PRICES OF PUREBRED CATTLE. The impression appears to prevail to some extent in Mexico that the prices which are asked by the breeders of purebred cattle in the United States are altogether too high, and some of them have the impression that the prices quoted to Mexican buyers are much higher than the animals would bring if sold in the United States. The best answers to such objections may be found in the reports of actual sales made at different points in this country. Below is given some statistics of sales of the different breeds of purebred cattle, which were compiled by Col. F. M. Woods and published in the Breeders' Gazette for December, 1901: Table showing average prices of purebred beef cattle in 1901. Table showing average prices of purebred beef cattle in 1901—Continued. All efforts for the introduction of breeding cattle into Mexico have heretofore been made by private individuals. This being the case is why it has been an easy matter for unscrupulous men to impose inferior animals upon Mexicans as purebreds. Our own breeders, by some system of cooperation, ought soon to be able to overcome the prejudice now in the minds of Mexicans, and to adopt methods of shipment and exhibition of cattle which will prove satisfactory to both buyer and seller. The Mexican buyers desire to see the animals which they purchase, and it is useless to expect good prices while they are in their present frame of mind if they are not permitted to see what they are buying. It will take time and fair dealing to overcome this requirement, but no doubt it can be done. The proper thing to do at this time, in opening up a market in Mexico, is to bring the buyer, the seller, and the cattle together. The methods of reaching the Mexican buyer must be left to the breeders to determine. It seems to be the consensus of opinion of the consular officers that cattle should be on exhibition at all of the principal fairs held in the republic, and also at the larger cities. Proper precautions should be taken to prevent loss when cattle are sent to districts infected with Texas fever. Hon. Charles W. Kindrick, consul at Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, says: Something should be done to get the purebred stock of the United States before the Mexican ranchmen. It is impossible to take herds of bulls from one part of the State to the other to exhibit them. The railroad facilities are too limited, and it would be out of the question to drive them from place to place across the arid plains and mountains. It occurs to me that something might be done, perhaps under the patronage of Government, to establish an exhibition of purebred stock in Ciudad Juarez. From November to March the breeders could ship stock here where feeding would be comparatively cheap, since hay and grain delivered at El Paso or Juarez is at a nominal price. During the season I mention, the ranchmen, many of them, visit the border, and more would come if such an exhibit existed to attract them. With an arrangement of this kind they could see the stock, could gain all the necessary information about it, and would, no doubt, when properly impressed, buy annually a sufficient number of bulls to give them a high class and heavy strain of range cattle. KIND OF CATTLE TO EXPORT. It must be remembered that the demand in Mexico is for the beef breeds. Some Holsteins have found a market there, but they were purchased more for their beef qualities than for their milking qualities. The Mexicans want meat, not milk; and since the practice is beginning to be adopted there of selling animals by weight instead of by the head, as has been the custom heretofore, the demand is for large animals. The point is made by some importers into that country that the blooded stock centers of the United States are north of what is known as the Texas fever line, and therefore those centers can not be drawn upon for supplies, owing to the fact that the cattle would contract Texas fever and in all probability die. It is suggested by one of the consuls that animals for export to Mexico should, consequently, be drawn from the Southern States, where the cattle are all supposed to be immune. A distinction should, however, be made between |