices with them. Their frequent conversations with herds have made them boisterous and breezy as the month of March. The society of cattle is not always refining, especially of cattle to kill. You don't see anybody reading poetry. The stove burns wood, and not coal, but the car is smutty for all that. ”

“ Each firm has a foreman, who does the picking of the beeves; and he who is able to tell when a cow or steer is fat is considered a good cow-man. The beeves are then driven to the railroad, where there are stock-pens; and after the cars are bedded with about six inches of sand, the cattle are loaded up, making every other one face one side of the car, and the others the other side. Twenty is the average car-load, though this number varies with the size of the cattle. I have seen cars crowded with sixteen large steers, and know of one firm bringing in a thousand beeves at a time. ”

“ Several of the firm's steer herds were unsold at Dodge, but on the approach of the shipping season I returned to my task, and we began to move out our beeves with seven outfits in the saddle. Four round trips were made to the crew, shipping out twenty thousand double and half that number of single wintered cattle. The grass had been fine that summer, and the beeves came up in prime condition, always topping the market as range cattle at the markets to which they were consigned. That branch of the work over, every energy was centred in making the ranch snug for the winter. ”

“ One man wore an oilskin, one an old tweed overcoat, and the third had a three-bushel bag over his head and shoulders.
Had we returned an hour later, we should have seen the sheep huddled together in a corner of the yards, and the three horses hanging up outside the local shanty.
We stayed at Nyngan―which place we refrain from sketching―for a few hours, because the five trucks of cattle of which we were in charge were shunted there, to be taken on by a very subsequent goods train. The Government allows one man to every five trucks in a cattle-train. ”

“ By the use of the trailer and the Government-made good roads the truck is able to haul logs of almost any length down from the logging grounds. Trucks and tractors are utilized in the forests, too, for snaking logs and pulling stumps. In places where the grades are steep or on the interior where the roads have not yet penetrated causeways have been built of timber; these usually being cross-ties, and under trussing across draws, with lengthwise planks for the wheels to run on and side planks or logs to keep the machine on the track. ”

“ These animals have been brought from distances up to 60 miles, but have been on the way less than three or three and one-half hours. Careful stockyard figures show that in 1921 more than 6,000,000 cattle and very many more hogs were transported in motor trucks. These animals upon arrival are very much fresher and show less shrinkage than those that have been driven to their home station and loaded into stock cars the day previous. Other things being equal, the top of the market is accorded to the fresher animals. ”