Part 5

Leaving Kenansville at 8:15, we were soon out on the Kissimmee prairie of thousands and thousands of acres of open range. Here, where the grass was very luxuriant, resembling a hay meadow, we saw several hundred more of the small native cattle, followed by the common scrubby bulls. The fat four-year-old steers weighed around 550 pounds, and are valued at $30 per head. The cows weighed around 500 pounds. The range herds of mixed ages and classes are valued at $20 per head. We soon left the public highway, circling marshes and dodging palmettos. Our next stop was on Gum Slough Ranch, where we were told that on a pasture of 10,000 acres there were 6,000 cattle. The ground was well covered with carpet and a variety of other grasses, and did not show the effects of close grazing. The cattle were in good condition and of better quality than most of the others which we had inspected.--_From The Cattleman, September, 1917._