Tuesday, September 16, 2014

They Followed the Grass - Pages of history from Canadian Cattlemen, Sept. 1948

‘The ranching industry is almost as old as the hills – and so are the ranchers problems. When Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan he drove the herds before him. Isaac had some trouble with his neighbors over water rights: and his son quarreled with Laban over their spotted and freckled cattle. In fact Agriculture first was, “following the grass”, its original products four-legged animals which flourished on the uplands of Mongolia, in Asia, in Turkestan, on the steppes of eastern Russia and in Arabia. The Mongol Invasion under Genghis Khan and the Hun advance into Western Europe were mainly search for fresh pasture. People from the higher lands swept down on fertile valleys all through the pages of Ancient History.’...more

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There is an interesting documentary film on NetFlix called "Grass" which documents the migration in search of seasonal grass. It is an early film without sound, but has a pretty good subtitle addition. You will not believe the hardships involved in this migration of thousands of animals and hundreds of tribes people, and it is done twice a year!