A dear old friend of mine was caught by and burnt to death in one.

Another man, a near neighbour, when driving a team of mules, got caught likewise, and very nearly lost his life.

He was badly burnt and lost his team.
Hitherto it had been the universal custom of cattlemen to use "grade" bulls, many of them, alas! mere "scrubs" of no breeding at all.

No one used pure-bred registered bulls except to raise "grade" bulls with.

I determined to use "registered" pure-bred bulls alone, and no others, to raise _steers_ with, and was the first man to my knowledge to do so.
Neighbours ridiculed the idea, saying that they would not get many calves, that they could not or would not "rustle"-- that is, they would not get about with the cows--that they would need nursing and feeding and would not stand the climate.